The Launch of Shah Rukh Khan Boulevard

Durga Puja in Kolkatta

Shah Rukh Khan’s Candid Confessions

Showbiz, sports entrepreneurship and now real estate. Shah Rukh Khan is always ahead of the game when it comes to exploring new terrain. In town to launch the Shah Rukh Khan Boulevard, the superstar was at his wittiest as he chit-chatted about issues he has rarely talked about in the past. Mazhar Farooqui gets you the juicy details.

His first crush

It happened when I was very young. Her name was Lekhi. She lived in our neighbourhood and was older to me. Yet I was so besotted by her that as soon as I’d see her walking down the street, I’d crane my head out of the iron grill window in our fourth storey house in Delhi, hoping to attract her attention. Of course, she wasn’t even remotely aware of my existence. One day my head got stuck in the grill and that was the end of my infatuation.

On how he met his wife Gauri

Actually, it was the other way around. I have always been very shy about talking to girls. So, when I got introduced to Gauri at a party, I could only mumble a feeble ‘hello’ to her. But Gauri turned out to be more articulate. I instantly connected with her and decided to marry her. I was afraid that she’d change her mind.

His take on the gossip about him and Karan Johar

I find it really funny. I am a very sensitive man and most sensitive men are perceived to have vagrant tastes. I can’t do anything to change the perception of people.

On the competition in Bollywood

Competition? I have had no competitor for years. I may sound pompous, but this is a fact.

If he were a woman for one day, who would he want to be?

Angelina Jolie. I find her lips very sensual. Of course, I will never be able to feel them on my face. By turning into Angelina Jolie herself, I would be able to acquire her face and see what it feels to have those luscious lips.

On how it feels to be in the mid-forties

I will be turning 43 in a couple of weeks, but most of the girls tell me that I don’t look a day older than 27. But yes, I have crossed the first phase of my life. It’s been a great journey until now and I hope the rest of my years are as good. As I grow old I have become mature and feel more conscious of my responsibilities towards my kids as a parent. I lost my father and mother when I was young. I hope I am around when my kids grow up.

On what prompted him to venture into real estate

I have always had a fetish for houses. I guess it’s either because of the frustrated architect inside me or because I have seen my own house being taken away during my childhood. Our property was attached but I was too young to realise why we had to vacate.

Mazhar Farooqui, Gulf News Express