The world according to SRK

Okay, so he turned 44 on November 2. His son, Aryan, at age 12, is on the cusp of becoming a teenager, his daughter, Suhana, is now nine, and vis-à-vis domestic matters, life is on a steady keel for Shah Rukh Khan.

Gauri Khan has shed her shyness to walk the ramp for a couture line designed by buddy Karan Johar, and she's rated the number one party hostess in showtown today. Besides making personal phone calls to the invitees, she ensures all of them are at ease in their roomy bungalow Manna — even though some of the film personalities may be at loggerheads.

When Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine was in town, the Khans hosted a dinner for him. Earlier, Hollywood's Gerard Butler was fêted, and, of course, at the SRK birthday bash on Tuesday, the who's who of Bollywood turned up, with children being invited for an early evening playfest with the Khans' kids.

If there have been any downers for the actor, it has been the performance of his IPL cricket team, which has been faring disappointingly on the field for two years. His home production, Billoo Barber, didn't seduce the cash counters, and there has been the recurring back problem which doesn't actually slow up the high-energy actor, but certainly becomes a reason for constant medical check-ups. 
Last year, SRK did have Rab ne Bana di Jodi to be gung-ho about. This year though, it's largely been a no-show, unless you count the cameo in Billoo Barber. The year may well be snatched away, in terms of prominence, by Aamir Khan whose 3 Idiots is expected to be released next month.

Next year will kick off auspiciously though, with SRK staring in Karan Johar's My Name is Khan. The major film he shoots next is being produced by his own company, Red Chillies.

Quirkily titled Raa-One (Raavan, get it?), this futuristic fantasy is to be directed by Anubhav Sinha, who doesn't have much of a track record, what with films like Cash to his credit. For the actor, the IPL cricket series will continue to be a point of focus again next year. Also in the works, there's his third tie-up with Farah Khan, who gave him two big hits with Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om.

That's the update on him, and if you try to fire an interview question at him, he laughs "Come on, I've been on the scene for more than 20 years now. I'm asked questions the entire day by my office people, by everyone around me, by my directors, my producers. Please, I like people who give 
me answers."

In his characteristic rat-a-rat style, he says, "On my last birthday, a journalist asked me very sweetly how I would celebrate with my parents. "I didn't get angry, but I was confused. If she wanted to know something about me, she should have known the basics. How could she not know that my parents have passed away?"

SRK is famously media-savvy. After graduating in economics, he enrolled for a master's degree in Mass Communication at Delhi's Jamia Milia Islamia institute.

Television and films happened, so those studies were left incomplete. Ask him about the state of the media today, and he responds. "Two things have happened in television and print media. None of us have much time, we are all busy. Earlier, we used to get information through the newspapers or television. We used to form our opinions on the basis of that information.

"Now, it's no longer information. Now it's an analysis that X is correct and Y is wrong. So what happens is already analysed for you. You don't have to think anymore."

According to him, wild assumptions have become endemic. "If I haven't gone to a particular place to meet a certain person, why is it assumed that I don't like that person? Maybe I was not invited, but it's already been analysed and it's there for all to read and believe.

"I still don't speak to quite a lot of magazines and papers. Not because I've an ego, I just don't want to be a part of their world."

The assumptions being referred could have something to do with Khan's hot and cold professional relationship with Amitabh Bachchan. Dipping for a metaphor, SRK remarks, "So many people go swimming but I don't participate. I don't like swimming. But when I see other people swimming, it doesn't irritate me.

"I've gone beyond the stage of being judgemental. What you do is fine by me, but I don't have to participate in it. I take my kids to the swimming pool. I sit in the corner, I enjoy a cigarette and a coffee. But people ask, 'You don't swwwwiiimm?' Listen, swimming is great, but I don't swim."

No need to ask Shah Rukh Khan more questions. He knows what you want to hear. He's a cool 
guy, so don't mess with him (Salman Khan?) and he won't mess with you.

He concludes, "I've received 
the Padmashree honour in India, I've received honours in Malyasia, in France and the UK. I'm at Madame Tussauds, I've got a lovely house, beautiful children, a lovely family and I've got beautiful friends. They matter to me, not what the media or anyone wants to make of me."

(The writer has been reviewing Bollywood ever since he was in diapers. He has also scripted three films and directed three including Fiza. Currently, he is working on his next film Rutba)