‘Hungry for audience’s love

Likening himself and ‘Pathaan’ co-actors Deepika Padukone and John Abraham to ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, the characters from Manmohan Desai’s 1977 hit, superstar Shah Rukh Khan said that as performers, their aim is to spread ‘love and brotherhood’.

The Bollywood superstar sat down with Deepika, John and director Siddharth Anand to discuss his magic and making of ‘Pathaan’ and his return to the big screen after four years in Mumbai at an event organised by production banner ‘Yash Raj Films’.

Shah Rukh said that for artists, cinema is a medium to entertain and unify the country without hurting any sentiments.

“To be honest, when we make films, be it in the North, South, East or West, we aim to spread happiness, brotherhood, love and kindness. Even when I’m playing a bad guy in ‘Darr’ or John is bad in this film, we are just playing characters. None of this is meant to hurt any sentiment. It is just entertainment,” the actor said.

He added, “This is Deepika, she is Amar. I’m Shah Rukh Khan, I’m Akbar and John, he is Anthony. We are ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ and this is what makes cinema. There are no differences any one of us has with any culture. We are hungry for audience love. All these crores are not important. The love we receive, nothing is bigger than that.”

The spy action thriller has broken many box office records and has raised Rs 700 crore gross worldwide since its release on January 25.

Shah Rukh said the overwhelming love coming his way for ‘Pathaan’ has more than made up for his time away from the movies.

The superstar thanked Yash Raj Films’ (YRF) head Aditya Chopra and Siddharth for giving him the opportunity to return with an action film.

“I thank producer Aditya Chopra and director Siddharth for giving me this opportunity. This is an expensive and time-consuming film and to give me a film at a time when I was not working and allow me to be a part of the film, I’m very grateful to them. I have forgotten the last four years in these last four days,” Shah Rukh said.

Barring cameos in R Madhavan’s ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ (Hindi version) and Ayan Mukerji-directed blockbuster ‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva’, the actor’s last full-fledged role before ‘Pathaan’ was ‘Zero’ in 2018.

The 57-year-old star called his fans his safe place and spoke about how greeting them from his balcony gives him strength. Shah Rukh said his fans love him whether his films work or not.

“My elders told me if you are sad, go to the people who love you. We will all have things that go wrong in life. Life is like that; it is meant to be like that. There will be good days and there will be bad days and we all have our bad days,” the actor said.

Khan added, “I am very lucky that I have millions and billions of people who love me. When I am sad, I go to my balcony. When I am happy, I go to my balcony. God has blessed me so much that he has given me a permanent balcony ticket.”

Ahead of the film’s release, the team, including Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika, John and Siddharth, stayed away from the usual promotional activities, but the superstar said there was no specific reason behind that.

“There is no specific reason behind us not meeting the media. The film was shot during COVID-19. Then we finished the film and couldn’t meet the media for some reason. But somewhere, the media, social media and everyone have shown so much love to the film,” he added.

The actor thanked the media for supporting the film even though ‘there could be things that could have curtailed the release of the film’.

“All of us are extremely thankful to the fans and the media for all the love and for supporting the film so much, even though there could be things that could have curtailed the release of the film,” he added.

The movie had landed in controversy before its release for the saffron bikini that Deepika’s character wore in the song ‘Besharam Rang’.

Calling the success of the film ‘a big moment’ for him and his family and friends, the actor hoped that whenever there is a ‘Pathaan 2’, it will be bigger and better.

“It is a big moment for me and my family and friends, as itne saalo ke baad khushi dekhi hai (We have seen happiness after so many years). I am happy with the opportunity given to me by Aditya Chopra and Siddharth Anand. Whenever they make ‘Pathaan 2’, it will be bigger and better,” he said.

Shah Rukh said being away from movies gave him a chance to spend time with his children, Aryan, Suhana and AbRam.

He also spoke about how Abraham’s presence in the film forced him to make ‘body shody’. The actor joked that they had ‘six dimples’ between the three of them.

Abraham, who plays the negative role in the movie, credited producer Aditya Chopra for always presenting him differently.

“First in ‘Dhoom’, then ‘New York’ and now this film. The way they have mounted the film, hats off to the producer. I would think I am the action hero, but I think today SRK is the action hero. This is going to be my biggest film. Thank you to all the fans,” he said.

Describing the experience of working with SRK and Deepika, Abraham said, “Shah Rukh is not an actor but an emotion. Have worked with Deepika before and to see her growth feels good.”

Deepika said she was overwhelmed with the love they were getting for the film.

“It felt amazing. The love that we are getting. To experience this love after what the world has been through. That a film like this can inspire so much celebration feels incredible. This feels like a festival. To keep the head down and keep going and then to see all the love, it’s worth it.”

Anand spoke about the challenge of directing Shah Rukh Khan and the ‘climate’ before the film’s release.

“Directing SRK is a responsibility. He is actually like clay. He will do whatever you want as a director. It

was stressful also because of the climate we had before the release of the film.”

‘Pathaan’ is the fourth movie in producer Aditya Chopra’s ambitious spy universe, following Salman Khan’s ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ (2012) and ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ (2017) and ‘War’, starring Hrithik Roshan (2019).