When I finish a film I rinse myself of it: Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan opens up to TOI on being professional and accepting failure, feeling ‘a little alien’ in his country and why his next could also have been Kolkata Express
Interview? Sure! Karte hain na abhi, 10 minute mein,” was how Shah Rukh Khan reacted. Just like that. No starry airs, no caginess, no holding back. Team Kolkata had just won Friday’s match and the Badshah was in a great mood. So a few hours of sound sleep, and SRK was ready for a relaxing chat with us. And with him, it’s always direct, dil se… Excerpts:

You team is the defending champion. But this season, Kolkata is not doing too well in the IPL…
More than anything else, I feel bad for the cricketers. If you are a professional team, you have to take it in your stride — the good and the bad. A professional needs to leave behind the good times and the bad times. Like there are good films, there are bad films. You have to take both; that’s what being professional is all about. You are as good as your last Friday. Having said that, yes, it feels bad when your film doesn’t do well. When we start anything, we assume we are making something very nice. Sometimes everything put together with the best of intent does not come through. It is professional to accept that, to accept failure and success.

You’ve seen so many ups and downs. How do you handle them?
I am a sportsman by nature. When I finish a film I rinse myself. I take a shower for one hour. I wash myself of the last film I have done on the last day. This is it. You can’t do anything about it. It’s gone. Games are like that. So we won (the Eden match on Friday against the Team Rajasthan), it was fantastic. But that day is over. We can’t carry it with us, like people resting on their laurels. It’s over.

So does the same philosophy apply to films?
I have done 75 films. I can’t keep going back to Dilwale…, to Maratha Mandir (the Mumbai theatre where the film is still running) and say this is the longest running film in the history of India. It is done with. I am really happy that it did so well. I am grateful to Allah. I am grateful to people, but it is over. It got over on that Friday in ‘95.

Coming back to cricket, why do you think the team not doing well this season?
That’s because, one, the team itself has gone through lows in the six years — controversies, nonsense, silliness, stupidity, and also a lot of pressure because it happens to be, fortunately or unfortunately, owned by me, a person who is part of the movie-making Bollywood sector of business. So obviously it gets a lot more attention.

Because of the glitz and the glamour…
As far as I am concerned, IPL is about the sport and not any Bollywood connection, whatever people may like to take away from it. The audience can always take away whichever scene they want to. But IPL is about the sport, it’s about the youngsters. When people ask me about the season not being good, yeah it is there for everyone to see it’s not good. But it doesn’t kill you. You get up and you try again. Similarly, when someone says last season was fantastic, I don’t live by that. And I don’t live by this either. You move on. You create new things. So, inshallah, it will turn out well. But Man U loses, Chelsea loses. The Indian team loses. The Australian team also loses… But you have to say that we are going to try our best. That’s the culture. People must understand that sport is like Chak De.

How involved are you involved in something like, say, team selection?
No, our roles are very clear. Jai and Venky sir, they handle the administration, movement, hospitality. Gautam (Gambhir) and Trevor Bayllis, they do the cricket part of it. I am very, very clear, to put it as a joke, that I am the glamour quotient or the fun guy of the team. At the same time, I am the face of the team. I am not taking anything away from the Jai-Juhi-Shah Rukh team. I keep everyone happy. I think I am more of the outside happiness-bringing side of the team. I do all the joking, talking, cartwheeling. My kids come. Jai does all the administration. Juhi does all the prayers and Kolkata does all the cheering. (Laughs)

Many feel Chak De! India — a sports film — was your best performance ever…
Around 2.6 billion people watch my films. I can never ever counter anybody’s views. I am glad some liked that film. My son too feels that’s my best film. I personally like some others. But my liking is not important at all. Once I have done a film I have put it into the public domain — it is your (public) opinion. A lot of people did not like me, my looks, in that film and even said so. A top director who is also very close to me told me that Chak De was a very good film and if I was not part of it, it would have done much better — I had done such a bad job! So everybody has their own opinion.

And the most difficult role so far?
(Promptly) The next one! It’s always the next one. It is never the one that has happened. If I have done it, it is over and it wasn’t difficult.

Tell us about your new film, Chennai Express…
That’s also over now. It was great fun, completely different. It is really off-the-cuff. It’s with a lot of abandon, a lot of madness. It’s an in-your-face, over-the-top happy comedy and action film. I had a lot of fun doing it.

When do we see you in a film centred on Kolkata?
(Laughs) I have done Chak De, so I have done the whole of India! Chennai Express is not about Chennai. It’s about the journey of a guy down south. It is about so many languages, so many cultures and sometimes I find myself feeling a little alien in my own country. The beauty of the film is, there are 1,600 languages in our country and dialects change every 500 km. And still we are all Hindustanis. It could have been Kolkata Express, it could have been Gujarat Express, Punjab Express…

And what films do you like to watch?
I’ve liked It’s A Mad Mad Mad World. I used to watch it with my mother. It’s an old film, a comedy. I think somebody even remade it in India. Recently, I liked Flight (Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington film) and Silver Lining Playbook.

Share with us some of the memories of your mother…
(Visibly holding back emotions) I don’t think or remember anything of my parents. I have a couple of pictures of them. The other day I was sitting and telling my daughter what my mother’s name was, because they have never met her. Her name was Lateef Fatima. I sense her at two times, when I am extremely sad and extremely happy. I miss her, but that’s very personal. I find it somehow reducing the importance of what my mother is to me if I speak about a selective memory.

With the constant media focus, how difficult is it for your family?
We as a family are completely untouched by the exterior of my stardom. I tell them if you feel bad, you have the right to show it. If you feel happy it is all right. It is absolutely okay to show your emotions as long as you are giving in to each emotion. Yes, being a star, I sometimes get constricted. I get disturbed by stupid controversies or when somebody says something, I am like, ‘Stay away from me. You don’t even know me and you are saying this’. How often can you convince yourself that you are a public figure and people have the right to say things about you publicly? No, there is a private part of you which will always be separate from the public figure. It is a difficult life at times, but a most beautiful one.

You seem to wear your heart on your sleeves…
I have led my life the way I wanted to and it has been a good life. And if it ain’t broke I won’t fix it. If you spend time with me and look deep into my eyes you will understand that it is nice to be the way I am, to wear my heart on my sleeves. But if you don’t know me and if you were to just see me from the outside, a lot of the things I do are questioned. After losing my parents, I reached a stage about 25 years ago, when I didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. I am a giver. I don’t hold back. Sometimes I find that when you become a star you hold back. You become enigmatic. It is the demeanour of a star. Many times, I’m told that I shouldn’t be so free, but I say it’s ok. That’s the way I am.

What inspires and motivates you?
To give and to believe. And when you give, you never go wrong. I teach my kids this. That it is okay to be nervous, it’s all right to be scared of failure because it will help you succeed. At the end of it all if you believe that something will be a certain way, just believe it and a lot of other people will believe in it too. And give. You can’t be a taker.

As the brand ambassador, how do you intend to promote West Bengal?
It’s a mistake to believe that an actor can promote a state. Every state or city has something beautiful to offer. I am not stretching it, but Kolkata is genuinely the cultural centre of our country from time immemorial. That’s what I have been taught by my parents. It is the City of Joy. Everything started off here, whether it was the revolution or literature or poetry or songs or whether an international company came and set up shop here. Everyone knows it all stared here. Times change, things change. Just the fact that there is so much beauty here, it got thwarted a little bit. The people here are so cultured, so educated. The city has given me so much. I am an outsider in a certain sense, but when I got the choice I felt culturally and sports-wise Kolkata was somehow the hub. I had three-four choices for the IPL bidding, but I chose Kolkata.

You’ve been to Kolkata before you became a star.
When I was young I came here and performed with Anamika, the theatre group, when I was with Barry John. We stayed here for some days at Shakespeare Sarani. We lived in a big room with mattresses on the floor. We performed the play Rough Crossing. When I was doing my masters, my audiovisual final was on the City of Joy. I had come here, taken pictures, done a 10-minute audiovisual on the city. Why, I don’t know. I was just very attracted. I used to hang around the Maidan area, taking pictures of kids playing soccer. I spent four days shooting here. I remember coming here again and going to a nightclub called Pink Elephant. I have been on a tram. I had come and spent two days with Gauri’s family (cousins) who stay here. I have come here and performed at the Mittal wedding. I have spent a lot of time here. So I have been coming to Kolkata for long.

What is your first memory of Kolkata after you became a movie star?
The premiere of Darr. I put my hand out and I got pulled up by my fans to the top and Yash Chopra, Pam aunty and Juhi were in front of me. And they went away and I was screaming.

How has the city treated you?
When I came here with the IPL, everybody took to us. Truth is, I genuinely want to thank Kolkata. Once in a year this is the time, this is like an awesome time.