Shah Rukh Khan: The Rules

Rule 2: ROMANCE IT ALL, EVEN THE PILLAR
Hypothesis: I sizzle with everyone.
Deconstruct It: Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukerji, Sushmita Sen or Preity Zinta… Khan is so confident about his ‘best lover’ reputation that he declares he can even romance the inanimate. ‘‘I can romance all the pillars in the world in different ways—geeky, passionate, intense or sad.’’ In real life, he doesn’t take the formula seriously. ‘‘Love is not a property for candlelit dinners, it’s about making a girl smile.’’

Rule 3: RUN SRK RUN
Hypothesis: Whether it’s on the streets of Manhattan (Kal Ho Naa Ho) or across a roof (Main Hoon Na), I can run anywhere.
Deconstruct It: ‘‘Yeah, they all make me run. I think because that makes the film run,’’ he chuckles. And no, he doesn’t give a damn about his bad back. ‘‘I can’t keep telling people that my back is fine or rather, this is as good as it gets. And for those who think I emote pain better after my trouble, I want to tell them that arre, sometimes I can act well.’’

Rule 4: SHED REAL TEARS
Hypothesis: Right from Deewana to Veer-Zaara, I’ve cried in all my movies.
Deconstruct It: Khan insists he really cries in all his films and can do without glycerine for the most part. ‘‘Most of my films require crying and, over the years, I have added crying to my repertoire.’’ Though he thinks he cries well, he likes Tabu’s style. ‘‘She does something wonderful with her hands when she is rubbing her eyes. I wish I could cry like her.’’

Rule 5: IT’S AN SRK FEST
Hypothesis: All my films are about me.
Deconstruct It: Look at Veer-Zaara—from the title you’d think it’s a story of two people but it turns out to be Khan’s tale. ‘‘All my films are conceived with me in mind. If you remove me, the film will not work at one level, whereas it just might work at another level.’’ He feels a film is a director’s medium and his job as an actor is to be good enough to pull it off. “I’m part of a director’s thought, but a film’s success helps me more because I am a star,’’ he confesses.

Rule 6: EVERYBODY SAYS I’M FINE
Hypothesis: Clout or goodwill, everyone wants to be a part of my film. If Venus co-produced Main Hoon Na even though the music was on T-Series, then in Veer-Zaara, Mukerji and Zinta forgot their cold war to work with me.
Deconstruct It: Khan swears by honesty and being straightforward. “I don’t call up distributors, producers or actors to be a part of my film. I believe if your heart is clean, then it will reflect in your film and in your relationships. I never bring money into films. If I have to make money then I will dance at stage shows. But I will never cheat my film. I think that’s why people like me.”

Rule 7: BE CONSISTENT
Hypothesis: I do the same kind of films and the same kind of acting. There’s nothing different about my movies.
Deconstruct It: “Sometimes Sachin Tendulkar makes a century and sometimes he gets out on zero. That does not mean that he is not an artiste. I believe that I do everything differently. And even if I don’t, the same people go to see my films so often. Anyway, people don’t realise how difficult it is to do the same stuff over and over. In that sense, I am the most consistent actor,’’ he grins.

Rule 8: NET THE NRIs
Hypothesis: My movies are targeted at my fans in the US, UK and Canada.
Deconstruct It: Khan admits that all his releases, after Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, get a massive overseas opening. “I have a Western way of thinking and, somehow, the films that I do reflect this.”

Rule 9: BE THE BIG BROTHER
Hypothesis: I’ve played bade bhaiyya to Hrithik Roshan and Zayed Khan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Main Hoon Na. I was definitely more mature than Saif Ali Khan in Kal Ho Naa Ho. In Veer-Zaara, I could almost be Rani’s father.
Deconstruct It: Khan says it’s a coincidence. ‘‘Age is no criterion for judging anything but, of late, I have got mature roles. I don’t know how important that is but I am glad that I don’t have to play a college student any more. That would be stupid.’’

Rule 10: KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid)
Hypothesis: I am not a method actor. Don’t expect Aamir Khan’s brand of rehearsed acting from me, I am SRK always.
Deconstruct It: ‘‘Since the last two years, I’ve made acting very simple. I observe my kids. They emote the most complicated emotions in the simplest way. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. It takes me hours to work in my mind after the director has narrated the scene to me. Nowadays, my pursuit is to just let myself hang in there. I just want to be honest enough to raise an average film to the status of a good film.”