Shah Rukh Khan, fabulous at 50

It’s heartening to see Shah Rukh Khan, 50, romance a woman closer to his age in the just-released trailer for Dilwale. But the actor feels that much ado is being made about it.

“I am ok, young or old... Nobody talks about George Clooney romancing a younger girl or Clint Eastwood doing it. We Indians keep on talking about it. I am OK with it [romancing younger women on the big screen] and I think the younger girls are also happy with it,” said Khan, speaking to reporters globally via a video link at the trailer launch in Mumbai on Monday night. In his recent blockbusters Chennai Express and Happy New Year, Khan was seen cosying up to 29-year-old Deepika Padukone.

“In Dilwale, we have two phases — young and old — in this film. But we should beyond those, instead of bracketing a film like a 50 year old romancing a 19 year old ... We are actors and we are supposed to play any kind of role and hope that we carry it through. In real life, people do it [romance young women] more often,” said Khan.

“Boman [Irani, who has a role in Dilwale and was present at the trailer launch] is laughing the loudest now,” said Khan.

Dilwale reunites Khan and Kajol, the hit Bollywood on-screen couple that has delivered blockbusters such as My Name Is Khan, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. But Khan, who is also the co-producer of Dilwale, believes there’s more to the film than the obvious casting coup.

“I don’t make a film because it is cool... If you are in tandem with the director that you have worked with and he has a story to tell, you don’t question that. I never look if a film will work at the box office or not. Rohit is extremely close to me. He knows my mind and I know he loves and challenges me as an actor. You trust him and go ahead,” said Khan.

While Shetty’s thing is to blow up swanky cars, Khan’s thing is to romance women in saris that dance in the wind, he joked. The two have an unspoken agreement to stick to that brief in their films.

“Rohit doesn’t stop me from blowing away saris and I don’t stop him from blowing up cars. We both have our fetishes,” he joked. True to his word, the trailer of Dilwale is punctuated with Khan twirling around with a sari-clad Kajol and participating in some testosterone-charged car stunts.

Director Shetty, who has proved his mettle at churning out entertainers that blend action, adventure and romance (think Chennai Express, the Singham series and Bol Bachchan), claims it was Khan who suggested Kajol’s name.

“I consider myself lucky that Kajol said yes to the film and I got Shah Rukh as a producer. But here was no strategy to bring them together,” said Shetty.

The film, which is a hearty mix of action, adventure and romance, also features a talented ensemble including Varun Dhawan, Irani, Kriti Sanon and comedian Johnny Lever.

“Dilwale is a family film with action, comedy, romance and huge amount of drama. And it is always great to work with actors who better your work. And Kajol is one of them. We both are so easy with each other — she tells me if she doesn’t like me in a particular scene. She is earnest and therefore we listen to her. She is very truthful and she is not a completely trained, technique-ridden actor... It is nice to have someone who is as earnest as her,“ said Khan.

But romancing on the big-screen isn’t as serene and sexy as it looks. A song that was filmed in Iceland and sees Kajol in weather-inappropriate saris, stands proof.

“The glaciers that you see us standing on... we actually stood there and froze our butts off,” said Kajol.

But that hardship has paid off in terms of bragging rights. Khan pointed out that it’s the first Indian film that has been partially filmed in Iceland.

“We filmed the song at Black Beach, Shadow Lake in Iceland where Game Of Thrones’ climax and Interstellar were shot. Even Justin Bieber’s new video has been shot there,” said Khan.

Dilwale, produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Rohit Shetty Productions, will release in the UAE on December 17.