‘Shah Rukh Khan jumped on my editor, refused to give an interview,’ recalls veteran journalist: ‘He said don’t show me your face, scolded me’

Pooja admitted she was shaken by the confrontation and immediately rushed to call her editor. When he came in, Pooja introduced him to SRK. “He was sitting on the sofa and he jumped up, went straight to the editor and said, ‘You’re the guy who writes all those nasty things about me? What do you get out of it?’ The argument went on. But eventually, the editor handled it calmly and rationally. Things got sorted out, and then editor left telling me that he will give the interview. After that, Shah Rukh and I actually became friends,” she shared.

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Reflecting on her later interactions with the actor, Pooja had great things to say about the superstar: “In the last four to five years, he’s stopped giving interviews to the media altogether. But I’ve had plenty of chances to speak with him over the last 20–25 years. He’s always been such an interesting person to talk to, incredibly knowledgeable. He reads a lot. Bible, Quran, Gita, he knows them all. His bungalow, Mannat, has a huge library. I honestly don’t know how he finds the time to read so much.”

Over the years, Shah Rukh’s reputation as “arrogant” has often resurfaced, something he once addressed with characteristic defiance in an old interview with Lehren Retro: “Agar insaan mein self-respect ko arrogance bolte hai, toh main hoon 100 per cent arrogant.” (If you call self-respect in a human being arrogance, then yes — I am 100 percent arrogant.)

Shah Rukh Khan will next be seen in Siddharth Anand’s King.