‘Shah Rukh Is Ready To Direct A Film’

‘His
understanding
of
human
nature
and
emotions
can
never
be
matched
by
me.’

It’s
been
15
years
since

Karan
Johar‘s

My
Name
Is
Khan
released,
and
saw
Shah
Rukh
Khan
in
an
entirely
different
light.

Karan
looks
back,
and
tells

Subhash
K
Jha,
“Who
am
I
to
pose
new
challenges
to
Shah
Rukh?
He
challenges
himself
every
day
of
the
year.
All
I
could
do
was
give
him
a
role
that
my
writer
and
I
had
worked
on
for
almost
two
years.”

How
do
you
recall
your
best
film?

My
Name
Is
Khan
wasn’t
easy.
It’s
the
socio-political
journey
of
Shah
Rukh’s
character
Rizwan
from
the
age
of
four
to
40.

In
his
journey,
Shah
Rukh
encounters
major
political
upheavals,
from
a
communal
riot
in
India
to
9/11
in
the
US.
But
my
film
is
not
about
any
specific
political
event.
Nor
is
it
about
Asperger’s
Syndrome.

My
hero
is
autistic.

He
couldn’t
be
neuro-typical
because
he
had
to
see
life
with
a
honesty
and
clarity
denied
to
normal
people.

My
Name
Is
Khan
excited
me.
For
the
first
time,
I
was
directing
a
film
that
had
characters
and
situations
I
didn’t
know
about.
I
was
excited
by
the
research
that
I
had
to
do
for
this
film.

It
challenged
me.

Were
you
also
posing
a
new
challenge
for
Shah
Rukh?

Who
am
I
to
pose
new
challenges
to
Shah
Rukh?
He
challenges
himself
every
day
of
the
year.

All
I
could
do
was
give
him
a
role
that
my
writer
and
I
had
worked
on
for
almost
two
years.

There
were
visa
problems
for
some
Muslim
members
of
your
cast?

Yes.
We
had
certain
legal
issues.

We
had
to
make
some
changes
to
accommodate
the
developments.

I
believe
in
going
by
the
law
of
every
land.
That’s
what
we
did
in
LA
when
troubles
arose.

Was
Aamir
Bashir
replaced
by
Jimmy
Sheirgill
after
a
great
deal
of
deliberation
and
pain?

I
wouldn’t
say
it
was
painful.
Yes,
we
did
have
to
do
some
serious
re-thinking.

I
spoke
to
my
casting
director
Shanoo
Sharma
and
was
very
happy
to
have
Jimmy
Sheirgill
on
board.

I
had
done
his
clothes
for
Aditya
Chopra’s

Mohabbatein
so
I
knew
him.

It
was
unfortunate
that
things
didn’t
work
out
with
Aamir
Bashir.

Was
it
a
painful
experience
to
shoot
in
LA?

In
all
my
years
as
a
filmmaker,
I
never
felt
the
experience
to
be
so
different.
Content-wise,

My
Name
Is
Khan
was
diametrically
opposite
to
whatever
I
had
done
in
the
past.

You
know,
on
the
very
first
day
of
shooting,
my
cameraman
Ravi
Chandran
looked
at
me
and
said,
‘I
don’t
think
you’ve
ever
shot
something
like
this.’

This
was
the
first
time
I’m
directing
a
screenplay
I
haven’t
written
myself.

This
gave
me
a
level
of
detachment
from
the
proceedings
and
yet,
a
lot
of
attachment.

It
released
a
whole
plethora
of
unexplored
emotions
in
my
head.

This
time,
I
was
being
creative
in
a
different
way.
And
Shah
Rukh
played
a
completely
different
human
being;
I
had
never
directed
that
person
before.

My
Name
Is
Khan
had
no
lip-sync
songs.

No,
the
songs
were
all
in
the
background.

Even
Rakeysh
Mehra’s

Rang
De
Basanti
didn’t
have
lip-sync
songs
but
did
we
ever
feel
any
loss?

In
LA,
we
had
fans
coming
to
us
to
ask
if
there
was
any
track
like

Suraj
Hua
Madhyam.

Music
is
an
integral
but
seamless
part
of

My
Name
Is
Khan.

How
was
it
directing
Shah
Rukh
and
Kajol
again?

I
am
blessed
to
have
them
in
my
film.
I
don’t
know
what
it’s
about
them,
it’s
just
magic.

They
build
an
inexplicable
energy
on
screen.
They
instinctively
understand
each
other’s
acting.

When
I
direct
a
scene
with
Shah
Rukh
and
Kajol,
I
know
I’m
doing
my
best
work.
These
two
characters
in

My
Name
Is
Khan
*had*
to
be
SRK
and
Kajol.

You
almost
didn’t
get
Kajol?

She
had
to
read
the
script,
that
was
it.

She
said
yes.

I
wouldn’t
want
any
actor
to
say
yes
to
my
film
just
because
he
or
she
is
a
friend.

I’ve
great
friendships
but
I
don’t
want
any
actor
to
compromise
on
his
or
her
basic
tenets
on
cinema.

Was
Kajol
weighed
down
on
location
by
her
motherly
duties?

Not
at
all.
I’ve
worked
with
Kajol
in
various
stages
of
her
life.

I’m
working
her
again
eight
years
later.

When
we
worked
the
last
time,
she
didn’t
have
a
daughter.
So
of
course,
she’s
a
different
person.

Today,
I
find
her
calmer,
more
focused
on
her
work
than
ever
before.

Of
course,
she
has
a
really
cute
daughter
to
look
after
but
Kajol
manages
to
be
fantastic
wife,
mother
and
actress.

I
find
Shah
Rukh
and
Kajol
alike
in
their
attitude
to
work
and
family.
They’re
both
so
much
into
their
spouses
and
kids.

When
the
shot
is
over,
they
rush
to
their
respective
families.

On
location
in
LA,
between
shots,
they
spoke
to
each
other
about
their
respective
families.

How
was
Shah
Rukh?

Time
and
again,
I’m
blown
away
by
Shah
Rukh.
How
can
he
think
of
so
many
things
about
his
character
when
he
has
so
much
on
his
plate?
He
had
done
monumental
research
on
his
autistic
character.

I
was
zapped
by
how
much
he
knew
on
the
subject
and
he
brought
all
the
knowledge
on
the
sets
without
any
strain.

He
had
written
reams
of
notes
on
how
he
wanted
to
interpret
his
character,
and
to
him,
it
was
no
big
deal.

He’s
ready
to
direct
a
film
any
time.
He
will
be
outstanding
at
it.
His
understanding
of
human
nature
and
emotions
can
never
be
matched
by
me.

Feature
Presentation:
Rajesh
Alva/Rediff.com