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EXCLUSIVE - Mahesh Bhatt on 25 years of Shah Rukh Khan: He believes that life has no full stop, there's no end to his thirst to ask for more as an actor
Legendary filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt makes some beautiful revelations about Shah Rukh Khan.
Legendary filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt leaves no stone unturned in praising and applauding Shah Rukh Khan for his great achievements throughout his career. Bhatt Saab directed SRK in two films- Chaahat and Duplicate. Though both did not work well at the box-office, both share a great rapport for more than two decades now.
Today, Shah Rukh completed 25 years in Bollywood and on this occassion Mahesh Ji spoke his heart out about the superstar to us. To begin with he said, "First of all, I have a unique distinction, perhaps not an endurable distinction of being the only director who made two disasters with Shah Rukh Khan. Despite of not being able to deliver hits to his rising career, he had the grace and the generosity to look at me as a talented man going through what is called a rough patch. Never did I see in him, in his eye or in his behaviour, an attitude that stars normally have when the directors whom they trust implicitly do not deliver to them what is called a box-office hit. I think this is the most unusual attribute of that man that I will retain."
Bhatt Saab further added, "As it is said that when Porus lost to Alexander, he was asked, "How should I treat you?" and he replied, "As you'll treat a king!" Despite me not being able to deliver, what is called a box-office wonder to his rising graph, Shah Rukh Khan always looked at me like a man who was the king in the space of filmmaking and he was willing to deal generously with my dry patch. That's one thing I remember about him with his unusual, unparalleled in this film industry, because in this industry everybody uses everybody only as a springboard to rise to power or more power, he saw me as a person in myself."
When asked how has he seen SRK evolve as an actor over the years, the ace filmmaker said, "Well, I must say when I saw Dear Zindagi where he was seen opposite Alia in that fascinating role, I remember having a midnight conversation when I called up to congratulate Alia Bhatt, but then I got to know she was with Shah Rukh as they were on some promotional tour. And I spoke to him, I said, "Shah Rukh Khan, Dear Zindagi works because of you! It requires a tremendous courage of being a star and resisting the greed or the temptation to steal the thunder of another actor, who has just made her foray into the world of movies and is being looked upon as a very talented individual. It speaks of how assured he is as a human being and how large-hearted he is to his co-star. I found his performances in Dear Zindagi and Raees, which I saw recently, they were having this remarkable energy and the dust of time seems to have made him richer. Life has given him the depths, of which he draws on now and gives his performance with extra zing which I saw in Dear Zindagi and Raees."
What makes Shah Rukh, the Baadshah of Bollywood? Mahesh Ji said, "He believes that life has no full stop and there's no end to his thirst to ask for more as an actor. For that, he is willing to give his entire life to achieve that. When I worked with him, his ability to go on and on, irrespective of how many takes it takes is what made him stand out."
"I think that I told him and today also on the occasion of him completing 25 years, I say it again that I believe that to be a great actor you should be a person of courage. All great actors, be it, Alia Bhatt, Sridevi or Shah Rukh Khan, they are courageous people. And Shah Rukh Khan is an individual who is a Braveheart, he is a courageous man," said Bhatt Saab while signing off.
