“With due respects to Hrithik,Salman,Aamir and all my other colleagues when you talk Shah Rukh Khan you can’t touch this.I may be wrong.But that’s how I feel.People may think I’m being pompous .But I genuinely feel that I work very hard.And nobody messes around with me.From Motilal to my son Aryan,nobody can touch this.It’s so stupid,but every year since I came into films someone or the other is about to overtake me.When I came I was a nobody.In some ways I’m still a nobody.So overtaking me is no big deal.”
“No one takes my place.That’s what’s so unique about me.I guard my place very zealously and I’m proud of it.I can be no.27 or no. 1000.But there cannot be another Shah Rukh Khan. Honestly do you think there’s another Amitabh Bachchan,Rajesh Khanna or Balraj Sahni? Whoever is stupid enough to compare me,Aamir or Salman with Amitabh Bachchan,let me tell them even the three of us together cannot be Amitabh Bachchan.We never will be.At the same time,Salman and Aamir and I are all very important in our places.And we should stick to what makes us special.”
“I ‘d like to be associated with films that are associated with Shah Rukh Khan.You know there is a certain criteria for quality? I am that quality.My films should be Shah Rukh Khan kind of films”
“Like my first film Deewana? Do you know Raj Kanwar had already shot with Armaan Kohli before I stepped into the role? I just followed Raj Kanwar’s instructions in Deewana.In that sense,I owe the impact I made to him.Obviously his style was different from mine.But the passion was the same.Even in Mr Yash Chopra’s films we share an equal passion,though his style of acting is different from mine.See,I need to be instructed by my directors.But nobody can tell me to do a scene exactly like him.My scenes are done the Shah Rukh Khan way.
“I had my knee and ankle operated on in Austria. The operations take place mainly during the skiing season. I suppose the skiing accidents keep the doctors busy,Then they close down.It sounds weird.But like seasonal fruits they have seasonal surgery.It’s like Diwali is the best time to release my films? Well February was the best time to get my leg injuries looked into.”“Because Farah Khan is a friend I have asked her to work on the script a little harder.I feel if she’s turning director we should make an outstanding film together.She would be leaving behind her thriving career as a choreographer for direction.It’s a tough decision.Once you take the plunge there’s no going back.For Farah it’s like being no.1 at tennis and then going into baseball.”
“For all you know I might be finished as a superstar.But my ratings have to be judged by my films,not by anyone else’s film.For me only my films are important.
“I wouldn’t have done HeyRam for anyone except Kamal Haasan unless I was offered Saket Ram’s role.For him I would’ve even done a walk-on part.I don’t think I’m cut out for period films.I don’t have the patience for getting into costumes and beards and creating pre-set characters.I like to play characters I can create on screen.Perhaps guys who don’t really exist? So okay the guy in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai contained realistic elements.But he was basically a fantasy figure.I referred to five or six characters I had met to create my character.But if I play Mahatma Gandhi I can’t do that.I don’t have the will,patience or perhaps even the talent to play real characters.Maybe I can do this five years down the line.But right now I can’t.Someone had offered me the role of Dr Ambedkar.
“I wouldn’t mind playing Idi Amin.But I can’t a play a real life saint.Nobody would be interested in the character’s grey areas.That would be like blasphemy. There are lots of actors like Naseerbhai,Nana and Kamal Haasan who have very strong social or political convictions.They are suited to tackle such characters.
“My convictions as an actor are very simple.I should enjoy myself in doing a part as much as Michael J.Fox does.I don’t like the role Nicolas Cage played in Leaving Las Vegas,though I liked him in Face Off. I get depressed by serious films.I cry real tears when I see Naam, Imtihaan,Bambi and Awakenings,
“With due respects to K.L. Saigal Saab who came long before my time, Dilip Saab embodies Devdas. Obviously you can’t touch that performance. Maybe if I had to re-do Ram Aur Shyam I’d play it differently from Dilip Saab. Such lighthearted characters give an actor the liberty to be flexible. But in Devdas Dilip Saab has set guidelines that cannot be tampered with.
” In Dilwale Dulhaniya… I can hundred percent assure you that the characterization got the top honours. No one had done a character the way Adi had done mine.
“I’ve a unique way of dealing with life. I never fight it. I take it on its own terms. I first go with the flow and then I overtake it. So far I’ve never had to fight against fate.
” I’m very lucky with my friends. Yashji , Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar aren’t in my life because of the work. People like Karan and Adi were my friends from before we came into movies. Neither me nor they have ever been in a situation where we need to work together to remain friends . Once I finish work with any of my friends, we don’t need to quickly move on to the next project just to keep relations alive. Nor like some of my other colleagues , do I say, ‘Now you work with someone else because we need a break from each other.’ I’d never do a film for friendship. That’s a compromise I’d never be able to live with. I guess my friends are friends because somewhere we’re likeminded.
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