Yesterday when I was going through news headlines, as usual with 'Shah Rukh' as key word (lol), I found this article. I think it's the one and only time Shah Rukh talked about it as I haven't found it written anywhere else. Not even in Anupama Chopra's King of Bollywood.
To quote what he said in the book about the whole Hrithik Vs. the Khan angle: "It was so wrong. You can't take away ten years of work. You can't suddenly tell me one morning, 'Hey you're displaced. You are too old, you are not good enough'. I couldn't get out of my house without someone asking me what I thought of Hrithik Roshan. It became shameless."
Taking things as they come (Friday, May 12, 2000)
Extract:
``Did it disappoint you that this show with Juhi (Chawla) and (director) Aziz (Mirza), did not turn up trumps at the box-office, as it was designed to do?''
Shah Rukh did not bat an eyelid as he came back: ``I have done my job as a producer of ``Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''. I felt happy enough working in the movie as an actor. It would, of course, have been nice if the film had been a big hit, too, but its fate has not altered our earlier plans, not one bit. We - Aziz, Juhi and I - will continue to produce films for our Dreamz Unlimited. In fact, we are already on to a project by Santosh Sivan titled ``Ashoka'' - with me in the title role. This will be a small-budget film with a small cast and so, in terms of cost and the like, it will be viable. Next, I am doing an Abbas- Mastaan movie and Aziz (Mirza) is, once again, writing the script. So, you see, the `Dreamz' continue. I always have believed in making films I enjoy doing and about which I feel generally good. `Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani' was certainly one such film.''
``You must have felt very bad that Kamal Hassan's ``Hey Ram!'', your follow-up release, also let you down badly at the turnstiles,'' I pointed out. ``Would it have better if you had not banked on ``Hey Ram!'' in the aftermath of ``Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'?''
Shah Rukh shrugged his shoulders to note: ``Let me tell you one thing - I do enough movies for the money I want from this industry. But an actor needs to introspect and engage in some serious cinema too - to test himself as a performer. In this context, I feel very happy that I got to do ``Hey Ram!'', as I had always wanted to work with the total cineaste in Kamal Hassan. Believe me, I was not in the least disappointed here, either with my role - I well knew that mine was a small part - or with the way ``Hey Ram!'' finally shaped as a film. Mine was a parallel role here. But yes, I would have liked ``Hey Ram!'' to do well commercially for the sake of Kamal, who is a good friend of mine. I will value ``Hey Ram!'' as one of my best films. Let me repeat, I enjoy what I do and I do what I feel from my heart. In fact, this is the only yardstick I employ while choosing a film. I go by my gut feeling about a project. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but that does not take away the joy I have felt while doing the movie.''
I draw Shah Rukh's attention to all the talk in the air about the kind of hit both ``Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai'' and its breakthrough hero, Hrithik Roshan, are. Everyone wants to sign Hrithik for his film. Does it, in any way, make him feel insecure?
If I had expected Shah Rukh, as the still reigning superstar, to blow a fuse, I was disappointed. If anything, Shah Rukh retorted, coolly: ``It was I who suggested to Rakesh Roshan that he make a film with his son, Hrithik, at a time when the father was keen to start a new project with me in the lead. I feel happy, therefore, that what I saw in Hrithik, during the making of `King Uncle', has been borne out. Hrithik is an extremely hard-working young man, besides being a talented actor. I could see the sparks in him then itself, though Hrithik was there but fleetingly in `King Uncle'. I have seen Hrithik practically grow up in front of my eyes and am glad that he has started out so well."
``Which,'' I ask Shah Rukh in conclusion, ``have been your satisfying films as an actor?''
``I have enjoyed acting in ``Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman'', ``Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa'', ``Baazigar'', ``Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'', ``Duplicate'', ``Koyla'' and ``Ram Jaane''. There have been times when I have not really gone along with some of my films - ``Deewana'' and ``Karan Arjun'', to name just two, but they went on to become such huge hits. So I cannot claim to be a box-office pundit. I feel I will always be an actor. It is so difficult to go on doing something well for long, after having been at it for years. So this is what I would call my real achievement. Once an actor, always an actor, as far as I go,'' wound up Shah Rukh, leaving you in no doubt that he is a formidable force despite the competition fiercely building up around him.
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