12:22 PM, Sunday Oct 19, 2014
Horoscope
‘No one can do what I am doing’
Shah Rukh Khan says he doesn’t involve his kids in his superstar life
Shah Rukh Khan talks about his position in Bollywood, keeping his family away from his professional life, and his son’s future
Ahead of the release of Happy New Year, Shah Rukh Khan finds himself in an unassailable position in Bollywood, and while he is comfortable being the brightest star in the horizon, sometimes it does get lonely at the top.
Recently Jackie Shroff had said about SRK: “Bahut akela hai bhidu King Khan…”
Clarifying, Shah Rukh says, “You do things that make you happy and I chose this line for myself… you can call it luck or whatever that God has gifted me. When you reach this level of achievement, every person is lonely at the top. What I am doing, no one can do… you don’t get many people like that. It’s not that they are not talented, but very few reach this level.”
But life at the top does get lonely. “There’s no one. Others can console you but you have to deal with your life at this stage by yourself. It’s a difficult place to be in. People come and appreciate you, but you might not be in a happy frame of mind but you can’t let it show. They will think you are ungrateful.”
Shah Rukh also ensures that his family is kept out of the rigors of his celeb status. “I think it’s difficult to be a family member of a filmstar. I don’t want them to be worried every Friday. I can’t tell them about my shootings. I have kept them away from films and made a rule not to discuss my work. When I am disturbed at a personal level, they are always there, but not when it’s about my work. I don’t take my work or worries to my dining table. I can’t involve my children in a superstar’s life. The life of a superstar, especially in politics or business, is very lonely. I keep it normal at home.”
He adds, “Now that my son is growing up everyone tells him ‘you will become a star’. He is always under pressure to turn to acting. But I don’t want to involve them in my filmy life. They don’t know what I am doing or which film I am shooting for. I keep them away from my work. I can’t involve my children and wife in the issues I am dealing with and they also don’t get involved.
“My family members and friends always say that Aryan will become a hero, but why will he become a hero? He is just 17 and once he asked me ‘papa will I become a hero?’ I said ‘do you want to become one?’ He said ‘no, I am a little confused’. That’s why I have sent him away out for studies. Let him educate himself, grow up, play games and let him have the option where he can decide what he wants to do. No one in London asks him if he wants to act. During the day he would say that he would act and at night he would want to become an astronaut. I got disturbed by the fact that he was being forced into acting. There is a lot of pressure on him.”
Adding further Shah Rukh says, “I understand the kind of pressure children of famous people are facing like Sachin Tendulkar’s son and Amitabh Bachchan’s son, Abhishek. I had an uncle who was into acting in tamashas. He was a handsome man but he never married. My father said, ‘You should not have a family if you are a public figure’. I realise that now. My problems should be mine because I have chosen acting as my profession.”
All praises for the younger generation, SRK sums up, “The younger generation is very smart and all the corruption will end. Things are going to change soon. They may make mistakes but they are not corrupt.”
