"I think he is the master of sound byte." Anupama Chopra

An Exclusive Interview With Anupama Chopra - Second Part

You start the book with the dream of a fan Bhavesh whose wish came true when he dances with SRK at a concert in US during the Temptations tour. Why did you start with him?
That story of Bhavesh really fascinated me. Of course all I knew was what I saw in Nasreen Munni Kabeer’s documentary ‘Outer World of Shahrukh Khan’. He is on stage and it’s a couple of minutes of the documentary but it just amazed me. Bhavesh had such innocence and such reverence and it just encapsulated the unique relationship Indian fans have with their idols. I don’t think any other fans across the world have the same reverence. The way he bent down and touched his feet, and it was not a giggly fourteen year old teenager, this is a grown up man. And I was amazed as to how that whole interaction played me. I and my research associate Leo Mirani went mad trying to find Bhavesh. It took us months and months to find that man and connect with him. Then I interviewed him and he was in Ahmedabad flying back to US. He lives in a small town Dalton in Georgia and I interviewed him on the way from domestic airport to the international airport. But he was fabulous. I’m very grateful for his story.

You have this chapter in the book: Peshawar and the street of story tellers. Dilip Kumar was born there and Shahrukh Khan’s grandparents belonged to that place. It’s ironical that the man whom SRK was said to have tried to emulate had its roots in the same place.
I thought it was fascinating. There was a street in Peshawar which was called Kissa Kahani Bazaar which literally translates into the street of the storytellers. It was a space where there were people who gathered at this meeting point, drank kahwa and told stories. And from this little neighbourhood, little little gullies comes the family of Shahrukh Khan, the family of Dilip Kumar, the family of Prithviraj Kapoor. So, these great storytellers of Hindi film industry have come from one space. I thought it was an incredible co-incidence and a remarkable thing. I really wanted to go there myself but it wasn’t meant to be.

Before SRK came to Bombay one of the things that he told his would be in-laws was that Amitabh Bachchan has retired and Dilip Kumar doesn’t work any more.
(Laughs) That’s right. I thought that was incredible. Actually Gauri’s Mama Tejinder told me this story. He said that his confidence was just shocking. Mr Tejinder Tiwari was the first confidante in the family. He told me this story that Shahrukh said that Mr Bachchan has retired and Dilip saab is not playing the hero any more so who’s there, there’s only me. I asked Mr Tiwari if he said it as a joke because it sounds comical but Mr Tiwari said that he was completely serious. This man had this confidence and determination when he was no one. He was just an actor on Fauji.

What one expected before reading the book was that there will be detailed passages quoted to Shahrukh Khan. But it’s not like that. SRK’s passages are few and far in between. What kind of research did you do for the book? I read somewhere that for your book on Sholay you had long sessions with Ramesh Sippy.
It was the same for this book as well. In fact most of the stories came from Shahrukh himself. I spoke to him, interviewed him and drove him completely mad (laughs) for about two years. I emailed him on every corner of the globe, I SMSed him. All of the information comes from him. For me as a writer it’s not interesting to just have a first person quoting. I think you have to massage the information a little bit, bring it into the context, I think you have to analyze it. If I would have merely quoted him it would have been a magazine journalistic piece than a book. Apart from him, there were around 80-90 people that I interviewed. The main bulk of the book comes from first person interviews that I’ve done myself. And it’s exactly the same way I researched for my Sholay book. The best way to get the stories is when you go and talk to people.

You’ve also spoken about Shahrukh Khan’s failures especially the aftermath of Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani
Another area which surprised me and how open he was about saying that maybe it was not a good film. That’s very hard. I come from a film family; I have a first hand experience on what happens when a film flops. How painful it is when people criticize it while you think it is brilliant after all you’ve spent 2-3 years and one Friday people say it is rubbish. He was very open about how hurtful it was. As Juhi says that it was not merely a film, it was an izzat ka sawaal. Nobody even said that it was a good film that bombed. I was moved when he told me that all three (SRK, Juhi and Aziz Mirza) sat in the conference hall and wept. He was very open about talking about his failures, about Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani or Asoka which earned critical acclaim but both didn’t work.

There are passages in the book that talk about Shahrukh Khan’s love life, his sexual ‘preferences’. The passages where he talks about how he courted Gauri, how he came to Bombay in search of Gauri…all this makes for interesting reading.
It’s the great love story that has overcome so many hurdles. It’s a Hindu Muslim match. The girl comes from an upper middle class family while the boy’s parents were dead who had no obvious income revenue, who wanted to be an actor in times when nobody wanted to be an actor. People wanted to be doctors and engineers. It’s a Hindi movie style love story. I also talked to him about talks if he is bisexual or gay. He just laughed and said that I am just more comfortable with women and that’s why even the male friends that I have are not the really macho men that’s why these rumours. He has this great line when people ask him if he and Karan Johar are lovers, he just says that how did I have two children…Heavy petting.

He has had a good relationship with media and except for this bizarre incident where he bayed for a Cine Blitz journalist’s blood about whom you’ve spoken about in detail.
He has. He is a supremely articulate speaker. You just don’t get tired of listening to him talk. Most of the journalists including me love to interview him. He is quotable quote. You ask one question and he is on it. I think he is the master of sound byte.

One thing that comes across is that here is a man who made most of the opportunities he got. He was not the first choice for playing the lead in Fauji…but when he was offered he made it count. He was the second lead in Deewana but he got all the accolades, he was not the first choice for Darr and with Baazigar he was playing a negative character which could have backfired.
In his career he interestingly has had many roles that were supposed to be done by others. He said that he was hesitant about doing DDLJ and Aditya Chopra was contemplating on casting Saif Ali Khan. But the earlier roles were not even offered to him. In fact he was the last choice for a few of the roles especially Darr and Baazigar which every hero had turned down. It’s kismet as well.

You must be having a lot of research material and a book on Shahrukh Khan would have been looked forward to even if it was a 500, 600 pages book. But, it’s a book close to 300 pages. So, how did you manage to cull all the information?
You have to keep it interesting and pacy as not many people read books any more. I think if it’s not interesting why would they care, who has time? Everyone has so many time pressures so unless you make it sort of entertaining and informative why would anybody care. I dread boring the reader.

Are there pictures and other interesting things in the book?
Yeah, in the finished books there are pictures but it’s not essentially a picture book. There’s a picture insert that goes from his grandfather to him becoming King Khan. But it’s only 6 or 8 pages of pictures and that’s it.

Which is your favourite chapter that you enjoyed writing?
You know I really enjoyed the parts about his parents, his childhood, I really enjoyed writing that. I was really interested in the parts involving his parents, his childhood. I was really interested in his mother, his father as characters, as people. They seemed fascinating people. His mother was a very strong willed, fierce woman who braved such an enormous loss. She lost her husband with two small children. I found all that most interesting.

Don’t you think his life can be made into a film?
(Laughs) Yes…Shahrukh Khan in and as Shahrukh Khan.

Even the love story of his parents is interesting?
It’s very fascinating, his own love story, the difficulties he faced and that story when he stood on the Marine Lines flyover and said that one day I shall own this city….when I heard this story I said they are making it up as it sounds like a good story in hindsight but when I interviewed Benny Thomas he said that’s the way it actually happened. Yeah, it’s a great film if one has to make.

One more thing that is noticeable in the book is the secular credentials of Shahrukh Khan which goes back to his parents as his father was a freedom fighter and one of his closest friends was a Hindu.
I was really surprised when he told me that there was a Hindu God in his home. His father really believed in secularism and equality. And those values have come through to Shahrukh as well. In fact Shahrukh’s mother in law was telling me that he celebrates Diwali much harder than us as they are not a family given to Pujas in the ritualistic sense of the word. But he makes sure that there is a proper puja, there is a pandit and every light in the house is on. He really stands for a secular India.

You’ve mentioned in the book that Mr Vinod Chopra had to bear the tap tapping of your laptop?
(Laughs) Yes, you know…Vinod and I have different working hours. He works very well late into the night and I don’t function in the night. I am a very good early morning person. So, my working style is to work between 5 and 7 am as I get my kids ready for school at 7 am and I workout in my bedroom. The poor guy had to listen to the keyboard sound very early in the morning (Laughs again).

What kind of other support did you get while writing this book?
Oh so much of support from everybody, my family, my parents, my sister who were babysitting my little kids while I was busy chasing Shahrukh and eighty other people about Shahrukh. There’s been tremendous support from all the people at Vinod Chopra Films who worked and worked on helping me. There have been lots and lots of other people who helped me.

I’m proud of the word Bollywood. I know lots of people don’t want that name. But it’s a brand and we should be proud of it.
What about your brother Vikram Chandra?
Yes, he is my first reader. From the Sholay book, he is the first person who reads and comments on it. He comments on it, puts things in perspective and sort of tells me that this works and this doesn’t. He is really my first editor.

Finally, what according to you is the high point of your book?
I think what is interesting and what I hope has come across is the portrait of the film industry. My idea was to create a very colorful tapestry of Bollywood and have Shahrukh in the foreground and have all these other things in the background. I’ve been writing on films since 1993 and over these last fifteen years it’s a whole new world. The whole industry has changed so radically and I wanted to create a picture of that change. I’m very proud of where Bollywood is and I’m proud of the word Bollywood. I know lots of people don’t want that name. But it’s a brand and we should be proud of it.

Source: IndiaFM