When the king met the girl next door

 CINEMASCOPE

While promoting his upcoming film in Dubai, Shah Rukh Khan speaks about Raees and working with Mahira Khan.

Dubai

In this increasingly technological world where following artists in relentless fashion has been made possible by social media, releasing a film has become a time-consuming, star-studded, hype-driven process. As the audience adapts to the streaming age, finds access to global content and embraces new ways of consumption, artists have to work hard to make their product visible. The bigger the film, the more it is possible that it will be promoted across multiple continents and spaces by its cast and crew. It is also true that a big project is scrutinized severely and often unwittingly.

A case in point is the upcoming Hindi film, Raees, which stars Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan in the titular role alongside Pakistan’s most revered contemporary actress, Mahira Khan and the ever-impressive Nawazuddin Siddiqui. With the presence of Mahira Khan in the movie, this project has seen its share of controversies and agreements made in a bid to ensure that the release goes on without problems.

And so, despite being in the UAE at the same time, the film’s lead pair did not promote the venture together. The move can be attributed to the fact that the release is just around the corner and the makers understandably don’t want any controversy impacting the film. Plus, viewers may perceive films as a form of entertainment but for the creators they are a commodity and therefore are number-driven.

That said, as Raees gears up to grace cinema screens later this week, Shah Rukh Khan, joined by the film’s co-producer Ritesh Sidhwani and co-star Nawazuddin Siddiqui, made his presence felt at a press conference that was held at Bollywood Parks, in Dubai. Thankfully, despite all the guards in place, I managed to ask him some questions about Mahira Khan. Some quick excerpts from our conversation...

On working with Mahira Khan

Shah Rukh Khan praised all his co-actors in the film including Mahira and graciously noted that he received great help from all his co-stars and how it allowed him to deliver his role.

“I was fortunate to be working with Mahira and also Nawazuddin. The character of Raees comes from a particular background and I don’t think I have done anything like that or in that set up before in my career. So it was very important for my delivery to have performers who are more real when they are acting; it’s something that I don’t do that often. I have received great help as an artist just by observing the way, Mahira, Nawaz Bhai and Zeeshan have approached their characters in the film. And I am very thankful to Rahul for his choices and getting on board just the right talent for this film.”

Mahira and SRK: Personal equation and that funny story

I asked him if he had learnt anything about Pakistani industry through Mahira; I curiously inquired about their personal equation. Without a pause he said with a wicked smile, “Mein tujhe kyun batao ke mein Mahira Khan se kia baatein karta tha?”

Shah Rukh Khan joined co-producer Ritesh Sidhwani & co-actor Nawazuddin Siddique at a Raees press conference in Dubai.

But then I believe he remembered that he needs to be careful with regards to discussion about Mahira and he reverted to playing it very safe. “Unfortunately we did not have many opportunities to have personal discussions but having said that, on the work front, whatever little we did has come out to be really impactful. More often we have been pressed for time because of my injury and my scheduling and everybody having to work out dates. But the icebreaking took long and there is a funny story:

I was asked by my camera-person, who had worked with me in Don and now in Imtiaz Ali’s film, if I was in a very bad mood? He’d ask again and again. I am generally very easy, outgoing and lovable on sets but he told me you are looking very dangerous and everybody is actually scared of talking to you. And I used to think that because Rahul Dholakia is from the art cinema and Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a very serious actor hence everybody was very quiet and seriously working all the time.

So I assumed that maybe this is the atmosphere Rahul wanted on the sets and I would go to my room and sit down. I do commercial cinema so the way of working was slightly different. But later we learnt that the truth was because of the kohl in my eyes; everybody thought that I was mean and bad so nobody spoke to me on the sets for the first twenty days. It was only after when we took the first break and partied that people realized that I am normal behind the kohl.

So coming back to your point, normally films take longer time to complete but with this one, we had packed schedules and long breaks in between so everyone just got down to work. But it has been an exceptional experience to work with her.”

The zany one-liners

The line ‘Aa Raha Hoon Mein’ has taken the Internet universe by storm. I asked SRK if he had envisioned any of this happening while shooting or was it just another line in the script?

“Nobody had thought that this expression ‘Aa Raha Hoon Mein’ would create such a stir or become this famous. But the line comes at a very critical time in the film. I am in no way comparing it with Sholay but if you think about it, ‘Kitnay Admi Thay’ is just a question. But it was the combination of the baritone, delivery and the background score that created an impact. So I am glad it sounds nice and coveys the feel I wanted it to convey.”

As a request for the line to be spoken by SRK for the media emerged, the superstar obliged without hesitation. Changing his baritone, he uttered the three words: ‘Aa Raha Hoon Mein‘ with gravitas and to that, I say, we can hardly wait.

—Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai based entertainment journalist. He is also an Instep correspondent and can be contacted on his page fb/sidsaidso.

—Pictures by Zuhair Javaid