You can call me King Khan or an idiotic actor : SRK

In Delhi for the promotion of his new TV show, Shah Rukh Khan talks to Madhur Tankha about his association with the small screen.

For someone who has kept the cash registers at the box-office ringing for over a decade and a half, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan asserts that there is no formula that guarantees a hit.

The charismatic actor, who came calling to the Capital this past week to promote his show “Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?” on Star Plus, says he has evolved as an actor over the years. “Having acted in so many movies, I have come to realise that forceful acting is not necessary. So I am taking it easy like I did in ‘Chak De India’ that became such a huge hit.”

Entertaining the masses is the actor’s primary objective, whether on the big screen or the small one. “I started my innings on television. While I have given a nod to television shows like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?’ I will not appear in soap operas as they are too time consuming. Even television shows are very exhausting as you have to do them all in one take.”

Shah Rukh is unfazed by criticism of his style of acting. “I have passed the age when you start to get angry. You can call me King Khan or an idiotic actor but I won’t mind. There are certain scenes of mine in which I would award myself 11 marks out of 10, but overall I would give myself 4 or 5 points..”

As the race for the Filmfare awards enters the home stretch with child actor Darsheel Safary of “Taare Zameen Par” being nominated along with Shah Rukh, the superstar is not unduly bothered. “I cannot comment on Darsheel’s performance as I haven’t seen the film. Aamir has told me to watch it and whenever I get time I will.”

Dismissing speculation that he is one of the main actors along with Amitabh Bachchan in Ravi Chopra’s “Bhootnath”, Shah Rukh says he only has a five-minute role. “I’ve done the role for director Vivek Sharma, who is employed in my company, and producer Ravi Chopra, who is like family to me. I have two other films lined up besides an animation. I will be doing Aditya Chopra’s film in May.”

Shah Rukh feels that children should not be encouraged to host television shows. “I don’t think it is reasonable to expect them to work round-the-clock and then catch up on sleep in the early hours of morning and also attend school. It would be a type of child labour, and personally I don’t think such things should be tried.”

The 42-year-old actor says he wants to focus only on core competence in his company: “Initially we wanted to make films that we believed in and not just for the money. Then films like ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ and now ‘Om Shanti Om’ became hits. In Red Chillies Entertainment, my employee strength has swelled. So it is self-sustaining. As I don’t want to share my creativity, I will not be collaborating with an international company in making films.”

Giving his take on the war of words between the Bachchans and Raj Thackeray, the superstar says: “Well, both Raj and Amitji are friends. I think the trouble being witnessed on the streets of Mumbai has to do with the fact that there are certain people who have their own political agendas.

The Hindu