I am a limited actor: Shah Rukh Khan

SHAH RUKH KHAN has paid a heavy price in the past for speaking his mind and doing films like My Name Is Khan. He has been in the middle of controversies time and again. Hence, he played it safe with Raees which releases in the UAE tomorrow. He met MNS chief Raj Thackeray last month to ensure the easy release of his big budget film because a Pakistani actor is the heroine of his movie. Actors from Pakistan are banned in India currently. Mahira Khan was not present during the promotion of the movie at Bollywood Parks and Resorts this Saturday. But the actress was in Dubai on Sunday to promote the film. SRK took a call of not talking about Mahira and the ban on the actors from the neighbouring country but with Shah Rukh you are never short of conversation. Excerpts from our interview with the superstar.

Raees is a bootlegger and a criminal. While playing such characters how do you make sure that you are not glorifying them?
There are two parts to it. Yes, morally there is a question that you ask yourself. There were certain kinds of films that I was offered which were biopic in nature, they were based on real people and I was told to play them, which I felt was morally wrong. I did not do that.
The second part to it is whenever the character is fictional, like say, Don,  he is a mean guy but so larger than life, sexy and high flying. It's like James Bond gone wrong. I don't know how to justify Don, instead of justifying the story, I think you should look inherently for one logic that I have - all bad people also have something good in them and all good people also have something bad in them. If you can take the good out of it and not make it the central theme but give it a smattering throughout the film. What Raees does is bad. The world he is in is bad, the job is bad - no denying that. But within that, there is a person who stands up and takes responsibility for his actions. I am a family hero and everyone loves me and I will not glorify bad things. Even if I play bad they will be like it's okay.

You have problems swearing on screen. You even felt awkward calling Aishwarya 'evil' in Devdas.
I can't swear on screen. I do swear in real life, sorry. But on screen, I feel awkward doing it. Whenever there were moments like this, I told director Rahul Dholakia that I look fake on screen. Even to say a word like dusht (evil) to a lady, I was feeling very awkward. I remember Sanjay Leela Bhansali saying, 'Let's just make Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stand in front of you. It will make things easy.' I refused to do it, as her presence would have made me uneasy. This is my shortcoming and it doesn't mean those who do swear on screen are bad.

There are chances that your kids, Suhana and Aryan, might enter the film industry soon. What advice do you give them?
Everyone assumes that my kids are entering the film industry. My son is learning filmmaking for the next four years. My daughter is studying in  the 11th grade. She has to finish college and school, if she wants to be part of the film industry. I will only be too proud, but having said that, my only advice to my children would be - if you are passionate about making films, only then do it. Just because your father is in the films, you don't need to do it. You should love the job that you do. If they love films, I would be proud and happy. I will still want them to learn cinema from the world over, not restrict themselves to learning from what I have done. Because I am limited. If they go and learn from the stage, college, schools , experiences and travelling, it would be much better because than they can bring new thoughts to Indian cinema. I would want that of them.

Why do you feel that you are a limited actor?
We have been working for too long and there is no point in me teaching my children what I have done. I take it as a compliment if I can include myself with Nawazuddin Bhai. In a certain sense, we brought something new to acting, in our own respective places. If we tried following others, we would not have reached the place where we are now. New experiences are important. I want them to go beyond what I have experienced.
SRK on the rise and rise of Nawazuddin
A lot of people ask me, 'the role is small, should I do it? I just want to do the big role.' Even when I did the film Deewana, I came in only during the second half. There is one thing which is the best quality of a good actor, I am not as senior as Naseeruddin Shah and the late Om Puri, but for an actor no role is small. It is an actor who is small. In theatre, sometimes we play the lead and in the next one, we are just standing in the background holding a flag for two hours. Theatre people understand the totality of work, they have a selflessness in them. Because they are confident in their talent. Nawaz did not struggle for 18 years. He told everyone that any role is not small. We are recognising him now and that is a good thing. Thank God he entered commercial cinema but that allows an actor like me to perform better. It's an eye opening and intense experience for me. I had so much fun working with him and we used to feel bad everytime the scene would get over.  Nawazuddin can do a three-second or a three-hour role, and still be great in it!
We wanted to do scenes again and again: Nawaz
Nawazuddin Siddiqui talks about creating a love story rather than a hate story between the villain portrayed by SRK and the police man he plays in Raees.
Nawazuddin: SRK plays a character with grey shades. As an actor, both of us decided to explore the sub-text behind the script. Both of us have a theatre background, so we tried having fun exploring what we have learnt on stage. We wanted to do each and every scene again and again. When I saw Raees a few days back, my hands and feet went cold. He was so amazing in the movie. I felt that Shah Rukh has so much more potential and possibility to explore further as an actor.
'It is completely unfair that men and women get paid differently'
SRK recently said that actresses work three times harder and get paid 10 times lesser than male actors. We asked him if the payment disparity will end in Bollywood soon?
SRK: It is completely wrong that men and women should be paid differently. When I was coming to Dubai, there was a lady pilot in my plane and I think a lady pilot and a male pilot get the same pay. But what happens in the entertainment world globally, a lot depends on being able to pull audiences. I think it is a little male dominated world. But times are changing and there are actresses like Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, in between even Rani Mukherji and Kajol who singlehandedly gave successful films. They could easily pull in the audience as much as any male actor. I think there is inequality and hopefully, it will become better. I think it is completely unfair that in any job, men and women get paid differently. But when it comes down to business, I think somewhere down the line, the ladies in question can take a call on being part of productions which they are doing nowadays. They are producing films themselves, they are making cinema go forward internationally, it should take a little while but it should change.
Abram directed us at Bollywood Parks: SRK
AbRam loved the ride. He was behaving as if he made all the rides. He was guiding and directing us what to do because he had been on the rides before us. It's really sweet to go and see your film's ride. For the last one month, he is watching Ra One on television, so he knows the whole story. I am waiting to check other rides. AbRam tried everything. He loves travelling. My entire unit is like a family to him and he loves it.
arti@khaleejtimes.com