“I am open for women to marry me & spend the rest of their lives with me.”

Shah Rukh Khan is a happy man these days as people have reacted really positively to his new release Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

CNN-IBN caught up with King Khan at an event to unveil Filmfare’s latest cover, where he expressed his happiness towards audience’s reaction to his new movie.

Here is the excerpt of the interview:

CNN-IBN: Shah Rukh you have mentioned in many of your interviews that the character of Surinder Sahani (SRK’s name in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) is more close to you and is more of what you are than Raj (SRK’s name in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) but the personality you have we believe that you are more Raj.

Shah Rukh Khan: Ok, whatever you like me as. But personally I am quite boring. In reality I am more like Surinder Sahni.

CNN-IBN: The film has done a very good business but not so flattering reviews by critics, do you want to tell something to the critics who obviously would have missed something?

Shah Rukh Khan: No, I have always said that there are different kinds of people who watch a film. One is the audience, one are filmmakers like me who see a film from a different point of view and one is critics, who see it from a different point of view.

CNN-IBN: The film has done very well, but there is one thing I must tell you that there are many women who are still waiting for their Raj from DDLJ. Will you like to give them some advise that is there actually a character which actually exists in reality or was it just a personality that you portrayed so well that now most women want a guy like that?

Shah Rukh: No, I am there. Every Saturday I am open for women to come and marry me and spend the rest of their lives with me. I am at the Linking Road. I have been doing this for last 14 year since DDLJ was released and all the women who have married me are very-very happy. I have around 2.3 million children around the country and I am sorry for increasing the population of the country. So please tell all the ladies who are waiting to get married to Raj I am waiting for them too.

SRK the Golgappa Champion!

Shah Rukh Khan is sitting on top of the world with a rainbow draped across his shoulders.

The reason? His belief in simplicity, his faith in the common man’s love story being no lesser than Romeo and Juliet, or that of Raj and Simran in DDLJ, has come a winner at the box office with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi! He doesn’t need to laugh all the way to the bank anymore, nor does Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films actually, but SRK is smiling certainly. “The film is a love triangle between two people,” he said explaining its success to BT when box office tills didn’t stop ringing even after the film collected Rs 60 crore in its first three days... YRF’s biggest opening ever.

“I like this small-town attitude, the simplicity of the common man, this thing of saying ‘Sorry’ on a chit of paper that is such a turn on, the fact that an entire song could be pulled off out of a tiffin-box, and that the main issue of a song could also be a man moving onto buying a car from a scooter, or his eating extra golgappas out of love... no filmmaker has done this ever before in a romantic comedy,” the actor said. And, according to SRK, it could only be done because the characters were simple people.

“The world of Om Shanti Om, for instance, was different and these kind of scenes would not have worked in that film. Rab Ne... is a film from the inside... we’re showing the interior of people, they are small people, this is a small city we chose in Amritsar, there’s nothing hi-tech about the film, even the dance scenes are like ‘5, 6, 7, 8 ...’ in a small studio, there is none of the glitz, glamour and slickness of, say, the dance scenes in Dil To Pagal Hai... but that’s what simplicity is all about, that’s what old world charm is,” said the Surinder Sahni of Rab Ne...

It is true, and it is the simplicity of the common man that has worked for YRF at a time like this. Yes, the common man’s wounds of 26/11 are still raw, but he is aching for change, for a smile to be brought to his face without him feeling guilty about this lightness of heart... and that has come through Rab Ne... The fact that the film is doing well across India, around the world, shows that the trade and audiences have liked it.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta said, “The intrinsic Indian values in the film are being lapped up big time by audiences worldwide. I’m getting amazing feedback from Dubai, across the UK and US, from everywhere.” Even a common man like Girish Wankhede, deputy general manager of Cinemax, has reason to rejoice in the film.“It’s a big deal that people are back to theatres thanks to Shah Rukh Khan,” he said with heartfelt gratitude. Brijesh Tandon, an exhibitor from Delhi, agreed, “Multiplexes are full, people who stopped coming to theatres after 26/11, are back with new enthusiasm.” Mumbai collegian Indrani Sengupta added, “The film is entertaining, warm and beautiful. The song Haule Haule has become like a national anthem for youth in love.”

But Shah Rukh Khan would also like audiences to go home with the message that their love story is not ordinary. “Anybody’s love story is great by virtue of it being a love story,” he said. “And you don’t have to sail the seven seas to prove your love for a girl... just eating her biryani after stuffing yourself silly with golgappas is just the same.” If you don’t know what he means, go figure... the film tells the story.

There is no one bigger than me: SRK

Shah Rukh Khan was at his wittiest best at an event on Tuesday night to unveil the cover of Filmfare magazine. Not only was he looking dapper, but also charming everyone with his words and air kissing. The media straightaway started with asking him why Aamir Khan's film Ghajini's trailer was being shown during Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi's screening. And pat came the reply, "It's a very clever strategy. Aamir is using the best brand, that's SRK!" Read on for more priceless quotes from Shah Rukh Khan.

Shah Rukh went on to add that he has no competition with Aamir Khan. "Aamir is a senior actor. He has taught us a lot of things. We all love him. Whatever he does, he does conscientiously. But there is no one bigger than me."

On whose six-packs were better, Shah Rukh said, "It doesn't look nice to compare the six-packs of 40-year-old boys, rather men. Aamir and me did show our bodies to each other, though not sexually (laughs). We were just showing off - Achcha, tera kaisa dikh raha hai, mera thoda gol hain and stuff."

So, why was Anushka Sharma, the heroine of Rab Ne..., being kept under wraps? On a lighter note, SRK said, "I don't keep girls under wraps. I like the lights on...I'm that kind of a guy!" But seriously, he said, "Anushka did not have any work behind her and something to talk about. Now that it's been four-five days since the film has released, we'll bring her out. If we had brought her out before, journalists would've asked questions like, 'We saw you with your boyfriend outside college, who is he?' We wanted to avoid that."

Shah Rukh was in the Surinder Sahni character full on, and spoke like him for a while. "In real life, I'm very much like Suri. And 99 per cent of men are like that. They can't express their love. I feel a man should allow his woman (to be). If she says hold my hand, hold it immediately without saying a word."

The actor said that by playing characters like Kabir Khan in Chak De! India and Surinder Sahni in Rab Ne..., he was trying to show that he had grown up. "Main koi chhota bachcha nahin raha hoon abhi (I'm not a kid anymore)."

"In my films, I've thrown a woman down a building, I've cheated...I've done everything. Well, do everything, but don't break a woman's heart," Shah Rukh said to loud applause by the females in the audience.

Ending on a good note, SRK wished all his rivals well. "In these times of recession, I feel Ghajini should also do well. So should Chandni Chowk To China and other films. Everybody should be happy."

Adi-SRK bigger than Vipul Shah-Akshay Kumar

First things first! After a lull, when theatre managements were forced to call off shows due to lack of audiences, it was back to good old days this weekend. RAB NE BANA DI JODI, the first of the three 'Saviours' [the other two being GHAJINI and CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA], has succeeded in luring audiences back to movie halls.

Another observation! SRK's star power came to the rescue of RAB NE BANA DI JODI. A majority of those who watched the film were unanimous that the script was faulty, with loopholes aplenty. But SRK swept everyone off their feet!

Now let's talk business! RAB NE BANA DI JODI has come as a respite for the strife-torn industry, especially since everyone's talking non-stop of how the global meltdown and the terrorist attacks have hit movie business hard. The Saturday and Sunday numbers of RAB NE BANA DI JODI were excellent.

All through the weekend, the industry kept comparing RAB NE BANA DI JODI with RACE, SINGH IS KINNG and GOLMAAL RETURNS, the biggest openers of 2008. It was ahead at 'x' centre, behind at 'y' centre, they said.

If you ask my opinion, RAB NE BANA DI JODI should've had the biggest start of 2008. When SRK and Aditya Chopra shake hands, you expect the ultimate -- in terms of entertainment, in terms of numbers. Surely, the Adi-SRK combo is any day bigger than the Vipul Shah-Akshay Kumar combo [SINGH IS KINNG], Abbas-Mustan-Saif team [RACE] and Rohit Shetty-Ajay Devgan jodi [GOLMAAL RETURNS]. Come to think of it, it can't get bigger than Adi-SRK.

All said and done, RAB NE BANA DI JODI should've started with a bang, should've set new records, should set new benchmarks in business, should've been a trendsetter. Is it one?

Monday onwards, the film is sustaining well in North and parts of Central India and also South. But the severe drop at several screens cannot be ignored either. The feedback is mixed, people aren't going ga-ga or into raptures over RAB NE BANA DI JODI.

For the producers, who are also its distributors, RAB NE BANA DI JODI is a profitable venture, no two opinions on that. They will make pots of money on this venture. It's one of the biggest money spinners for YRF to date. The cost of production isn't much and the only expensive factor is SRK's remuneration. The recoveries from India theatrical, Overseas, Home Video and Satellite is sure to make the Chopras grin from ear to ear.

But as a cine enthusiast, you definitely expected Adi to push the envelope, to take Hindi cinema forward. When new/debutante directors can attempt films like ROCK ON!!, A WEDNESDAY, AAMIR, JANNAT and JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA, it inspires 20 people to take the torch forward. But if someone like Adi, the front-runner, thinks out of the box [within commercial parameters], it will inspire a whole new generation. Right?