“I am open for women to marry me & spend the rest of their lives with me.”

Shah Rukh Khan is a happy man these days as people have reacted really positively to his new release Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

CNN-IBN caught up with King Khan at an event to unveil Filmfare’s latest cover, where he expressed his happiness towards audience’s reaction to his new movie.

Here is the excerpt of the interview:

CNN-IBN: Shah Rukh you have mentioned in many of your interviews that the character of Surinder Sahani (SRK’s name in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) is more close to you and is more of what you are than Raj (SRK’s name in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) but the personality you have we believe that you are more Raj.

Shah Rukh Khan: Ok, whatever you like me as. But personally I am quite boring. In reality I am more like Surinder Sahni.

CNN-IBN: The film has done a very good business but not so flattering reviews by critics, do you want to tell something to the critics who obviously would have missed something?

Shah Rukh Khan: No, I have always said that there are different kinds of people who watch a film. One is the audience, one are filmmakers like me who see a film from a different point of view and one is critics, who see it from a different point of view.

CNN-IBN: The film has done very well, but there is one thing I must tell you that there are many women who are still waiting for their Raj from DDLJ. Will you like to give them some advise that is there actually a character which actually exists in reality or was it just a personality that you portrayed so well that now most women want a guy like that?

Shah Rukh: No, I am there. Every Saturday I am open for women to come and marry me and spend the rest of their lives with me. I am at the Linking Road. I have been doing this for last 14 year since DDLJ was released and all the women who have married me are very-very happy. I have around 2.3 million children around the country and I am sorry for increasing the population of the country. So please tell all the ladies who are waiting to get married to Raj I am waiting for them too.

SRK the Golgappa Champion!

Shah Rukh Khan is sitting on top of the world with a rainbow draped across his shoulders.

The reason? His belief in simplicity, his faith in the common man’s love story being no lesser than Romeo and Juliet, or that of Raj and Simran in DDLJ, has come a winner at the box office with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi! He doesn’t need to laugh all the way to the bank anymore, nor does Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films actually, but SRK is smiling certainly. “The film is a love triangle between two people,” he said explaining its success to BT when box office tills didn’t stop ringing even after the film collected Rs 60 crore in its first three days... YRF’s biggest opening ever.

“I like this small-town attitude, the simplicity of the common man, this thing of saying ‘Sorry’ on a chit of paper that is such a turn on, the fact that an entire song could be pulled off out of a tiffin-box, and that the main issue of a song could also be a man moving onto buying a car from a scooter, or his eating extra golgappas out of love... no filmmaker has done this ever before in a romantic comedy,” the actor said. And, according to SRK, it could only be done because the characters were simple people.

“The world of Om Shanti Om, for instance, was different and these kind of scenes would not have worked in that film. Rab Ne... is a film from the inside... we’re showing the interior of people, they are small people, this is a small city we chose in Amritsar, there’s nothing hi-tech about the film, even the dance scenes are like ‘5, 6, 7, 8 ...’ in a small studio, there is none of the glitz, glamour and slickness of, say, the dance scenes in Dil To Pagal Hai... but that’s what simplicity is all about, that’s what old world charm is,” said the Surinder Sahni of Rab Ne...

It is true, and it is the simplicity of the common man that has worked for YRF at a time like this. Yes, the common man’s wounds of 26/11 are still raw, but he is aching for change, for a smile to be brought to his face without him feeling guilty about this lightness of heart... and that has come through Rab Ne... The fact that the film is doing well across India, around the world, shows that the trade and audiences have liked it.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta said, “The intrinsic Indian values in the film are being lapped up big time by audiences worldwide. I’m getting amazing feedback from Dubai, across the UK and US, from everywhere.” Even a common man like Girish Wankhede, deputy general manager of Cinemax, has reason to rejoice in the film.“It’s a big deal that people are back to theatres thanks to Shah Rukh Khan,” he said with heartfelt gratitude. Brijesh Tandon, an exhibitor from Delhi, agreed, “Multiplexes are full, people who stopped coming to theatres after 26/11, are back with new enthusiasm.” Mumbai collegian Indrani Sengupta added, “The film is entertaining, warm and beautiful. The song Haule Haule has become like a national anthem for youth in love.”

But Shah Rukh Khan would also like audiences to go home with the message that their love story is not ordinary. “Anybody’s love story is great by virtue of it being a love story,” he said. “And you don’t have to sail the seven seas to prove your love for a girl... just eating her biryani after stuffing yourself silly with golgappas is just the same.” If you don’t know what he means, go figure... the film tells the story.

There is no one bigger than me: SRK

Shah Rukh Khan was at his wittiest best at an event on Tuesday night to unveil the cover of Filmfare magazine. Not only was he looking dapper, but also charming everyone with his words and air kissing. The media straightaway started with asking him why Aamir Khan's film Ghajini's trailer was being shown during Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi's screening. And pat came the reply, "It's a very clever strategy. Aamir is using the best brand, that's SRK!" Read on for more priceless quotes from Shah Rukh Khan.

Shah Rukh went on to add that he has no competition with Aamir Khan. "Aamir is a senior actor. He has taught us a lot of things. We all love him. Whatever he does, he does conscientiously. But there is no one bigger than me."

On whose six-packs were better, Shah Rukh said, "It doesn't look nice to compare the six-packs of 40-year-old boys, rather men. Aamir and me did show our bodies to each other, though not sexually (laughs). We were just showing off - Achcha, tera kaisa dikh raha hai, mera thoda gol hain and stuff."

So, why was Anushka Sharma, the heroine of Rab Ne..., being kept under wraps? On a lighter note, SRK said, "I don't keep girls under wraps. I like the lights on...I'm that kind of a guy!" But seriously, he said, "Anushka did not have any work behind her and something to talk about. Now that it's been four-five days since the film has released, we'll bring her out. If we had brought her out before, journalists would've asked questions like, 'We saw you with your boyfriend outside college, who is he?' We wanted to avoid that."

Shah Rukh was in the Surinder Sahni character full on, and spoke like him for a while. "In real life, I'm very much like Suri. And 99 per cent of men are like that. They can't express their love. I feel a man should allow his woman (to be). If she says hold my hand, hold it immediately without saying a word."

The actor said that by playing characters like Kabir Khan in Chak De! India and Surinder Sahni in Rab Ne..., he was trying to show that he had grown up. "Main koi chhota bachcha nahin raha hoon abhi (I'm not a kid anymore)."

"In my films, I've thrown a woman down a building, I've cheated...I've done everything. Well, do everything, but don't break a woman's heart," Shah Rukh said to loud applause by the females in the audience.

Ending on a good note, SRK wished all his rivals well. "In these times of recession, I feel Ghajini should also do well. So should Chandni Chowk To China and other films. Everybody should be happy."

Adi-SRK bigger than Vipul Shah-Akshay Kumar

First things first! After a lull, when theatre managements were forced to call off shows due to lack of audiences, it was back to good old days this weekend. RAB NE BANA DI JODI, the first of the three 'Saviours' [the other two being GHAJINI and CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA], has succeeded in luring audiences back to movie halls.

Another observation! SRK's star power came to the rescue of RAB NE BANA DI JODI. A majority of those who watched the film were unanimous that the script was faulty, with loopholes aplenty. But SRK swept everyone off their feet!

Now let's talk business! RAB NE BANA DI JODI has come as a respite for the strife-torn industry, especially since everyone's talking non-stop of how the global meltdown and the terrorist attacks have hit movie business hard. The Saturday and Sunday numbers of RAB NE BANA DI JODI were excellent.

All through the weekend, the industry kept comparing RAB NE BANA DI JODI with RACE, SINGH IS KINNG and GOLMAAL RETURNS, the biggest openers of 2008. It was ahead at 'x' centre, behind at 'y' centre, they said.

If you ask my opinion, RAB NE BANA DI JODI should've had the biggest start of 2008. When SRK and Aditya Chopra shake hands, you expect the ultimate -- in terms of entertainment, in terms of numbers. Surely, the Adi-SRK combo is any day bigger than the Vipul Shah-Akshay Kumar combo [SINGH IS KINNG], Abbas-Mustan-Saif team [RACE] and Rohit Shetty-Ajay Devgan jodi [GOLMAAL RETURNS]. Come to think of it, it can't get bigger than Adi-SRK.

All said and done, RAB NE BANA DI JODI should've started with a bang, should've set new records, should set new benchmarks in business, should've been a trendsetter. Is it one?

Monday onwards, the film is sustaining well in North and parts of Central India and also South. But the severe drop at several screens cannot be ignored either. The feedback is mixed, people aren't going ga-ga or into raptures over RAB NE BANA DI JODI.

For the producers, who are also its distributors, RAB NE BANA DI JODI is a profitable venture, no two opinions on that. They will make pots of money on this venture. It's one of the biggest money spinners for YRF to date. The cost of production isn't much and the only expensive factor is SRK's remuneration. The recoveries from India theatrical, Overseas, Home Video and Satellite is sure to make the Chopras grin from ear to ear.

But as a cine enthusiast, you definitely expected Adi to push the envelope, to take Hindi cinema forward. When new/debutante directors can attempt films like ROCK ON!!, A WEDNESDAY, AAMIR, JANNAT and JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA, it inspires 20 people to take the torch forward. But if someone like Adi, the front-runner, thinks out of the box [within commercial parameters], it will inspire a whole new generation. Right?

SRK calls for better gear and equipment for security personnel

Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan advocated for equipping the security personnel with better protective gear to help protect them while fighting for the country.

At an event held in here on Tuesday, Khan expressed gratitude towards the security personnel who risked their own lives to save hundreds of innocents, during the deadly terror attacks.

He advocated for the need to provide the personnel with better equipment and gear to help them save their lives while tacking a situation like Mumbai attacks.

“I think we can only thank them (security personnel) as they risked their lives to save our lives. I would like to give this suggestion that the people who save our lives like army officers, ATS officers, police, navy, air force, should be provided with better protective gear and equipment to help them save themselves while fighting for us,” he said.

Shahrukh not paid for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

It is learnt that the King Khan didn't charge a single penny from his Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi makers Yash Raj films. But that doesn't mean he has done the film for free. So what has exactly been the equation then? Read on…

Insiders tell us, "Shahrukh Khan, post the success of Chak De! India has made a rule of sorts for close friends such as the Chopra family, Karan Johar and Farah Khan that he will not charge them any money but instead opt for the stake in the profits that they offer. He had applied this rule for good old friend Aditya Chopra's just released Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and his soon to start film with Karan Johar, My Name Is Khan."

"With Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi all set to do bumper business at the box-office especially in North India and the overseas market, Shahrukh may well end up taking home much more than his normal fees per film! That's a real smart move indeed of having your cake and eating it too," feels a senior Bollywood trade analyst.

Shah Rukh Khan launches the latest Filmfare issue

SRK talks about Suri being romantic and more

Why SRK doesn't care for six-packs, loves Suri (the character he plays in RNBDJ) and respects women

The man slips in and out of characters with characteristic ease. His romantic image has become something of a legend. Trust Shah Rukh Khan to go out and reinvent himself as Suri, an ordinary man every woman would want to love. Here, he talks about playing the part, both on the screen and off it...

What was your first reaction on seeing Rab Ne..?
I saw it with my kids. My daughter started crying in the scene when Suri tells his friend, "mera us se love kara de yaara." She was very disturbed and asked me 'why doesn't she like you when you are so nice?' My first reaction got emotional. I find the film a bit long, but that's me because I've seen it a couple of times. I thought the first half was a little long, even the second... but I really like the film, even more than Chak De! India.

What scenes do you like?
The scene when he starts talking to himself. To me, those are the sub-texts of the film. The two people in love, one wants to come out, but one wants to remain inside. All these things about Carl Jung that everyone has two people inside them is true. Adi doesn't like it. He says, "kya tu meri picture ko intellectual bana raha hai.' I also found the Chicken Little and the whole macho portion, very funny. That whole sequence builds up to the scene where he asks Taani what girls really want. And she says, "All every girl wants, is for some guy to love her more than he loves anything else."

And what do guys want?
He wants 40 women that he can love more than any other woman in the world.

B**tards! Even 40 are not enough!
I know. I was thinking like that when I was three and with every year I have added one and am 43 now. I think it grows with age.

Were you expecting mixed reactions to Rab?
Yeah. See people like Taran Adarsh (with due respect) gave even Chak De! a one star rating. Now I have started telling people, 'main hotel nahin hoon toh star mat do, telephone nahin hoon toh number mat do. Picture dekh lo, achchi lage toh.'

Taani not recognising Suri was unbelievable to many people...
When we finished reading the film, we were aware that there were two three leaps of faith. I asked Adi, 'yeh ho jayega?' and he said, 'Yeh ho jayega toh kamaal hai, nahin hoga toh, nahin hoga.' We even discussed if we should do prosthetics. And Adi said, "Tu kuch bhi kar le, tere awaaz sun ke bhi log pehchaan lenge. Adi just said "Give me a character and body language which is very different from yours, then it will work.' I thought that was very intelligent of him. He said that my face should not be different, or there was no point in signing me. We even tried a beard, but I didn't like it.

In retrospect, wasn't it a big leap of faith?
We knew that when the film released, the people who didn't like it would say, 'It's not possible.' Superman and Clark Kent looked the same, and nobody questions that, because it is a premise that has been given to you early. Similarly, I jump from the sixth floor and people say, 'cool.' Matlab, how? In OSO, i am f**king reborn and you say, 'theek hai'. Chak De! is so unrealistic. We don't even know the names of the women in the Indian hockey team and one man comes and they win the world championship!

From a desirable character with six-pack abs to simple Suri. Were there any fears?
I don't think like that. I never thought of myself as a desirable person. In terms of how I look, how I behave. So I have never have that fear. People ask 'how are you such a big star?'. I truly believe that there is something about me as an actor that connects, and I believe that is what makes the characters work. In Karan's film, I am just going to be an autistic person who can just about talk normally. I think it's okay, it's alright. I always think that a film is always going to be beyond a movie star. Or an actor. I feel Rab Ne is, in a way, beyond Suri, but actually, it is also just Suri. Adi told me very clearly when we started, 'that is we don't get Suri right then the picture is a big zero.' Some of the reports say: 'picture theek hai par aap kamaal ho.' That means picture kamaal hai, in this case. It won't be true in OSO, Chak De!, or any of my other hit films. This film is beyond me.

How did you work on the body language?
You know people always say I spend a lot of time in the bathroom and ask what I do there. I work on my walk. All my characters have a walk. People don't catch on, but to me it is a great turn-on. I don't even tell the director ninety percent of the time. But Adi wanted to know how Suri would walk. I made Suri flat-footed. I wanted him to have a little paunch, but not unattractive. I wanted him to be concave, a little bent. I also give Suri a double chin and a droop.

How do you do that?
You can bring your face down and let your lips hang. In a lot of scenes, I even put cotton in my mouth to make him look pudgy. I have not kept my face up, so there is no jawline definition. And in the scene when he is lying down, I have kept him 'tondh out'. In a serious film, sab kuch dark hota hai, sab real hai, toh it's fine. But not in a commercial film. We wanted people to love Suri, but I thought if I was able to keep him genuine, it would work. My logic was: Honesty and earnestness appeals to everyone, and Suri doesn't show off, so he is acceptable. And I also had this belief that he is very good in bed.

Suri!! Really?
I am very disturbed that Adi has not put it. Last shot tha mera. Taani and Suri are both lying in bed after making out. He has a smile on his face and then the camera turns around, and she looks at him and says, 'A One ji." I wanted that shot. My believe is that people who don't show off their good points, whatever those might be goodness, sexuality they are really sexy and appealing. The beauty of Suri is that he very comfortable with who he is. I am too.

I love Suri.
I think so. I love him too. I hope I can do a sequel to Suri.

You are brave enough to wear those clothes, wig, moustache et all, again?
I was very, very uncomfortable in the get up. On the first day, Adi made me wear that long underwear also. He wanted me to be very uncomfortable. I was very uncomfortable in Raj's jeans also. And the T-shirts he wore were so tight that they had to be pulled off and I would tear them. In some scenes if you notice his tees are ripped from the side. I would tell them, 'f**k it, shoot like that, why do you make them so tight, then?' I wanted Suri's hair to be very thin. I wanted him to be a little bald, but Adi didn't allow me.

Yeah that would've been too much.
So I wore a wig, which I never do. And those clothes! Every chance I got, I would remove the shirt and look cool in my baniyaan. And Adi made me wear the baniyaan with sleeves. Which I hate. I am anti-baniyaan. It used to make me so irritable.

Could you have made an arranged marriage work?
Yes. I have this belief that the person I am supposed to love for whatever reason. Even just by the institution, I would really respect it. Muhjne na yaar kisi ka bhi dil todhne main bahut bura lagta hai. Sometimes I get angry and say things but I hate to hurt women. I feel that God will punish me and take away all the goodness he has given me if I hurt a woman. And it's not because of the fear I will be forced to love a person. Because of this fear I love and respect women a lot more. I would've made any marriage work.

Did Gauri like Suri?
Oh, she loved him. She last said this to me in Chak De 'You are really good in the film, I don't know about the film.' And in this film she said: This is your best acting ever. She also really liked the film because there's a lot of Punjabi in it.

And what do you rate as your best performance?
Mine is always the next one. I will kill people with an overdose of Shah Rukh. (laughs)

Did Suri change you?
I became Suri. In the last sequence, the photographs were chosen in sequence by the director; I have just spoken over it. There were no written lines. I had gone to see Dostana. I'd reached early and was sitting with Aamir. He was talking about some shooting problem in Delhi, when Adi came and asked me if I would do a voiceover on the photos. I went in, and started to say some lines. Later, Adi heard it and said go. I said 'No, I will write it down now, fine tune it and do it better." But Adi said, 'f**k off from here. This is final.' He said he would not be able to write it better. It made me Suri for a while. It reminded me of my ordinary days. And it made me love the fact that I can be so ordinary. Even now, with all the trappings. It didn't change me. It just reminded me of who I am.

So you are like Suri?
I mean it sounds funny but I am a lot like Suri. I am shy of women, if Gauri tells me she doesn't love me, I'll tell her, it's okay. I feel too embarrassed to say anything more. I can't ever have a standoff with a woman. Suppose you say 'you are a ' to me, and you hate me, and I hate you for saying that, I might get a little sarcastic with you for sometime..but after that I love you too much to continue. It could be any woman. I saw a movie yesterday which has a line which goes: I have been in love with every woman. For ten minutes or ten years, and it's really that. And when I say love, it's not sexual.

Like Suri. Who doesn't even touch his wife, except till the last scene!
I think the best expression of love is achieved without touching. There's this scene where her hair is wet. Ek imagery hoti hai ke ladki geele baalon mein achchi lagti hai. And that's the only time you catch him staring at her. He doesn't look at her otherwise. He stares at the tiffin box more. He knows he is off limits and he respects that. If a man can respect his off-limitedness with a woman, how much ever she allows him to be close, that's the sexiest and the most romantic thing he can do. If a woman says, make love to me, you say ok, if a woman says kiss me, okay, if she says hold my hand, okay. The woman says, stay two feet away from me, okay. Do that and the romance will come through.

You believe that?
Yes. I tell this to every man, and I will teach this to my son after five years, if you can respect the physical space of a woman, you will be the most romantic man on earth. When a girl needs a hug, you give it to her and when she doesn't need it, you don't need to hug her to show anything. You don't have to look deeply into her eyes, dance or sing woh sab picturoon main hota hai. That's why Suri to me is the ultimate romantic, sexiest hero in the world.

"My next role is of an autistic!"

Shah Rukh Khan does not let the grass grow beneath his feet.

The Bollywood Badshah is not so much dwelling on his new release last Friday as he is into enjoying the thrill of beginning a new film tomorrow. It is being done in LA, with old friend Karan Johar, and guess what — the actor who is accused of having five expressions and playing limited roles, is daring to act an autistic in this film called My Name Is Khan.

His character, Rizvan Khan, suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, which is an autism disorder and is characterised by difficulties in social interaction and behaviour. Half of the film is a true story based on a couple’s life in LA. Karan bought the rights of the story from them and cannot wait to begin shooting with SRK on it.

For the role, Shah Rukh has to gain weight, and that is what he is doing currently. “The role requires me to have a fuller look,” said the actor who has plunged into his character already and is doing research on autism to see how complex these individuals are. “I am reading, watching documentaries, meeting people who are affected by autism and doctors who deal with it. It’s very unnerving and I salute parents who bring up children with any disorders,” said SRK. Will he watch Dustin Hoffman’s Oscar performance as an autistic in the award winning film Rain Man of 1988? He might!

Shibani Bhatija, the screenplay writer of the My Name Is Khan, has SRK detained in LA as a suspected terrorist because he is a Muslim and his impairment makes his behaviour suspicious. Kajol returns to act opposite the superstar for the first time since Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham in 2001. They’ve done several film together including Baazigar, Karan Arjun, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

SRK to shoot qawalli song for Dulha Mil Gaya in February

Shahrukh Khan will shoot a qwalli song for Dulha Mil Gaya and also dub for the movie. If sources are to be believed Khan himself will croon the song.

Recently Dulha Mil Gaya was shot from 24 November onwards for a period of two weeks, during which Shahrukh shot his scenes and also a song of the movie.

Producer Viveck Vaswani said, "Yes SRK has finished shooting all his portions for Dulha Mil Gaya. We will shoot one song in February. He will also try to dub before he leaves for America. If not, he will come back and dub."

The film is directed by Mudassar Aziz and co produced by Viveck Vaswani and Maverick Productions. It stars Sushmita Sen, Fardeen Khan and Tara Sharma apart from Shahrukh.