Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who peddled the idea of perfect love in all its messy glory and even romanticised intense courtship in several of his hit films, wasn’t faking it.
The 51-year-old icon is a purist when it comes to love.
“As strange and as mushy as it sounds, I believe that someone, somewhere is made for you. I believe in everlasting love. Honestly, I don’t sell the idea of everlasting love in my films, I believe in that idea,” said Khan in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!. While a cynic may scoff at those words, Khan — dressed in youthful green-cargo pants, white sneakers and red plaid flannel shirt — is decidedly earnest.
He swears he isn’t saying these words because he’s in Dubai to promote his new romantic comedy, Jab Harry Met Sejal, out in the UAE on August 3.
In this Imtiaz Ali-directed romance, Khan plays Harinder Singh, an Indian tour guide in Europe, who’s forced to help his Gujarati client, Sejal (played by Anushka Sharma), find her engagement ring. She’s re-tracing her path with him in the hope of controlling the damage with her fiance, and the hunt takes them on an adventure spanning four European nations and a village in Punjab.
Khan is that relatable icon who has this wholesome family-man image going for him with his sweetheart-turned-wife Gauri Khan, his three children and a lush life in a sea-facing mansion in Mumbai. This poster child for grand passion seems to practice what he preaches.
“You may not find that someone in one lifetime or ever, but I believe in the maxim that even if there are issues in a relationship, you can sort them out... Every couple has a unique love-romance equation and a unique space they occupy. It may not make sense to us necessarily or fit within our definition of love, but it exists,” said Khan.
Just like his cult on-screen character Rahul in 1995’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge — a film that made movie-mad Indians fall in love with love — he’s schmaltzy in real life too. But is there anything that will propel him to throw in the proverbial towel and walk away from a relationship?
“I have no deal breakers with women as far as relationships is concerned. She can do anything she wants to do with me, she can say anything to me, behave the way she wants to and I will still be in love. I genuinely believe that,” said Khan, who’s described as the King of Bollywood romance, a title that he earned due to his string of romantic roles. While his words may seem like he’s normalising being in a toxic relationship, his co-star Sharma is relatively more pragmatic when it comes to love.
“I believe everlasting love is possible, but there’s always transformations. The meaning of love between the couple changes with time. The secret is to accept those changes. Love keeps transforming itself with time and you have to be open to such transformations. Sometimes people want to hold on to the love they experienced at some phase and that doesn’t work,” said Sharma. Unlike Khan, she doesn’t walk with blinkers on when it comes to love. Her deal breaker?: Dishonesty, a quality that will make her run in the opposite direction from her lover.
The pair even had an interesting observation about Khan and his roster of romantic roles that gained him instant stardom. Khan’s career is studded with varying shades of romantic lead roles: think an obsessive lover in Darr; an affable but determined young man in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, who will go to any lengths to marry his sweetheart; or the morally ambiguous husband in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.
“Come to think of it: as an actor, I am either running away with my bosses’ girlfriend [film: Yes Boss], in Pardes I run off with the girl that I was supposed to get my friend married to, and I fell in love with a married woman in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna,” said Khan with a laugh. So is it the lure of the forbidden woman that makes the world spin?
“I think to Imtiaz, the women are more desirable that way. All of his films have somebody falling in love with somebody who’s in a relationship or who’s engaged and that makes the guy fall in love with her,” said Sharma.
Ali agrees that conflict and passion makes a good love story.
To make Jab Harry Met Sejal convincing and conversational, the actors had long readings at Khan’s home in Mumbai along with director Ali to get a grip on their characters. Sharma also had a Gujarati diction coach to ace Sejal’s dialect and she wrote down her dialogues in the way it’s pronounced to nail her role.
While Ali may be considered as a loyalist to the romance genre, the director, whose credits include the highly enjoyable Socha Na Tha, Love Aaj Kal and Tamasha, doesn’t like to classify his films. His filmmaking is all about letting the love story grow organically.
“What I realised is that Shah Rukh is a person who understands love deeply. He’s explosive and passionate and goes into the depths of his role. It was dramatic to work with him,” said Ali.
He didn’t waste time telling Khan on how to play the role of a lover differently and just concentrated on briefing him about his character Harry (short for Harinder Singh).
THE TRAVELLING CREW
This trio was like a travelling circus caravan who worked on making the conversations between Harry and Sejal seem delightful and spontaneous.
While filming it was a logistical challenge, Ali was careful not to reduce this romantic comedy into a travelogue that’s intent on showcasing exotic European cities.
While it may be a serious concern, there’s another intriguing twist.
Did Khan, who is known for his legendary charm and tardiness, ever make it to the sets on time?
“I can reach anywhere any time and complete my work on time. Second thing is, I got a very wrong superstar belief in me that time starts when I arrive at a place. Some people have hair problems or skin problems or Scurvy and I have a time problem. I suffer from Tardinessentitis,” said Khan, coining a term for his own propensity to stray away from schedule and unpunctuality. At the recent press conference and a fan interaction in Dubai, the superstar turned up more than three hours late, much to the frustration of his fans and the local media.
He makes slight of his own undesirable trait by claiming that arriving late on sets has an unlikely perk.
“In the morning till noon, because of the sun, the light is very good. I don’t want to be shot in good light, because I am naturally beautiful, and a God’s gift to mankind. I want the lady to be shot in good light. So I stayed away from the good light,” said Khan, adding that he was doing his co-star a favour. His wry sense of humour may be tough to grasp, but Khan believes that time starts when he arrives at a venue.
While such unapologetic vanity may be annoying in a partner, the sarcastic superstar grins to take the edge off his words. And true to his word, he has stuck to his promise of delivering a neat romantic comedy — just in time for this weekend.
“When I saw the final print, I told Imtiaz that Jab Harry Met Sejal is the nicest, girly film I have ever seen,” said Khan.
Don’t miss it
Jab Harry Met Sejal will release in the UAE on August 3 in the cinemas near you.
SHAH RUKH KHAN AND ANUSHKA SHARMA ON...
...favouritism, the topic that’s fuelling Bollywood debate season.
Sharma: “I am a product of people who have put faith in me like Aditya Chopra [head of Yash Raj Film]. He had the option of taking any established actor, or someone else’s child or a big star, but he chose me. I have never been denied support from within the industry. I am here because of the people who supported me along the way.”
Khan: “I don’t want to add my two cents to this one. You just have to be a star... Who you are, where you come from and why it happened — is inconsequential. It is a matter of debate for people who have too much time on their hands. I think I am too busy being a star.”
QUOTE UNQUOTE
“I haven’t shown the [Phurrr] video to kids... I look so uncool in it. He [DJ Diplo] does some cool stuff though,” said Khan, adding that he isn’t too sure if he got Diplo’s swag right.
