Shahrukh Khan - Locarno Film Festival.
Shahrukh Khan - Locarno Film Festival
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00:00:00actor, to be honest. I was one of those kids who wanted to participate in everything that
00:00:05happened in school. So whether it was the 100 meter dash, whether it was drama, or little
00:00:11plays, or you know, what have you in school, sticking pictures on little chart papers and
00:00:17having an exhibition or making a small light light up in a science exhibition. And watching
00:00:25a film was a big deal. I'm talking somewhere in 80s, early 80s or mid 80s. And to go to
00:00:34a theatre was a big deal. And my mother, she was a big movie fan, we had what is known
00:00:41as a video cassette recorder. To all the youngsters, they used to be an instrument, where you put
00:00:47tape and play it and tape used to get stuck. It wasn't like a hard disk that you have.
00:00:53And it was a big thing to own one. And we were very poor. But I think my mother's sister
00:00:59was very rich. So she gifted us one. So it was in her room. And in India, and I'm, I
00:01:04think in most of the culture that we follow, I'd like to say it in Hindi. We believe that
00:01:10there is heaven under the mother's feet. Ma ke kadamon ke neeche janat hoti hai. And that's
00:01:21what my mother told me every time and said, press my feet. So at night, I would press
00:01:28her feet. And when I would do that to put her to sleep, the television and movies used
00:01:32to go on. And you know, if you were not, if you didn't, you used to get older movies for
00:01:37one rupee or two rupees, the newer ones for 10 rupees. So you just watched movies after
00:01:42movies. So I started liking films then. And at one time, there's an exam in Hindi in the
00:01:47local language, normally kids are poor. I was an Irish brother school, very Christian,
00:01:52very strict, very English speaking. So Hindi was not my strongest point. And then my mom
00:01:57said I'll take you to a movie hall to watch a film. If you get 10 on 10 in Hindi dictation.
00:02:05I've never said this, but I'll commit I think one answer I copied from a friend. But I did
00:02:11get 10 on 10. And then my mother took me to watch a film in a theater first time. And
00:02:16strangely and coincidentally, it's a film called Joshi Le, which was of the director
00:02:22with whom I did maximum number of my films later on in my life. So life is connected
00:02:26Mr. Yash Chopra. It was his film Joshi. And strangely, I'm sitting here in Locarno, Switzerland
00:02:35because of him, because of that movie I saw. And then my parents died and I wanted to just
00:02:42leave the city, do something. I was doing my master's in mass communication and filmmaking.
00:02:47I wanted to be a film director. I came to Mumbai, I thought I'll get some roles. Then
00:02:53I thought I'll work in front of and television came into India. So I got little bits and
00:02:57pieces roles. And then one thing led to the other. I came to Mumbai for a year in 1990.
00:03:04And I said I'll work for a year, earn one lakh rupee, buy myself a house, and then go
00:03:10back and become a scientist or a mass communication journalist. I haven't gone back yet.
00:03:17So we wish you that you never will. So but you weren't always the hero. So you started,
00:03:25you also played villains. So how did this switch happened? What clicked inside of you?
00:03:31So when I came to Mumbai, I was quite, I thought I was very old. I was I think 25, 26. I started
00:03:37late compared to what people start in films now. I started at the age of 26. And most
00:03:43of the films being made that time were about college love stories. So I found it strange
00:03:48to be sitting on a desk in a chair and behaving I'm in college. I found it awkward. But I
00:03:55didn't find it awkward enough that when I became 32 I did the same thing in Kuch Kuch
00:03:59Hota Hai. So I went to meet a director who called me, one very famous director. I won't
00:04:15take his name now. I mean, he wouldn't mind I know but I won't take his name. And he said,
00:04:19you know, the most attractive part of you is that you're very ugly. You know, because
00:04:25all these heroes, they look really Swiss chocolate like. I didn't look like Swiss chocolate.
00:04:35So I said, Okay, if I'm ugly, I'll do bad guy roles. So I did bad guy roles. And one
00:04:40of the bad films bad guy roles I did was in Switzerland. It was a film called Dar. Just
00:04:50for everyone who's seen it. I love you. So I came here. And I think being in Switzerland,
00:05:01and drinking your milk, I became chocolatey. Because as soon as while I was finishing Dar,
00:05:08I remember Mr. Yash Chopra telling me that I want to cast you in a love story. You don't
00:05:13look such a bad guy. And he made DDLJ with me. So then one thing led to the other then
00:05:36I became the good guy. Now I'm the good guy sometimes the bad guy sometimes or a mix of
00:05:41both the guys sometimes. I hope this is not a too technical question. But I would really
00:05:55love to know how does a film project in which you start come to life? Do you start with
00:06:01an idea of a script, a basic outline what you want to do? Or is it the desire to be
00:06:09directed by someone very specific or a lead actress or an antagonist, a villain you want
00:06:16to play with? And how does one idea lead to the other? And how does the project come together?
00:06:21So, so Jenna, it's actually very simple. It's not as complicated. When you were narrating
00:06:29all that I got scared. I do so many things. It's very simple. And I'm not actually wanting
00:06:36to do a lot of films. I realized that I take a long time to do a film. Many times I'll
00:06:42see on social media people even blaming me Oh, come on, do a film now it's too long and
00:06:47everything. But I, I take a long time because I want to spend a lot of time with the person
00:06:51who's going to direct me. Why? Because you spend a year of your life with them. I really
00:06:56want to have fun. And when I say fun, it's not dancing and drinking. It's just talking
00:07:01about films getting to know each other. So when we are on sets, we have a good time.
00:07:06Because I think the love that you have on sets making a film permeates through the screen
00:07:10and goes to the people. So I really want to enjoy that process. I do one film, two film
00:07:15in a year. So I spend a lot of time. That's why sometimes I'm even blamed for working
00:07:20with friends again and again. But I've already worked with them. I'm comfortable. So I you
00:07:24know, and I'm sitting I finished Jawan last year and Donkey. Now there's a certain kind
00:07:33of film I want to do, you know, where maybe it's more age centric, and I want to try something
00:07:38for six, seven years, I've been thinking about it. And I mentioned it to Sujoy one day, he
00:07:44was sitting, he works with us in our office, he's made some films for us. And he says,
00:07:47Sir, I have a subject. So it's as simple as that, that I have a desire to do a genre,
00:07:52a comedy or a social film or a drama or a courtroom. And I just put it out in the air.
00:07:58I meet a couple of people, some of them have a subject, I hear it, I spend time with them.
00:08:02And then we just go ahead and make the film and have lots of fun. So it's never been more
00:08:06straightforward than that. Like for example, when I was when COVID during COVID, my hair
00:08:13grew, there was nobody to cut them. And I was working out a lot. And one day, I saw
00:08:19myself in all my glory in the middle. And I looked at my body and my hair and I said
00:08:25I'm Tarzan. I have to do an action film. And it was so strange. Adi who's made DDLJ
00:08:33with me called one day and COVID was just kind of dissipating. People could meet each
00:08:37other in that two hours, three hours. And he dropped in and he said, You know, I have
00:08:41a film. And I said, Yeah. And he said, A guy is beating you and you've got long hair. I
00:08:47said, Yeah. And then he says, Who are you? And he says, I'm so and so and you say, Zinda hai.
00:09:00He didn't say it so nicely. He said Zinda hai. But when he said that, I told my team,
00:09:07I told Pooja and everybody, I said, We're doing this, we have long hair, we have the
00:09:10body, we'll just get up. So the film was signed only on one word. I know Siddharth for a long
00:09:14time. He's a friend. And I said, This is the film I'm doing. I'm cut out for it. So
00:09:18it's as simple as that. Long hair. And that's it.
00:09:22Well, you know, in my case, long hair. Quite tough. I've already done you in Jalan actually
00:09:28in the bold version.
00:09:32Two of your most beloved film Om Shanti Aum and Mein Holma were directed by Farah Khan.
00:09:41So what is the main difference according to your point of view to working with a female
00:09:46director or a male director? What does it make it different, if at all?
00:09:53There is there is 100% some kind of a difference, not like a major difference to it being the
00:09:57decision making reason or a deal breaking reason. I do find having worked a lot with
00:10:03women as actresses, as producers, as directors, I do find them a little more sensitive, a
00:10:09little more nuanced. Men, guys, this is not negative for you. Because I'm sure your girlfriends
00:10:18and wives are saying this to you every day. Men compartmentalize their feelings. Or you
00:10:24don't understand. I want to not fight about just this thing. I want to fight about everything
00:10:29that has happened over the years. So men can compartmentalize and say, But we were fighting
00:10:33about this. Why has this come into it? But women are more nuanced and overarching, you
00:10:40know, they go all over the place. So I think I enjoy working with women, because of the
00:10:47sensitivity of also, to be honest, I don't want to belittle the importance of some of
00:10:54great directors who are also very nice optically, like Mr. Sanjay Leela Bansali or Karan Johar.
00:11:01They're very beautiful when they put on screens, Mani Ratnam. But women also make the films
00:11:06look nicer. I don't know where there's the colors. And, again, not to take away from
00:11:15all the great male directors I've worked with, and I don't want to sound inappropriate, anybody
00:11:19on social media finds this inappropriate. Please don't. They do smell better. Which
00:11:28you'll understand, Nazaro. He's a smell fiend. He just wants to have good perfume and smell
00:11:34and all. So you'll understand. They smell nicer. They have shampoo in hair. It's just
00:11:39nicer atmosphere. They laugh more. And Farah, especially, to be honest, used to feed us
00:11:43very well. And she's got a great sense of humor. So it's great fun having done Om Shanti
00:11:49Om and Me Ho Na and even Happy New Year. She's a fun, fun person to work with. But there
00:11:53is a little difference. Having said that, I am more in touch with my feminine side,
00:11:58I feel. See the way you and I are sitting? So we are more in touch with my feminine side.
00:12:08So I'm not too much into machismo and, you know, guns and fighting. So I like to hear
00:12:13girls talk. And I enjoy more with the girls. There is a very small part of your fans here
00:12:27and a lot of them watching us online. But you've made in Fan a very interesting film
00:12:35about how you can worship an image or what you think what an actor is. And you played
00:12:41both parts. And it's a very complex film and also very dark. And for someone like you,
00:12:52how difficult was it to tap into this darker zones of what it is that makes
00:13:00the public image of Shadow Khan? So I'll answer it in three parts. First,
00:13:06there are certain films. I know I'm known to do films which bring joy to a lot of people. I want
00:13:12films to be hopeful. I want films to be happy. I think storytelling should lead to something which
00:13:19touches people's lives in different facets. And improve is too hard a word to say, but
00:13:26touches people's life and makes it feel better. You know, when people come sit in a dark room,
00:13:31watch a movie, it should invoke a feeling of positivity. But then, you know, as an actor,
00:13:37sometimes I want to try something which has not been done before, to push the boundaries that I
00:13:42can do as an actor and then come back to doing the good stuff, the positive stuff. So Fan was a
00:13:48very personal journey, very scary journey, you know, to take both sides. I don't think the
00:13:54adulation and love that I get from people would become as strong and intense as the character
00:14:00played. Also, what was difficult was to play an insecure superstar and let it come to life. You
00:14:07know, normally when you play a superstar in a film, it's all glory and bigness and people jumping
00:14:14and screaming your name. But I wanted this guy to be scared of his stardom, which is very difficult
00:14:19to do it because it's like exposing a part of every star that is in the world that you know,
00:14:24there can be this insecurity. And, you know, so it was like looking in a mirror and identifying
00:14:32with the image and the person itself and going ahead and playing it. So it was very schizophrenic,
00:14:38very strange, very awkward. And to be very honest with Manish Sharma, who was the director,
00:14:43I actually started feeling like two people. So it was a very personal journey for him
00:14:48and for me to bring this out. That's why perhaps it's so dark. And I do believe films which become
00:14:54too personal, become too complicated. And storytelling should be simple, straightforward,
00:14:59honest from the heart. So I think fan became too complicated. That's why not too many people
00:15:04enjoyed it. And it's scary as hell to find someone like that coming to your house, breaking things
00:15:09and you know, doing what he was doing and still madly in love with you, you know, to meet someone
00:15:14who could go there and still be loving you so much with so much purity. So the question was,
00:15:19is that love that you go to extremes to, you know, get it, even if it's negative? Or is love
00:15:26what we normally talk about, you know, flowers and roses and singing and dancing and memories.
00:15:32So it was a strange journey, very difficult to do. I felt very bad it didn't do well.
00:15:38Because this prosthetic that those prosthetics were really three hours, four hours, I used to
00:15:43wear that jaw. And aside, I should tell you, it was done by a gentleman, very well known
00:15:48prosthetic artist called Greg, from Hollywood. And when we were trying out different looks,
00:15:55we did some strange things, and I look uglier than I am.
00:15:59Then finally, they said, Okay, we found this jaw. And he had done Benjamin Button. So the jaw is
00:16:05actually Mr. Brad Pitt's. So he got that jaw and put it onto my face. And that's how we fix that.
00:16:18I'll tell Mr. Brad Pitt you said that.
00:16:24Thank you. Thank you.
00:16:32Should we just send Jonah away?
00:16:36And don't do interviews, just exchange sweet nothings of love.
00:16:40So having spoken about this relationship with your fan base and fan, when did it actually dawn
00:16:52on you that your status was becoming something different than just a very well known actor,
00:17:00a very beloved one? When did you actually understand that something was going on
00:17:05something that wasn't there before? And how did you adapt to that to this change?
00:17:13I'm asking this because I was just wondering if it happened at all or if it
00:17:19No, I come from a background where for me being able to entertain people when they come in touch
00:17:25with me every moment is the most extreme important thing. There is nothing more important. So
00:17:32if I'm here, and these people have come from all over to sit down and watch an interview,
00:17:38I want them to take away something which is entertaining. It could be a sad entertainment,
00:17:43it could be good entertainment, it can be romantic entertainment. And for me,
00:17:49I've always never understood the stardom part of it. So I come and I try and give joy. I fall,
00:17:55I somersault, I run, I fight, I sing, I romance, I become a bad guy. And then I give try to give
00:18:04joy in whichever way I am like a monkey, I want to do anything that will give you joy.
00:18:09And then when people get joy, they like me back. And that liking becomes to adulation and adore me
00:18:18and love me and say, Okay, this is nice. He gives us joy. We have a life all of them have a life.
00:18:24I have this life where I'm doing a job also. And they take time out from their jobs from their life,
00:18:29sit down for two hours, get happiness, and respond back to it by saying we love you.
00:18:34Stardom is just a circumstantial, consequential byproduct of this. It has nothing to do with me
00:18:41and them. That just is because you have to, like I said, compartmentalize everything. So that's a
00:18:47different person. That's a different thing. It has nothing to do with what I do and what they do.
00:18:52So I've never thought of stardom as anything important. Yes, I respect it a lot. It has given
00:18:58me a lot of recognition, love, money is my family feels happy because of it. But beyond that stardom
00:19:04is not something that I carry as the first thing when I walk into a room. For me, I've always said
00:19:09this, it's an old thing I always felt. To me, I wear stardom like a t shirt, not like a tuxedo.
00:19:15It's not important. And it's there. I'm careless about it. And it's very nice. And I hope it
00:19:20remains. If it's not there, will this love change? I don't think so. So stardom has never. But yes,
00:19:27I do know that, you know, sometimes I met people and I've done a film 10 years ago, and they say,
00:19:31you know, we got married and I saw this guy and I married him because after seeing so and so film,
00:19:39it didn't turn out well. Nothing to do with the film, I still had a good time. And some people I
00:19:46read a book just now by some lady which said, you know, young girls started wanting to do something
00:19:51because they were inspired by the story of this guy who comes from nowhere and achieves something
00:19:56in life. So those things make me realize it's an important thing. I need to respect it, love it.
00:20:03I need to not understand it, own it, or believe this is what I am. I think the day I stop being
00:20:11able to give joy, stardom won't matter even if I'm a bigger star. What would matter is that people
00:20:16are not taking back home something that I wanted to give them. So I don't know how I equate to it.
00:20:22I try not to be a star. I try to be just myself as I am on the screen and off screen and it works
00:20:30better for me. This answer is why we love you.
00:20:43As you know, here in the Western world, in Europe, we think of Bollywood as just one
00:20:49thing. But there are many nuances and differences. And for instance,
00:20:55Javan is a film that you made with Atlee, who is a Tamil-speaking director. And a couple of years
00:21:04ago, we had the Tamil film in the international competition. So I would love to help us
00:21:11understand how do you not relate to us what it means, all these specific regional languages
00:21:20and identities and how they come all together in creating something so unique, like a film,
00:21:27like Javan, where once again, you play two roles, at least two.
00:21:33Actually, if you ask me, honestly, for years, for me, to regionalize Indian cinema is wrong.
00:21:40To be honest, it's just that our country is so vast that we don't have different dialects across
00:21:46the nation, we have different languages across the nation. So there is Tamil, there is Telugu,
00:21:50there is Hindi, there is Gujarati, there is Marathi, there is Bengali, there is
00:21:54Odia, there's so many languages. So it's somehow, I think it's all Indian cinema.
00:22:01Having said that, to me, one of the greatest storytelling parts of India,
00:22:06if I could say it like this, is the South Indian part. They have some outstanding
00:22:11storytelling. Malayalam cinema, Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, they have some of the greatest
00:22:18superstars of our country. And we all know it in India. It's not that. It's just that recently,
00:22:24with some huge hits, including Javan and RRR and Bahubali, everybody started noticing it all over.
00:22:29But cinematically and technically, South cinema is really, really fantastic. It was a desire after
00:22:36having worked with Mr. Maniratnam in a film, Dil Se, that I should work in a South genre film,
00:22:45not just get a South Indian director to make a film. Each area, every person has a different
00:22:52take on telling a story. South has a very specific one, larger than life, very robust,
00:22:59has lots of music going on. And they love the heroes to be larger than life. So I really enjoyed,
00:23:09I've never done a film like that. As a matter of fact, I would take my kids and say, please see,
00:23:14am I looking okay? Because I would just be clapping my hands and it was as if it's the
00:23:18greatest moment in the history of mankind. And it was really interesting. It's very
00:23:25theatrical, and it's lovely and it's very colourful. So we had lots of fun.
00:23:32Yes, language was a bit of an issue to start off with. But then we started gesticulating.
00:23:39I would look at Atlee, who's a wonderful guy. He incidentally also had a baby while we were
00:23:44making the film. Mir, who he named after my father, which was very sweet. And I would just
00:23:50look at him and go, you know, in South, when you call sir, you say Garu. So I'd say Garu,
00:23:58and he'd go, Maas. And that is it. So most of the time, we would just go Garu Maas, Maas,
00:24:06which meant it's good. And it's all right. So we made most of the film just shaking our hands and
00:24:10having a great time over idli dosas, and some chilli chicken. And we had some wonderful actors
00:24:17from the South, Mr. Vijay Sethupathi. Who else was there? This Ruben. He wasn't in the film,
00:24:27unfortunately. Nayantharaji. We had some lovely South Indian talent in the film. And I think
00:24:33genuinely, it's one of the first fusions of Hindi and South Indian cinema, which transcended all
00:24:39kinds of boundaries and did really, really good business and was really loved as a film across
00:24:44the whole nation. So great experience for me. And speaking about other extremely talented
00:24:53actors, this is maybe a question that the Italian fan base will understand a bit better. But you
00:25:01also work with Kabir Bedi, who in Italy is known as Sandokan. And he played a very ruthless villain.
00:25:10How was that? Yeah, there's a, you know, when when the film came out, and we saw Mr. Kabir Bedi,
00:25:16who I now know personally, that time, we just saw him as handsome hunk. And he had this long hair
00:25:21and an Italian Sandokan was coming. It was during the time I used to press my mother's feet and
00:25:26watch movies with her. And we waited and you you know, you don't have over the top platforms. And
00:25:33so you didn't really have access, you had to wait somehow. And I remember, can we get Sandokan,
00:25:39Sandokan's VCR, we want to see it. And I saw it. And it was really heartening. I mean, genuinely,
00:25:44if we were to talk about crossover actors, if I'm not mistaken, I don't know before that,
00:25:48at least in my times, Kabir Bedi was the first crossover actor internationally, and
00:25:54rightly so. And coincidentally, in one of my first film that I did with Hema Malini Tilash,
00:26:00he was my father. So I'm the son of Sandokan. So I had my connection. So
00:26:07it's, it is really wonderful. We knew all about it in India. It was a big thing. And
00:26:12yeah, for Mr. Kabir Bedi, I think just kind of opened doors for lots of other actors
00:26:17to feel they could go outside the country and act.
00:26:22Action and dance is a big part of your film. How much are you involved in choreographing
00:26:31a dance scene or a musical number? And how much effort goes into choreographing and fight scene
00:26:39and action scene? Consider that especially in your last movies, there are so many elements,
00:26:44trains, helicopter, fighter planes, and other guns and so on. So is how do you work on that?
00:26:54So yes, action is difficult. You have to practice it, you have to learn it. Yes,
00:26:58you have doubles doing some of the most dangerous stunts. I have some wonderful guys,
00:27:02gentlemen called Devil for Pathan and Jawan, and some other boys. But 80% of it, you have to
00:27:10finally do it yourself if you want to sell it truthfully. Otherwise, it doesn't look right.
00:27:15So you get hurt, you have to choreograph it. The next film that I'm doing King, I have to start
00:27:20working on it, lose some weight, stretch a little. So my groin doesn't get caught when I'm doing
00:27:27action. It's very painful. It's very hurtful. I have two bagfuls of icing machines. So you keep
00:27:35doing it. And it's the worst thing to see me on sets after action. I look really cool in the film
00:27:41after that I'm tied up, somebody's pressing my back. It's all you can't walk, you have to go
00:27:47like this. And then suddenly you see people you stand up. It's really like that. Dancing is an
00:27:55art form that I'm still trying to master. When I come from theater, I used to do a lot of theater
00:28:01when I was young for eight, nine years in Delhi. And that's very, you know, seriously done theater
00:28:06is very serious business. So suddenly having to come sing and dance and, you know, just do some
00:28:11strange steps was awkward for me to be to tell you and I had lots of issues with the choreographers
00:28:17because they would just tell me, I don't know, you may not understand this, but I was doing a film.
00:28:22And the line in the song was like, Rab Ne Bana Diya. Rab means God, you know, and
00:28:30not Rab Ne Bana Diya, it was an older film. And Rab Ne Kar Diya. So I thought, you know,
00:28:35during the song, you'll say Rab because you'll point to God. But this gentleman made me do a
00:28:40step which was this. So I'm saying, why? He says, Rab na, he has to rub and all. I said, no.
00:28:47So I was doing a step which was like, you know, I got so disturbed. I'm like, no,
00:28:57I'm not going to do this kind of dancing till actually, Saroj Khan and Farah Khan came into
00:29:03my life. They were very sweet ladies. I hold them responsible because they realized that
00:29:08either they realized that I had a different interpretation of dance, or they realized I
00:29:12can't dance to save my life. And they had to make do with me. So they allowed me to do all this.
00:29:18They said, okay, you be easy. But on a serious note, when you have dancing in a film, it does
00:29:25take away from character because you don't dance like someone, you dance like yourself. It's very
00:29:30difficult to dance in character. Maybe one or two films like I was playing Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi,
00:29:36where I'm a bad dancer and also you play, but it's very difficult. So for an actor like me,
00:29:42essentially, it was very difficult to accept it. But slowly over the years with most of the
00:29:48choreographers now, they're very kindly to me. They don't expect me to do lock and pop.
00:29:54They don't expect me to gyrate too hard. They're okay, you know, zinda, banda, chaiya chaiya.
00:30:01So it's a difficult thing. Even now, whenever I get to know that I have to go and shoot for a
00:30:06song in a film, I am awake all night. It's very difficult. It's very difficult.
00:30:10Still speaking about your films, in Ra One, where you play this digital tech wizard,
00:30:21there are a lot of Jackie Chan jokes, references. So I want to know, why is that? And did you get
00:30:28to meet the man? Or was it just a kind of inside joke in the film because of what happens later,
00:30:35all the action and so on? No, no, I have to say this if I was to
00:30:40count my favorite, favorite actors of all time, Mr. Michael J. Fox, Mr. Al Pacino, De Niro,
00:30:48I think Mr. Jackie Chan will be right up there. I love Jackie Chan. I think he's very funny. I
00:30:54think he's physically amazing. I think he enacts things very well. And he still continues to
00:30:59inspire me. And I had, when my son, my first son was born, Aryan, I really felt he looked like Jackie
00:31:05Chan. You know, when kids are born, they look a little like this. He's like Jackie Chan. You
00:31:16know, he looked very Jackie Chan-ish to me. And then I trained him in Taekwondo, assuming he will
00:31:22grow up to be Jackie Chan. And I really wanted him to be Jackie Chan. I'm telling you honestly,
00:31:27I remember a friend of mine met him somewhere. Then he signed a hat cap for Mr. Jackie Chan,
00:31:33signed it for Aryan. And then many years later, I think three, four years ago, I had the privilege
00:31:40of meeting him in Saudi Arabia. And he was as wonderful, as sweet as I'd expected him to be.
00:31:46And so it wasn't an in-joke. It is something I really love Mr. Jackie Chan. And it's been my
00:31:53privilege and pleasure to have met him. And if he ever sees this interview, he should know he
00:31:59promised he'll open a Chinese restaurant with me in partnership, and he hasn't done so.
00:32:06So Jackie Chan, Sansai, please now, the restaurant.
00:32:14Some of our more recent films, they have also a lot of digital technology. And I wanted to know
00:32:22how digital technology changed, from your point of view, the process of filmmaking?
00:32:30I think it's very important, especially with youngsters now having telephones,
00:32:34you'll understand it, you know, because the newer generation is not going to be
00:32:38technologically bereft, like maybe the older ones, we have to learn, we still have to figure out how
00:32:43to use the remote control. But the younger guys know stuff. And when they know stuff,
00:32:47they want to see stuff. And when they want to see stuff, which is larger than life, more
00:32:52imaginative, bigger, better, I think technology will make it just one line, what you can imagine,
00:32:59you can show. And I think that's very important. So there are some storytellings which require
00:33:05technology to us, even fan, you know, finally, after wearing all that makeup, we had to touch
00:33:10it up. So it doesn't look unreal. You need technology for that, for flying for fighting
00:33:15for all the aircrafts. Just to make it clear, I didn't jump from the plane. Just so that you didn't
00:33:21I can. But that day, I wasn't feeling like jumping from the plane. So, so it all helps.
00:33:29But having said that, I think at the end of it all, technology is going to be the backdrop,
00:33:34not the backbone of filmmaking. It will always be the nuances, the emotions, the thoughts,
00:33:39the basic simple truths of human beings, which is determination, hope, happiness,
00:33:46sadness, failure, success. I think those are the things which are going to mount a film
00:33:52on the back of technology. It's never going to be the backbone of great storytelling
00:33:57is what my belief is. But as an assistance, as an assist as helping tell bigger, better, nicer, sweeter,
00:34:05cooler, imaginative stories, I think technology is really, really very helpful. And in the last
00:34:11five years, it has changed drastically. And I think next few years even more.
00:34:17Among your filmography for this, to celebrate your presence in Locarno, we picked Death Dust.
00:34:27And it is a film that I saw many years in a festival and I loved it. And I know there are
00:34:38some stories about it in Death Dust. And maybe you want to share them with the...
00:34:45It's a very special film. Like again, it keeps going back. This whole interview has become about
00:34:49my mother. It keeps going back there because when I was again back pressing feet, which I've done a
00:34:55lot, you know. Okay, so one mantra if you get for success is keep pressing your mother's feet.
00:35:01So I was, I was pressing and Death Dust was a movie she loved watching. My dad also used to
00:35:05talk about it. It's one of the biggest, greatest classic films with Mr. Dilip Kumar. And even
00:35:09before that, Mr. Sehgal, Uttam Kumar down in Bengal, it's been remade in the country. And it's
00:35:15about a guy who's an alcoholic, doesn't commit to a girl, goes away. And you know, at that time,
00:35:19I could not find any essence in it at my age. Many years later, when Mr. Sanjay Leela Bansali,
00:35:24who I think is one of the most talented filmmakers of our times, he came down and he said, I want you
00:35:30to do Devdas. So I said, No, he's a loser. He's an alcoholic. I'm too cool to be Devdas and all.
00:35:37So it kind of petered out. And then before leaving, he just said one thing, which still sticks with me.
00:35:42And he's, it's a great experience making Devdas, Mr. Bansali. He said, I'll not make this film if
00:35:48not with you. Because your eyes are like Devdas. So I said, Okay. He says, I would not cast anyone.
00:35:58And then for a year he didn't. And then we met again. And I said, Okay, if you can't find eyes
00:36:02like mine, okay, I'll do the film. And I was again privileged to work with Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri
00:36:09Dixit in the same film. Mr. Jackie Shroff. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life
00:36:17to play the character. I don't like to play characters which demean women. I'll be honest.
00:36:22I didn't want him to be liked for the reason in the film that he, you know, sort of, this is a
00:36:30woman and doesn't commit to her. I wanted him to come across as a person who's a bit of a
00:36:36spineless person. It's not somebody you should look up to. Yes, the enactment might be nice.
00:36:41I think Bansali made the film really beautifully. You get taken in by the drama and inshallah
00:36:47everybody will enjoy it when they see it. And of course, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai and Jackie
00:36:51Shroff. And it was really nice and beautiful dialogues. But I still don't want people to,
00:36:56I don't think anybody wants to be Devdas. I don't think anybody says, Okay, you know,
00:37:00I'm going to tomorrow, just get drunk and fall down screaming at my dad, you know, it's enjoyable.
00:37:07But it's not a character that you take back home and a mother tells, you know,
00:37:11baby grew up to be like Devdas. So I'm happy it didn't happen like that. It's not a negative
00:37:17character. I just didn't want a character who has commitments or issues with women to become
00:37:23popular in a different sense. So I think I achieved that under the tutelage and guidance of Bansali.
00:37:29And also, it was really nice because I wanted to do it because my mom-in-law loved it. So I
00:37:34believe in heaven if she has seen movies, today she will see Devdas in Locarno. And she'll be
00:37:41very happy. And I need to tell I want to thank Mr. Bansali if he sees this interview because
00:37:50he takes really long to shoot films because he's very artistic and detailed. And all I did many
00:37:56nights was I used to drink for the role. Otherwise, I don't drink. And so I would have
00:38:05alcohol there. And then one night,
00:38:09ma'am Madhuri Dixit would be dancing one night ma'am Aishwarya Rai would be dancing and I'd be
00:38:14just drinking there with Mr. Jackie Shroff. And at the end of the day, they'd say a lot of hard
00:38:20work. God bless you did very good. So half of the film was like that. So me the most pleasurable
00:38:26experience than releasing it at the festivals. And it's right here. You've chosen it. So it's a
00:38:31good choice. Thank you. Let's get closer to home. One of your heroes, you said so yourself,
00:38:46is our hero, Roger Federer. And you shot DDLJ in Switzerland.
00:38:54So what is the specific ties that you have to Switzerland?
00:39:00See, I joke about it. But to be honest, you know, when I was growing up in Delhi,
00:39:03I come from a very lower middle class house. And to come to Switzerland is dream, you know,
00:39:08at that time in 80s. Oh, my God, we'll go to Switzerland. We just heard the name.
00:39:12You know, like, like, we back, back home in India, it's Kashmir. And everybody loves Kashmir. So
00:39:17internationally, it was Switzerland. Oh, to be in Switzerland, you know, and then I did a film and
00:39:22I'm down here. And, you know, I was so be shot, I think, near Interlaken and start. And we go there
00:39:32and we just found this greenery and snow, which I'd never seen in my life and cows and bells.
00:39:41It was so pretty and so beautiful. And unfortunately, the girls had to dance in
00:39:48chiffon saris, I could wear the jacket. It was really cool. Unlike Locarno, which is very hot.
00:39:55But so I, it was really fantastic. It changed my career. I did all the romantic films,
00:40:01I shot them here with Mr. Yash Chopra. So for me, it's a strange connection.
00:40:06I'm now the Swiss chocolate boy. And I think it's a full circle for me. So when you asked me and
00:40:14Nazaro and the whole team has been very, very humble about and thanking me for coming here.
00:40:18But I want to thank you because for me, it's like a full circle
00:40:21to have gone from Switzerland and get the highest award in Switzerland.
00:40:25This is it. Now you pull some strings with Maya Hoffman and you and everyone get me the
00:40:37honorary citizenship of Switzerland. Or get me to meet Roger Federer, do something.
00:40:48We will be charging money for that. After this, we are going to.
00:40:52Is that what you came for? You thought an interview would be that kind of an interview?
00:41:00The very last question of this session. Hang on. You've done a lot. Okay, so when you embark on a
00:41:10new project, as we were speaking briefly yesterday, and I'm not giving anything away.
00:41:17So what is there that still pushes you forward? Besides this very beautiful idea of giving joy
00:41:26to the people that go see your films? What is it that drives you still?
00:41:31I think the essence is still that. That I really want to. I think, like I said yesterday,
00:41:39that cinema embodies many facets of life and so many emotions that's very difficult,
00:41:45impossible for one person to be able to express all of them in one lifetime.
00:41:51I live with that hope that maybe I can keep on doing different films and cry differently,
00:41:56laugh differently, fall differently, dance differently. I know I'm limited as an actor.
00:42:01I know I don't have the scope that other actors have, more talented than me. But I just don't
00:42:08want to give up. I just want to keep trying till I can. I think I can, like my family every day
00:42:14asks me, how do you get up in the morning, wear makeup, and go do the same thing again and again
00:42:20for the last 35 years and not get tired. And genuinely, it's something that keeps me going.
00:42:26It keeps me happy. There is nothing that makes me happier than being on a set in a closed room with
00:42:33lights. And not because I'm the focus of attention. But because I know that I'm able to bring joy to
00:42:39someone very far away, who I may never meet or see again. Also, if I don't do this, I don't know
00:42:51if I'll be able to keep it. Just to put it out there, I think it's important that we have a very
00:42:57normal family life, you know, out from outside. And I want people to know this. Because, you know,
00:43:02outside stardom and it's larger than life, people come out, thousands of people look at you, you
00:43:08wave out to crowds. And, you know, there's a lot of madness. It's like a rock star. And with my dashing,
00:43:13drop-dead gorgeous good looks. But it can seem very alien and different. But it is not. The family
00:43:23is very simple. The kids are very simple. Like a father, I spend a lot of time with them. I want
00:43:28them to learn. I want them to be humble about the privileges they have because of me becoming a star.
00:43:34I want them to understand they have to come out of the shadow, negative and positive, of being a
00:43:39star son. The wife is sweet. She looks after, she keeps balance. There's some wisdom there. There is
00:43:46some jokes there. So it's a very simple life. People who work with me, all of us here, you know, we lead
00:43:53a very simple life. Because at the core of that simplicity is, for each one of us sitting here,
00:43:59we've been here for three days, back home, my whole family, the core is that there is somebody in this
00:44:05house who's been able to find a space, can do something, and wants to keep on doing it. But it
00:44:11brings happiness to someone somewhere. Don't let that come to rest. So everybody's very encouraging
00:44:17to me. You know, my team is always encouraging me, go on, do it, it'll look very good.
00:44:23I'm not going to dance, however much they encourage me. But I think it's very important for everyone
00:44:29to know that stardom is a byproduct of what I do. Being big, being famous, being rich is not the
00:44:37important part. It's an essential part. Doing well in your job, earning money, looking after your family
00:44:43is most important. But more important than that is whatever job you're doing, because we spend more
00:44:48time doing that than anything else, 8, 10, 12 hours a day, whatever our job is. If you can change and
00:44:54touch people's life with your job, even if you're a bank teller, if you are a script writer, you don't
00:45:00have to be an artist to change people's lives. Whichever job you're in, you know, if you're a
00:45:05chauffeur, if you're a bank manager, if you're a CEO, you will be able to touch people's lives. And if
00:45:11you're able to do that in the, you know, for a minute or a moment, I think it's a life worth
00:45:17having lived. And I think that's what to me makes me keep on going, makes me want to keep on going
00:45:24back on the set every morning. I hate wearing makeup, but I have to wear it. But you have to go do
00:45:30your things, you have to sweat it out, you have to enjoy yourself, because somewhere it'll give,
00:45:35it'll touch somebody's life. And I think that's very, very happy place.
00:45:51I have actually a ton of questions for Shah Rukh Khan, but I'll keep them aside. No, wait, wait,
00:45:59wait, wait, wait, we have to do this properly. There is a few moments left. We will have a couple
00:46:07of questions from the floor, strictly cinema related. We're here to talk about cinema and
00:46:14films. So, and my films only. And no, put your hands down, please put your hands out. This is
00:46:22not fair. Put your hand down, please. So, the first one. Here.
00:46:35Wait, wait, wait for the mic. Wait for the mic.
00:46:38Mr. Shah Rukh Khan, we love you so much. We came from America all the way for you. We've been your
00:46:44biggest fan since we were kids. Our question to you is, out of all the amazing roles you've done,
00:46:52which one personally impacted you the most? You've done the romance, the hero, the action.
00:46:59Which one impacted you the most? All of it impacted us. But personally for you, which one?
00:47:06What's your name?
00:47:07My name is Nabila and this is Maroosh.
00:47:09My name is Maroosh. We came from Washington DC for you.
00:47:12Maroosh and Nabila.
00:47:13Yes.
00:47:14Thank you for coming.
00:47:15We love you so much.
00:47:17So, I don't want to break your heart with this answer.
00:47:21I'll be honest, Nabila, because it's very important for me. And it's at variance with
00:47:27a lot of really wonderful actors, how I think about acting. I truly believe that when I'm
00:47:33doing a role, whether it's Rahul or Raj or Devdas or Kali or whatever, I have to not
00:47:39believe in the character. I know a lot of actors take this very seriously. They get
00:47:43disturbed when I say this. I don't believe in the character. It's not important for me
00:47:47to believe in the character. It's important for me to make Nabila believe in the character.
00:47:53I have to make you believe. So a lot of people, when I finish a role, they say,
00:47:57has it changed your life? No. This is what I do. This is my job. This is what I was trained
00:48:05to do. This is an iota of talent that God has given me to do. And it's not changing
00:48:11my life. It's like asking a tennis player. So that match, did it change you as a person? Of
00:48:16course, it was very difficult. Of course, I put in my best in it. Of course, I wanted to win.
00:48:22But no, it's not made me a different person. It's not, oh, I've come back and now I'm a
00:48:25different kind of person because I won that match or lost that match. No. So I don't change.
00:48:30I only do roles, I'll be again very honest, which I feel that I feel for. I just don't do it. I try
00:48:38not to make it a hero type. I try to bring in some nuances of people that I've met,
00:48:44interacted with and try to put it into like, like actually there was a person I knew very well,
00:48:50who was a who was a genius in my school. And he was very awkward and shy, because he had a stammer.
00:48:57And I wanted to, you know, and he must be somewhere very successful scientists right now,
00:49:01I'm sure. But he was so awkward. And I wanted that awkwardness to come in the character of
00:49:05so I use the stammer a bit. So I use nuances from things that have affected me. But no,
00:49:12a character has not really impacted me and changed my life completely. No,
00:49:17unfortunately, or maybe it will later.
00:49:19No, no, put it down. Otherwise, it's not fair. Second question.
00:49:26You are so fast. You're all together here.
00:49:29There. Hi, we'll give you a mic. Yeah.
00:49:34Hi, still representing America here.
00:49:39How was the iconic Shah Rukh Khan pose invented? That what led to you finding that pose?
00:49:47What's your name?
00:49:48Prachi.
00:49:49Raji.
00:49:50Prachi.
00:49:51Raji.
00:49:51Prachi.
00:49:52Prachi.
00:49:53I don't know Prachi. The other day I was sitting with
00:49:56the I really don't know. I have no idea. I think I think what happened is that, you know,
00:50:04in movies, in Indian cinema, one of the things that you need to know initially,
00:50:09in 90s is what is known as a dip. A dip is, you know, just do it on one leg. And I know,
00:50:15it just is, you stand there and I may have forgotten it. So please don't laugh at all.
00:50:21But it's like, for example, hum me a song.
00:50:29So you just have to keep doing this, right? And then
00:50:35and then I couldn't do that. And then I felt very ashamed of myself at night. And all night,
00:50:41I kept doing this. I kept doing this in the room, kept doing it, kept doing it. In the morning,
00:50:45I came and the choreographer, I remember was Saroj. So I said, Ma'am, ready? She said,
00:50:50You can't do that. So you just stand there and put your arms out. So I said,
00:50:54but I can do I can do this. She said, No, no, we don't need it doesn't look nice.
00:50:58So she didn't do the dip. And then I just put my arms out. Then again, I went to another set.
00:51:03And again, it was a little difficult. And I turned to her or maybe to Farah. And I said,
00:51:06Listen, let's cut it can just put my arms out. And it kept getting arms out. And then I think,
00:51:12because I was putting my arms out so much, I had to do it more intensely.
00:51:16Then I made it scientific. Then I start telling people that you have to keep your right leg like
00:51:20this. I'm only fooling you all. It's nothing. It's just arms out.
00:51:33This is sorry, this is the last question. Let me see someone. This lady there. Yeah,
00:51:39you. Yeah, you. Yeah, you. Yeah, you. No, no, the other one. Sorry. Sorry.
00:51:49Let's be fair also to the people in the back.
00:51:52I'm so stunned. I'm sorry, let me take a breath. So first, I would want to talk about my friend's
00:51:58painting. She's Italian. And she's a painting. She did in 2017. Before even knowing that,
00:52:09you know, she would meet you. So I would like to talk about that first. It's beautiful. Please
00:52:13go. You have a question? Yes, I have. Sorry, sorry. So my question is that it's actually
00:52:20yesterday that I felt that this must be a regular day for you, right? I mean, love fans, you've
00:52:27done it all like any, I cannot think of a role that you may have not done. So as a person who
00:52:36has achieved this much success, what role excites you? Like, you know, do you feel content? Or
00:52:45is there still hunger and you feel like I want to do this kind of role? That's my question.
00:52:51What's your name?
00:52:52My name is Aishwarya.
00:52:56Thank you so much. But I do believe that
00:53:01again, this is a little at variance with how people talk when you know, gurus talk and they
00:53:10say you should be calm and you should be collected and you should meditate and accept life as it is
00:53:15and have peace and contentment. I think contentment is overrated. I think you need to be
00:53:22dissatisfied. You need to always be questioning yourself does not mean you go and become anxious.
00:53:28But you need to need to always be dissatisfied as a creative person. So I don't get satisfied ever.
00:53:35I don't think I've achieved anything. I don't think that there is, you know, it's over and
00:53:42done with and I'm successful. I think it's all irrelevant. What is relevant is can I do something
00:53:47new tomorrow again? I keep asking myself, when was the last time you did something for the first time?
00:53:53And I keep wanting to answer that. Oh, that was just day before yesterday. Well, that was just now,
00:53:57you know, a lot of times I've not been asked, but I'll still answer this, that many times people
00:54:03say you should do more meaningful cinema. It should stand for something. It should. I think my cinema
00:54:08stands for everything for somebody, because it should have a little bit of happiness. It should
00:54:13have a little bit should have a gamut of colors. It should have everything for someone to take away
00:54:18in a given audience like this. I don't want my cinema to be a statement. I want it to be a
00:54:23testament of life in its beauty, good and bad. So sometimes it's a testament about right things,
00:54:30sometimes it's about corruption, sometimes about bad things, sometimes about love, but it need not
00:54:35just be a statement and we think it's a purpose. All these things confine you, compartmentalize you.
00:54:43I like to keep it open and believe that what I've done today is the first day I'm doing it.
00:54:48What I've done yesterday is over and done with. When my movie gets over, I take a two-hour bath.
00:54:53After that, I don't think about the success or the failure. I'm on to the next one. If I can't
00:54:57move on to the next one, I think I'll rust and I'll finish off. And I will say to all youngsters,
00:55:03please do not rest on your laurels. You will just have extra fat. And I don't mean to, I don't mean
00:55:11to be speaking about it physically or body-shaming anyone. I just mean in terms of emotional fat.
00:55:17I mean in terms of becoming obsolete. I think in terms of just rusting. So you have to keep on
00:55:23thinking, especially if you're an artist or anything else actually. Just be dissatisfied,
00:55:28get up, do something new. Don't worry that I have been successful. I don't even take holidays. So
00:55:35it's very important to continue doing something new. So hopefully by next year when my film
00:55:40finishes, we'll meet again somewhere, inshallah. And you'll say, oh yeah, that was me.
00:55:48Give my love to your mom. Thank you so much, Shah Rukh Khan.
00:55:52Just a second. May I ask you something?
00:55:58May all cool girls and cool boys raise their hand and say,
00:56:03Allah Akbar!
00:56:06You can do way better than that. Come on, raise up and say it again.
00:56:10Thank you very much.
00:56:20Thank you everybody. Thank you so much. Thank you.
00:56:33Do you have your telephone? Okay. Do we have a telephone of anyone?
00:56:41Just give me the picture.
00:56:48Because, you know, I don't know. I'd love to stand here and do individual pictures with all of you.
00:56:53But I'll try and do some pictures.
00:56:55This is Jonah's Brunswick Council Journal in India from the Swiss Embassy. I'm doing it on his phone
00:57:05and it is Jonah's responsibility to give it to all of you, okay?
00:57:08So I'm going to keep on doing it in sections. So I'll start this side first.
00:57:25Love you, Shah Rukh. Thank you.
00:58:55Shah Rukh, this side. This side.
01:00:26You have been a wonderful crowd, really. It's been a magic moment.
01:00:30But leave him some time, some space. Show him your respect, your affection, also this way.
01:00:37Let him go. Don't push him. He will be back. He knows you. He loves you.