Interesting! The Safest Place For Shah Rukh Khan Is... 'His Bedroom'

Shah Rukh Khan gets talking on fans and fandom in his inimitable candour. Suman Sharma returns a bigger fan of the superstar

- Suman Sharma

THEY CALL HIM KING KHAN.

His kingdom, fuelled by superstardom, is estimated to value in excess of 1000 crores. He has millions of fans, even in parts of the world, where Hindi cinema has no standing. Scores of foreigners swear by his stardom. Back home too, his following is rivalled by none. Shah Rukh Khan is a trademark. There’s no ignoring anything that comes with brand SRK. You’d imagine such a celebrated figure would be a flawless icon of a person. He’d have a God-like aura. He’d have a sense of being and behaviour that we can only hope to mimic. But as the actor confides SRK is a myth and Shah Rukh Khan is the man building it, sustaining it and making it grow. Strip the stardom away and he’s as flesh and blood as any of us. And in his most human avatar, he dismisses the stardom, the luxury and the aura of a superstar. He prefers being king to his children. He’d rather order them around, than stand on his balcony and wave at a sea of human beings, pushing and shoving. And yet, that’s exactly what he has to do. Every birthday, every film release, every new venture, he puts on his game face and plays it out for his fans. He does it for himself too, because that’s his way of giving back the adulation, something he feels overwhelmed by. He’s a bundle of amusing contradictions and endearing eccentricities. Hail the king!

Is the character of Aryan Khanna in Fan closer to you in real life?

Aryan Khanna is not Shah Rukh Khan. In fact, koi star aisa nahin hota. Aditya Chopra and I were clear about not touching my life. Aryan Khanna is far more disciplined. His personal space is different. I am not the guy who will throw off a guy from the rooftop. We were careful about maintaining the dignity of both- Aryan Khanna and Gaurav. Gaurav is not a mad or a bad person. He’s loveable.