Mumbai: The hearts of legions of girls have gone aflutter when Shah Rukh Khan gyrated atop a train or swayed to the beats while flashing his toned abs. But the best dancer in the Khan household, he believes, is undoubtedly the littlest member, AbRam. “AbRam has a favourite step,” he says, and starts to shake his head to show us how it’s done.
“So we wake up every morning and do that step. It fits every song; Lungi Dance, Chamak Challo, anything that we want to dance to will be met with this super move,” he says, before doing it again. While AbRam may “head” the dance department in the khandaan, his brother Aryan is not all that enthused about it. Shah Rukh laughs and says, “I think Aryan will beat me up if I ask him to dance!”
Although the superstar admits he is a rather dreadful dancer, his career has been replete with films that have seen him do more than just shake a leg. With Happy New Year all set for release, Shah Rukh is also returning to television, this time as a judge on Zee TV’s dance reality show Dil Se Naachien Indiawaale with his HNY team.
Even as the actor dismisses his dance skills, he reveals that his first role during theatre days was ironically that of a dancer. He says, “The first time Barry John cast me, it was not as an actor but as a dancer. I was the principal dancer. I had just one line: ‘Annie I have a letter for you’. Through the rest of the play I was just dancing!”
Shah Rukh reminisces about his first song shoot of his career. It was choreographed by the legendary Saroj Khan and was picturised on him and Nagma for the film King Uncle. “We were shooting for Is Jahan Ki Nahin Hai Tumhari Aankhen. Sarojji choreographed the song and I couldn’t do the dipping part of the dance. I was very troubled by that fact. Eventually Rakeshji (Roshan) put me on a cycle so I don’t have to dance much. But every night after the shoot, I kept practising the dipping bit. Once I learnt it, for my next 22 films I did only that dipping! Today I am the world’s best dipper,” he says, before breaking into his trademark laughter.
If he ranks his dancing skills poorly, Shah Rukh confesses that he’s actually a poorer judge. Rating people’s works is something he can’t get himself to do all that well. “I had once gone to judge a Miss India contest. I told Waheedaji (Rehman), who was also a judge at the competition, ‘Aap apne marks bata dejiye, main toh de nahi sakta, mujhe sab ladkiyan achchi lagti hai. (Tell me what you’re scoring them. I can’t do it because I like all the girls)’. Not just because they are girls but just that I can’t judge. I try to avoid judging shows; I’d rather just tell everyone they are doing well.”
If he is critical of his ability to judge, the actor is fully aware of the repeated criticism he’s received for his perceived preference for commercial potboilers. “I have my own production house but we make films according to the director’s vision. I have done serious films like Swades, Paheli, Chak De India and Asoka. When Swades released many people asked why the film is so serious. I try to balance both kinds of films.
As for the number of films I do, a Happy New Year for instance takes 150 days for the shoot. I was supposed to shoot for Fan immediately after that but then I had five days of shooting left for HNY. So I pushed the dates of Fan. I like to complete a film whether it requires 40 days or 140 days and only then begin the next one because then you are more focused,” he clarifies.
The icing on the cake for Shah Rukh is the winning streak on which his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders has been. The team is in the finals of the Champions League and SRK has a really good feeling about their chances. The actor is also nostalgic about his iconic film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge entering its 20th year.
“While I love the entire film, my favourite scene is certainly the pigeon feeding one with Amrishji (Puri). It was so sweet, the scene and the idea trying to patao the father of the girl you love by feeding pigeons. I also love the Ae Meri Zohrajabeen moment between Amrishji and Faridaji. That was dancing from the heart!”
