The King’s Speech

Thrilled by the success of Chennai Express,which has not only broken the record for the fastest Rs 100-crore film at the box office,but has also achieved the highest international opening — the King Khan admits that though he loved the script of the film initially,he was a little worried about how it would shape up eventually.

“Even I didn’t realise that the second half of the film is a love story. Movie toh bante bante ban jaati hai (a movie makes itself in the course of things). The business it has done in just one week is overwhelming,” he says,adding that as a producer,he doesn’t think about numbers and simply makes the films he wants to. “The aim of breaking records is a negative way of looking at things. The positive way is to just do your job; if the record is created,it’s nice. Don’t work for prosperity,work for fun,” says the 48-year-old.

The film has also broken the conventional trend of introducing male actor’s name before the female actor’s. The idea struck Khan while shooting the Tata Tea ad film by R Balki. “Since I was producing Chennai Express,I could take a call. I will be doing it for my upcoming film Happy New Year,too,and also request other producers to do the same. It might just become a trend,” he says,acknowledging that unfortunately,the film industry across the world is patriarchal. “But,soon it will change; women will rule everywhere,” he adds.

The actor,who is a role model for millions,himself doesn’t have a role model. There is just one thing that inspires him — education. “I like to educate myself. One needs to expand horizons,” says Khan.

At home,he says,though his wife Gauri is the role model for their children,they idolise him as far as hard work is concerned. “When Suhana was eight,she was asked to write an essay on the topic ‘My Father’. She ended the essay with a line — ‘Most importantly,my father is very hardworking’,” recalls Khan with a twinkle in his eye. The remark seems true to the core given the fact that despite missing sleep for the past 11 days owing to his hectic schedule,Khan says he feels fully charged for work at any point of the day.

Keeping a tab on the constant growth of Marathi film industry and aware of several Bollywood actors such as Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh getting associated with it,Khan says that in time he would also like to produce a Marathi film. “Regional cinema is very important for the state. I may not be able to act,as I don’t know the language but I would like to be a part of Marathi films in some way,some day,” he signs off.