One is Fire, the Other Brimstone

ShahRukh Khan on the other hand is not someone I can claim to know closely. My first memory of him was at a ghazal concert with Viveck Vaswani at a suburban five-star hotel. After the concert, when common friends gathered around him, I vividly remember Shah Rukh saying, “Some day I’m going to be really famous.”

During my stint at Movie Magazine one got to see a lot of Shah Rukh. The magazine’s editor Dinesh Raheja and one of my colleagues Sonali Kotnis were very thick with himIn fact when Sonali’s father took ill, Shah Rukh was one of the first to rush to her residence in Mahim to offer help.

So bowled over by his charm were all of us at Movie, that we’d find excuses to hang around SRK on his sets. And he’d constantly regale us with stories of his growing up years in Delhi, his struggle and just about everything else.

He was media savvy, his easy charm was infectious; and his story-telling skills superb. I’m also one of the fortunate few to have gone to the very first party that Gauri and Shah Rukh threw at a Kalaghoda restaurant, where the Khans gave us a Ganpati idol as a return gift.

Like I said, though I was not a part of the inner circle, my memories of Shah Rukh are always pleasant..ShahRukh Khan

Being part of the Filmfare gang for nine years, one had the privilege of bumping into him at regular intervals on his sets and at our awards night. And since he’s the Bollywood actor with the maximum number of Filmfare trophies; the mood was usually upbeat; and we (the Filmfare gang) were also privileged to get a warm hug from him.

Like Salman, Shah Rukh too is an alpha male. When a bevy of beauties (Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherji, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Pooja Bhatt) accompanied him to one of the big fat Sahara weddings in Lucknow, he personally made sure that the actresses didn’t have any run-in with the crowd. And even saw each one off to their individual rooms at night.

Now equations have changed. Like Salman, Shah Rukh too is impatient with media write-ups and often berates journalists who write what he doesn’t like to read.

It is also not hard to believe that both Salman and Shah Rukh had a face-off at Katrina Kaif’s birthday on July 16 because Salman Khan is known to be provocative. And Shah Rukh in his current avatar won’t take things lying down; whether it comes from the media or a fellow Khan.
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Salman Khan is all heart, though everyone who loves-to-hate him will find that hard to believe.

I was a regular at Salim Khan’s first floor residence at Galaxy Apartments long before Salman became an actor.Salman’s first interview before he embarked on his journey as an actor in Biwi Ho Toh Aisi (1988) was done by me for the film fortnightly Star & Style. Salman agreed to the interview only at his father’s behest. He was painstakingly shy and showed no eagerness or excitement about being featured in a magazine; or having his photographs splashed all over the place.

So in later years when he withdrew into a shell, almost shunning the media, it didn’t come as a surprise at all.
In the days before he took the nation by storm in Maine Pyar Kiya, one also bumped into Salman regularly at his then-girlfriend Sangeeta Bijlani’s home in Khar. Sangeeta was a pleasant, media-friendly person who spent time chatting with me even long after we switched off the tape-recorder. She’d treat us with Sindhi delicacies and modeling world secrets while a bemused Salman spent hours lounging around on her sofa, waiting patiently for her to see us off.

Occasionally he’d make some funny remark and have everyone in splits. But he always steered clear of direct media interaction.Whenever I wanted a Salman interview, I’d use my hotline to Salim saab. And it was the only way I’d get Salman on record.

Of course when one bumped into him at studios or the few film parties that he attended, he was always fun. But, one had to ready to be the butt of his jokes. Like an impish child, Salman would either pull the chair from beneath you, or crack up pointing to your backside. But if you stood the test of his antics, he would just give you a warm hug and make you a part of his inner circle.He lacked guile and would openly crack jokes about his co-stars.Once you had him on your side, you could be absolutely safe because Salman is super-protective.

There are loads of memories of time spent with Salman at his home, with Sangeeta and on the world concert tour in 1993, where he performed with Pooja Bhatt, Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala.Backstage he’d constantly try to pull Manisha’s leg and intimidate her in various ways. But when he’d see her cringe, he’d back off.

Once, he saw me looking hassled at an airport. He came over to ask what the matter was. When I told him that one of the organisers was throwing attitude, he promptly said, “The guy is already limping. If he is troubling you, should I break his other leg too?” I was alarmed, and promptly told him that everything was taken care of and that I was ok.For the rest of the tour, Salman was always on the look out for me. And, whenever he spotted the organiser, he’d go behind his back and with an impish smile ask me in sign language – ‘Should I break his leg?’ My alarmed expression, each time, would have him cracking up like a school bully.

That then is Salman… like I said, all heart.

Courtesy of Mumbai Mirror