Knight and Day

I don’t know. I have never said I’m a role model. In fact,I’m all wrong. I’ve always been politically incorrect. I sleep late,I smoke,I drink coffee and we have ghamasaan (extravagant) parties during the IPL. I’ve always been like this. Maybe,all this is being written because it’s becoming boring that I’m successful. After all,how long can you keep flaunting one person’s achievements? Look at what is happening to MS Dhoni. He’s India’s hero but suddenly in the last few months they are saying he isn’t good enough to be the captain. A role model is someone who can take on the onslaught and still stand for correctness. Someone like Sachin Tendulkar. He’s a perfect human being,the perfect role model. Not me.

Is it true that you showed your shoe to a fan in Pune during an IPL match?

You know,this is really funny. I was walking around the ground when a young boy asked me,“Why haven’t you worn torn jeans today? When you wear that we win.” So I gestured and told him,“It’s a little worn from the bottom,come and rip it further.” That’s all. And the next thing I knew I had shown my shoe to a fan.

You’ve already bought a stake in Dempo Football Club. What’s next on your list?

We keep talking about how we need to do something for sports,how India needs new sports icons. I feel if individuals come together and start companies that sponsor new talent then we can get new sporting heroes. I dream of building a company which can spot new talent,help them get sponsorships to play at an international level. I like to support as many games as I can with my physical appearance if it can get more people to watch. I believe if you watch more,you play more.

What was going on in your mind during the IPL final?

I’d come to the stadium with Gauri,her mom and her 92-year-old grandmother. Everybody sits together in Chennai and watches the match. I went in,said hello to Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir’s wives. I had just stepped out,when suddenly I heard a loud noise. When I came back to the lounge,I saw Suhana looking very sad. I wanted to scream out in frustration at Gautam’s dismissal and I’m sure Dhoni’s wife wanted to exult,but neither of us could do anything except behave politely. I remember telling Suhana,“We’ll win it.” I don’t know why,but I had a very strong feeling that if CSK (Chennai Super Kings) makes more than 196,we’ll lose,but anything under that,we’ll chase it down. In fact,the night before the finals,I even dreamed that (Manvinder) Bisla had made a 100 even though I had no way of knowing if he would even play the final. After the match,I reprimanded him,“ki kya yaar tumne 11 run kam kyun banaye? (Why did you fall short by 11 runs?)”

What does this win mean to you? Has owning a team taught you anything?

Having spent two years with Gautam and seeing how focused and disciplined he is,it has taught me about leading people. Gautam would say: if Jacques (Kallis) doesn’t perform,Yusuf (Pathan) or Manoj (Tiwary) will. Unfortunately,in our country,we don’t associate sports with sportsmanship,we just want to know ki hum haare yaa jeete (if we have won or lost). We are obsessed with heroes and villains. I do feel that my team has had to deal with undue pressure because I am a filmstar. Having won the IPL,I’m glad that the monkey is off our back. I’m glad they have an identity of their own now.

Many believe Suhana was your lucky charm…

People have been saying that,but Suhana is lucky for me because she is my daughter. She is lucky for my life,not just the IPL.

Why didn’t we see Aryan at the matches?

Aryan had his tests,so he was busy. Actually,he’s like me,he moves on when he gets hurt. He was really affected with all that was being written about the team. He would ask me why our team’s losses kept being written about when other teams lost too. So this time he decided to move on. However,now that we have won,he believes it’s because he moved on (laughs). But I like how my little girl deals with it all ― she is resilient and has tremendous fighting spirit. You know when Suhana got the cup in her hands,she shouted into it and promptly put the lid back on. She believes whenever she opens the lid,she can hear the happy shout again.

Your team has had a tumultuous journey ― the fake IPL player phase,the Ganguly vs Buchanan face off,the rotating captaincy issue,not picking up Dada at the auctions ― did you ever think of selling off the team?

Never. I used to read about my wanting to sell the team. But I’m a buyer,I’m a bull,I don’t sell. I would never ever go down when I’m losing,and when you are winning,you have no reason to sell. I won’t deny that people did offer me good money to sell the team. I won’t deny that people close to me,especially my wife Gauri and Juhi,have been hassled with these controversies,but I’ve always told them that I need to prove that I didn’t come here for anything else but to make it happen.

But when you guys were constantly losing,you must have had your bleak moments too. What kept you going?

Bleak moments? I think one of the worst moments was this year when we lost to Kings XI Punjab in Kolkata. I locked myself in the room for six hours. Juhi and Jai got so worried,they had to call Gauri. It hurts when you lose,it is a blow when you lose badly but then somewhere you also have the faith that this team can do it.

You took some tough decisions,including dropping Sourav Ganguly from the team. Now you’ve won and celebrated the win in Kolkata. Is there a sense of vindication?

I wrote something at 5am the day we won. I was feeling empty,so I wrote down what was actually going through my mind. (reads excerpts from his cellphone) I’ve never been able to learn cold-blooded objectivity. I’m extremely subjective ― good,bad,selfish,self-centered. I don’t behave how people think I should,like a role model…People exist in very small boxes of judgments and limitations,smaller than my 42” Plasma TV. These people hurt me even though they have no power over me. I react because I am honest. I am a middle-class guy,I have wanted nothing more than to be accepted and get love back. That’s an issue with me. I have always given and they have always taken…with entitlement. But they still don’t get me. Maybe,because I remind them of the things they didn’t have the capacity to do themselves. Now my anger has passed. I don’t feel vindicated,or like a champion or winner.

Has Sourav congratulated you?

He did when we won the matches against Pune. I haven’t met him since,but whenever I would meet him in the hotel or on the ground he would always say that we’d do well. He’s always been very nice.

How do you look back at the Wankhede episode with the MCA authorities?

I’m sorry about it because as a father I’ve no justification for abusing. I had gone there to pick up my kids,I know the rules,we were not going to jump on the pitch but whatever said and done,that does not give anyone the right to say immoral,non-secular things to me. I had a reason to be angry but not a reason for abusing. Mujhe sharmindagi hui ki mere bachche itne bade ho gaye hain (I felt ashamed that since my kids had grown up),I don’t need to put them through this. Maybe,I need to be more thick-skinned,be more quiet and patient.

But you do seem to be getting angry often these days. How do you deal with anger?

Yeah,well,you see how I deal with it. It comes out at the wrong place,at the wrong time,with the wrong people. It spoils my relationships,my friendships,it spoils the way people look up to successful people and want to be like them. Yes,I have a flaw. I get angry,I get impatient but I prefer to look at the positives and move on. I feel bad. I see the effect of all that is being written about me on my kids. I don’t like it when my daughter says,“Papa,my heart is sinking” when she reads or watches news about her dad. It’s tough as a parent. It’s been a great journey of life so far,I don’t want all this to take a toll.

So are you going through a midlife crisis,as some people are suggesting?

I want to know how people can talk so personally about someone they don’t know. I did a cartwheel because I was happy. I didn’t care that my underwear was showing. I fail to understand why,as a country,we begrudge people’s right to be happy. I swear to God,if my sister and my wife hadn’t stopped me from jumping off the balcony after we won,I would have been the first human being to fly. When I did the cartwheel,people said I did so in a frenzy,that it was midlife crisis. My son felt I didn’t do the perfect cartwheel because my landing was off. He told me,next time better get the landing right. I’d rather focus on that than pay heed to these pop psychologists,TV anchors and socialites who talk about stuff they don’t know anything about.

You’ve patched up with Farah Khan. So now what can we expect from the film you guys are doing ― Happy New Year?

Ek saal mein ek jhagda kaafi hai (a fight a year is enough) so I’m glad one jhagda is over. I start Happy New Year after Yashji (Chopra)’s film and Chennai Express. We wanted to do Happy New Year before Om Shanti Om but we didn’t have the right climax. Farah’s cracked it now and it should be a nice film.

You return to romance after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi with Yash Chopra’s film. What kind of a lover are you playing in it?

I want to play this one more subtly. I’m working with two actors (Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma) who approach scenes differently. I want to keep my part reactive. For example,I’d like to be the kind of man that Anushka’s character would fall in love with,and then play the role like that.

What can we expect from Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express? Will there be cars being blown up?

100 per cent. When Rohit narrated the script,I asked him yaar,gaadi udegi na (I hope cars will fly). I just saw the promo of Bol Bachchan and asked him,hamari film mein isse different way mein gaadi uddana padega,so I’m sure he’s thinking of new ways to blow up cars. It’s a very funnily written film. I have done charming comedy in films like Kal Ho Naa Ho,Yes Boss,Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani,but I haven’t done a situational comedy before.

You were supposed to star in an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s Two States with Vishal Bhardwaj,but now apparently Imran Khan is doing it. What happened?

I don’t know. Who’s directing that film?

Punit Malhotra (who directed I Hate Luv Storys) and it’s being co produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Karan Johar