Shah Rukh Khan has two defining characteristics: astonishing vivacity, which is an outlet for the powerhouse of intense energy he car...
Shah Rukh Khan has two defining characteristics: astonishing vivacity, which is an outlet for the powerhouse of intense energy he carries within, and a disarming self-belief that often expresses itself as incorrigible self-praise. His philosophy of life is perhaps best expressed in a song he lipped for a 1990s quickie, Yes Boss: “Jo main chahoon wo main paaoon/saari duniya par main chhaoon/bas itna sa khwab hai (Ihave just this teeny-weeny dream that I should get everything I wish for and tower over the world).” The song continues with the refrain, “I’m the best, I’m the best…” India’s foremost contemporary actor has always believed he is indeed the best. As Anupama Chopra quotes him telling a magazine in 1994, “I have already picked up three (Filmfare Awards). I intend to add at least one to the collection every year. And why not? I’m one of the best actors on the scene today.” There could not have been a better biographer of Shah Rukh Khan than Chopra, who is among India’s most intelligent and perceptive film critics. She has not penned a hagiography of the actor she evidently admires. The book is not just a narrative of Shah Rukh’s life story; it is a broad canvas depiction of the world of Hindi cinema, its evolution reflecting changes in value systems; fascinatingly woven into her racy account is India’s transformation into a self-confident economic power. Chopra has fused Shah Rukh’s life story into that of post-Independence India. While the actor’s phenomenal rise to superstardom is relatively well known, Shah Rukh’s early life is something he doesn’t talk about much. I have always thought this to be a measure of his self-conviction: he never tries.to peddle his middle class background as a selling point to garner sympathy. But Chopra tells his early life story poignantly—his father Meer’s migration from Pakistan leaving the bulk of the family behind because of a passionate belief in India, Meer’s failure to establish any worthwhile means of existence, his mother Fatima’s struggle to give the children a good upbringing and Shah Rukh’s deep attachment to his large-hearted parents. Interviewing him in 2005, I had asked if he had any regrets in life and Shah Rukh said, only that his parents didn’t live to see his success, adding he had even arranged a TV set in his mother’s hospital room so she could catch episodes of Fauji, the teleserial that catapulted him to fame. But she was too ill. The early chapters of the volume, detailing many hitherto unknown facts of Shah Rukh’s early life—participation in mohalla Ramlilas, involvement with theatre teacher and TAG founder Barry John, his natural flair for drama—give remarkable insights into his evolution as India’s most loved actor today. Even more than what he learnt from his teachers, he internalised life or even chance comments from seniors. Chopra refers to producer-director Lekh Tandon once telling him that while dying onscreen one must never try to squeeze sympathy out of the audience, but depict death with passion and dignity instead, prompting Shah Rukh to demonstrate anger while enacting the death sequence in Devdas, giving screen death a new definition. The book also brings out the actor’s human side. Shah Rukh comes across as a man with fierce commitment. His love story, passion for future wife Gauri—he chased her to Mumbai when she tried to get away from him—and his ability to be two persons at the same time, one for the industry and another for his family, are brought out with fine craftsmanship. Apparently, Shah Rukh would have highly charged exchanges with Kundan Shah on the sets of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, a film that laid the way to his meteoric rise. Yet, when Shah ran out of money to buy raw film stock and okayed a shot Shah Rukh knew he actually wanted re-taken, he scoured all adjoining sets to borrow some at 3 a.m., returning to Shah’s sets and crying like a child. Then there was the time he went straight to directors AbbasMustan’s home in Mumbai to touch their feet immediately after winning his first best actor trophy. The book helps every lover of Shah Rukh’s passionate screen depictions to understand what lies behind his throbbingly infectious energy and that touch of impulsiveness. That’s why he was so realistic in Baazigar and Darr, playing roles most actors would not touch. Clearly, Chopra has targeted an international audience. The introduction may read somewhat simplistic to avid followers of Hindi cinema in India. But the author has written an eminently readable book, which I believe would be read and loved by everybody.
