SRK on CDI : Outlook interviews Shah Rukh Khan

On his character Kabir Khan...

What I like about the man is that he has faced a big failure and then changes his fate in a most honourable way. He is not a typical, caricaturised Muslim, but a modern man, someone who respects women immensely.

On what attracted him to the script...

The fact that it had no heroine but 16 new girls, there was no love story, no villain. The nation is changing. I think the film reflects that spirit.

On his association with sports...

I am a sportsman who took to acting. I played hockey, football and cricket in school teams. I even enjoyed playing gulli danda on the streets of Delhi. Even today, I play a lot with my kids.

On the risks of making a film on hockey...

Every time you can't make a Lagaan or Iqbal. As a spectator sport, hockey isn't glamorous. I was scared—but then, it's good to be scared sometimes!

On sharing screen time with so many women...

This year I am working with 17 new girls, the 17th being Deepika Padukone who makes her debut in Om Shanti Om. The last I remember working with so many women was way back in 1982 in Shriram College for a play where I was pitched against 11 ladies.

On his favourite girl in the team...

Some of them are great hockey players, some are very good actors, some are pretty and could be future heroines. They used to joke about me liking the little 4-feet-nothing Chautala. But actually I love them all.

On the many messages in the film...

The film is about players from all over India coming under one wing. It's about not playing for the railways, for a job or an apartment—but for the country. It's about women in sports, from big and small towns and the problems they face.

Source: Outlookindia