Shah Rukh Khan didn’t want to act initially: Vivek Vaswani

Walking down the nostalgic lane, Vivek Vaswani told IndianExpress.com: “He didn’t want to act in movies initially. He stayed with me because he didn’t have a house then. When I asked him if you would like to act, SRK said, ‘No, I can’t think of anything worse. It’s only after his mother passed away that he decided to act in films. That’s when we decided to make ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ so that he would have a platform.

Actor, writer and producer Vivek Vaswani is credited for having provided SRK a house to live in when he moved to Mumbai. He also helped SRK meet producers with whom he (SRK) was to form alliances in future.

Walking down the nostalgic lane, Vivek Vaswani told IndianExpress.com: “He didn’t want to act in movies initially. He stayed with me because he didn’t have a house then. When I asked him if you would like to act, SRK said, ‘No, I can’t think of anything worse. It’s only after his mother passed away that he decided to act in films. That’s when we decided to make ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ so that he would have a platform. I took him to meet a whole bunch of other producers who were able to sort of give him work. I was playing a very safe game because I didn’t want Raju to be his first film. You become a celebrity when your film is sold. ‘King Uncle’ and ‘Dil Aashna Hai’ may not have been very big important roles but these are roles that got sold as opposed to all the other rival competitors like Rahul Roy, Armaan Kohli who were doing solo hero films but not getting their movies sold or release. SRK slowly understood the business of films and the result is there for all to see.” (Pics: SRK’s style file @ 50)

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Talking about his 25 year old friendship with SRK, Vivek said, “For me, there has been no change in SRK. I have never seen a bad side in him. The love and respect he has for me has remained unchanged.”