Shah Rukh Khan worked 36 hours straight on Circus, reveals Renuka Shahane; recalls his key advice to her: ‘If the director asks you to jump, you jump’

Actor Renuka Shahane recently took a trip down memory lane and shared a piece of advice Shah Rukh Khan once gave her, along with Ashutosh Gowariker's guidance on how to put that advice into practice.

By: Entertainment Desk

Kochi | May 11, 2025 06:36 PM IST

3 min read

Veerendra Saxena recalls working with Shah Rukh Khan.(Screenshot: YouTube/DDARCHIVES)

Before he became Bollywood’s Baadshah, Shah Rukh Khan was a popular television star, having won many hearts with his performance in shows like Fauji, Dil Dariya, Doosra Keval, Circus and Idiot. Interestingly, Circus – created by Aziz Mirza and directed by Aziz and Kundan Shah – also featured several other exceptional talents, including director Ashutosh Gowariker and actors Makrand Deshpande, Renuka Shahane and Sameer Khakhar. Recently, actor Renuka Shahane took a trip down memory lane and shared a piece of advice Shah Rukh Khan once gave her, along with Ashutosh Gowariker’s guidance on how to put that advice into practice.

When asked what the best or worst advice she ever received from a colleague was, Renuka told Filmfare, “My character, Maria, had a fear of heights, and so did I in real life. Hence, I was really scared while doing some of my scenes, particularly the ones featuring me getting on the trapeze. We all belong to the same age group, and, at that time, Shah Rukh wasn’t a film star. He was already a television star, though. So, after pack-up, we all used to discuss things.”

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“I was really scared, especially because I had to shoot with Kundan. Then, Shah Rukh came up to me and said, ‘Listen, you are an actor. If the director tells you this is a well and asks you to jump, you jump. You shouldn’t think about your fear of heights and all.’ He actually works like that. His attitude toward work is like that. I’ve seen him work for 36 hours straight. We had two units on Circus — one managed by Kundan and the other by Aziz — and SRK was in practically every frame of the show. So, I have seen him shooting for 36 hours at a stretch. Yet, not a single wrinkle appeared on his face. He never complained about anything either,” she recalled.

Renuka continued, “Ashutosh Gowariker, on the other hand, told me, ‘If the director asks you to jump, you say, ‘first, you jump and show me.” But the professionalism SRK was talking about was, don’t overthink or question these things. It’s the director’s vision, and as an actor, you have to fulfill it. His words got me thinking. One can be mollycoddling of oneself, and we need to stretch ourselves.”

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