Romance’s in the air

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone addressing a Press conference promoting their latest movie, Chennai Express, in Dubai on Thursday. — KT photo by Juidin Bernarrd

Kicking off over an hour late, the appearance of Shah Rukh Khan caused a frenzy amongst the waiting shutterbugs, who rushed towards the stage with their cameras. Unfazed as always, King Khan joked “If we could do the pictures when Deepika comes, I think they would look much nicer!”

He went on to talk about Chennai Express, a Rohit Shetty-directed film about a Mumbai boy (Shah Rukh) whose journey to a small town in Tamil Nadu to immerse the ashes of his grandfather brings with it unexpected adventure and romance with a feisty South Indian girl (Deepika Padukone).

“The film is a comedy-romance, the kind of entertainer I haven’t done for a long time. Sometimes, things fall into your lap by chance. It’s the kind of film you can watch with your whole family. It’s honest and straightforward and doesn’t intellectualise or trivialise anything,” Shah Rukh said.

Deepika, who walked in after a few minutes, was impeccably groomed as always and expressed her delight at being back in Dubai.

On her much-hyped South Indian accent in the movie, she said, “It took me a couple of days honestly. I’ve grown up in Bangalore and the South Indian culture is something that I’m very familiar with. Speaking the language (Tamil) would have been okay, but to speak with the accent was difficult.”

A question about the number game in Bollywood drew an emphatic response from Shah Rukh.

“I’ve never believed in numbers. I think when you reach a certain stage as a professional, these kinds of comparisons seem odious. I’d like to be remembered as the actor who tried the hardest to give the maximum smiles and entertainment to the people who love me.”

The actor turned philosophical towards the end of the conference when asked about what he missed most about the simple life.

“I love being a movie star. I believe if you have an issue with stardom, then you are disrespecting stardom.”

After the Press conference, the stars proceeded to Arabian Centre, arriving on time for Iftar. They danced to a foot-tapping tune from Chennai Express and King Khan also took time to interact with some of his fans, who numbered approximately 6,000 at the venue. The event was organised by Dream Advertising and Ministry of Events.

Chennai Express releases in the UAE on Eid Al Fitr.

enid@khaleejtimes.com