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“Amitabh Bachchan has retired and Dilip Kumar is not working as a hero any more so there’s only me,” were the super sure
words of Shah Rukh Khan as he tried to convince his would be in-laws as to why they should let their daughter marry him. Moreover,
in a typical filmi style while standing on a Marine Drive flyover, he had said, “one day I shall rule this city.” And he did. In fact, he does.
In this second part of an exclusive interview with noted journalist Anupama Chopra on her book, King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan
and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema, find out the traumatic experience of SRK during the era when underworld played havoc in
the film industry (Here it must be added that a few of the news channels who glorified his underworld connection in a few recent news
reports have got it all really wrong. They should have read the book before hiking up their TRPs). Also find out why SRK fans are
crazy about him and how he is not afraid to admit his failures.
You start the book with the dream of a fan Bhavesh whose wish came true when he dances with SRK at a concert in US during
the Temptations tour. Why did you start with him?
That story of Bhavesh really fascinated me. Of course all I knew was what I saw in Nasreen Munni Kabeer’s documentary ‘Outer
World of Shah Rukh Khan’. He is on stage and it’s a couple of minutes of the documentary but it just amazed me. Bhavesh had such
innocence and such reverence and it just encapsulated the unique relationship Indian fans have with their idols. I don’t think any other
fans across the world have the same reverence. The way he bent down and touched his feet, and it was not a giggly fourteen year
old teenager, this is a grown up man. And I was amazed as to how that whole interaction played me. I and my research associate
Leo Mirani went mad trying to find Bhavesh. It took us months and months to find that man and connect with him. Then I interviewed
him and he was in Ahmedabad flying back to US. He lives in a small town Dalton in Georgia and I interviewed him on the way from
domestic airport to the international airport. But he was fabulous. I’m very grateful for his story.
SRK on the sets with Gauri and Suhana
Photographer Ayesha Monani, Courtesy: Dharma Productions
Also read: Book review: SRK saves King of
Bollywood | Anupama
Chopra: I think SRK is done with Raj-Rahul | Click here to buy King of
Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema
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