I taught Rohit of love and he taught me comic timing Shah Rukh Khan

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart… I love Shah Rukh Khan because he is constantly evolving. I usually find him kind of fascinating, like he has this real joy for life and movies, and talks in parables. Having said that, movie critics, by and large, are saying that SRK is back on the tracks. But the leading man has them fooled: he's had his life and career figured out for quite a while now. It was almost an hour with the renaissance man but somehow I get the feeling at 47, Sharukh's still the bro you know since college days. The changes in his career are born of a conscious decision he made to pursue what turns him on. Yes, he is selfish when it comes to movies. He's got a strange love affair with his films. And what I mean by selfish is that the actor listens to his own reasons for doing things and focusing energy only on projects that resonate personally. Seriously, you can't make this guy up. Whether it's his movies, a mobile phone, a home decor company or as simple as a vest. He believes in what product he's selling, and by the end of it all, he has already proven the product. Just like, by the end of my interview too, he has proven that he has evolved – as a man, as a human, as a father, as a lover, as an actor, as a superstar.

I present you the grand finale – Part 3 of my exclusive tete-a-tete with Shah Rukh Khan. Happy Reading!

With the studio culture coming in, foreign studios stepping in, where do you see the business of Indian movies boom?
The speed at which Chennai Express has grossed 200 crore plus domestic shows that you are looking at a 70 to 80 million dollar business in India alone. 200 crores means approx 50 million dollars, plus you add another 8 to 10 crores from satellite and 2 to 4 crores from music. Now five years back, we got shocked when we heard a Hollywood film doing 100 million dollars. With a little bit of diaspora in India, I've not added overseas in it, we are still doing 70 to 80 million dollar business. That means we can reach 100 million dollars easily. We are taking organisation, the distribution network of these international people, creating a film much cheaper than they can make whether through our VFX and production line, make the business of Indian movies bigger by giving to these guys and say, 'Now spread it to the world'. The whole ideology that Indian films can never make it big will prove wrong soon. The day is not far when you can be ruling the international market soon and the numbers will increase.

Your company's VFX department is the talk of the town in tinseltown.
Thank you so much! VFX is the future in cinema and if I am able to sustain it or more than me, between Harry and Ketan who run it, who devised it, and are sustaining it, we'll go quite far with these two and the two hundred employees working in the department. Another three to four years and it will do wonders. In the last ten years we've only got three super-hero films – Ra.One, Krrish and Krrish 3 that hasn't even released yet. Action hasn't gone to the level that you suddenly see a movie like Bourne Identity or GI Joe, etc. You know it's a niche market and still we've been able to sustain it. I think if we can break even and sustain it for the next couple of years; we'll be one of the finest VFX companies in India and around Asia. We are the only ISO rated VFX unit in our country. I see the Red Chillies future extremely bright but you have to be able to sustain it. Slowly but surely. We've made ten to twelve films in a decade but I want twenty five films to be coming out of Red Chillies. It will take a few years but we will make it happen. Now we have Chennai Express that'll give us some money, we have great distributors like UTV and all these other companies, utilise them for they have a great business sense. What'll happen is that business and creativity will get compartmentalised. I will respect you for the business you do for me and you will respect my creativity please! You have all the rights to tell me, "Listen Sha, this film let's release in only thirty theatres". You know it best dude, so do it. In the flight I asked Sid Roy Kapur, "Don't you think 4,000 prints in the overseas is too much for Chennai Express? He said, "You'll be amazed how the business of this film will change things". I am the king in the overseas that I've been hearing since years. But all we've shown is rich boys and girls, rich locales, etc. In Chennai Express, everything is Indian. It's retarded the business. But it's Rohit Shetty – his point of view, his clarity, sense of appeal to an all family audience with cleanliness is unquestionable. You've put in two good stars in it and there you go! Chennai Express business today is unheard of.

But you must've got some flak for the film too.
People like to simplify things. They do that when, in particular, they don't understand the talent of Rohit Shetty. Is it that simple to make two cars crash in mid air? Try it! I did in Ra.One too. But what's the point? Shah Rukh Khan will stretch his hands, etc. These are simplifying things to be honest. With me coming in the movie, Rohit got a little bit of romance than he usually brings in. I taught him a bit of love and he taught me a lot of comedic timing that he's so good at. It's not the old Shah Rukh back, oh no! It's just that he respects the fact that here is an actor who does that too. I appreciate the fact that Rohit got me into a new world. I got a bit worried a few days before the release of Chennai Express seeing my poster in white shirt with blood all over. People thought it was an action film and I was telling people it's not. But having said that, Rohit is an action director. He loves it and has a fan base. That's what counts. He knew what he was playing with this time and he got it right yet again. For him it was a comedic love story meant for families and the families kept pouring in. The result is in front of you.

But still the audience has become too critical about each movie.
Look, it's very simple. The guy who buys the 200 rupees ticket isn't there to critically analyse your movie or that he wants my movie to do 100 crores. The fact that he has got a ticket is – he has got the ticket because he likes the product (Chennai Express). It is one of the few products that you go and buy without sussing it. If you can't see it, you can't buy it. That man saw the promos and posters and bought the ticket. When that man has bought the ticket, he has given me that respect and all I can tell him is – Have a good time! You know, when I go to see a movie, I never wish it's a great film nor I wish it's a bad film. I take a ticket and sit down with my popcorn and only want to be happy and then come out wanting to eat Chinese food. Just like an audience who can't predict a movie, the film maker too doesn't know where it's going to take them. Just enjoy the show!

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more