'We Knew Shah Rukh Was Going To Pack His Bags For Bollywood'

'It is something that he always wanted to do and he has achieved phenomenal success in doing it.'

Before Shah Rukh Khan arrived in Bombay to act in Hindi films, he had an entire life in Delhi -- school, college and acting in plays.

The theatre company he decided to work with -- Theatre Action Group (TAG) -- was run by UK-born director Barry John, who had made India his home.

John, 81, now lives in Dharamsala.

Over the years, he directed and trained a range of actors, including some who have become well known film personalities -- Manoj Bajpayee, Mira Nair, Roshan Seth, Lilette Dubey, Richa Chadha, Dia Mirza and, of course, Shah Rukh Khan.

Barry John has also acted in a number of films (Shatranj Ke Khilari, Gandhi, Massey Sahib, Chittagong), but his main passion has been theatre and working with young actors.

Earlier this year, John was recognised for his work with the Padma Shri

Aseem Chhabra spoke to Barry John via email where the theatre guru remembered working with Shah Rukh.

"Having dusted away many cobwebs and much dust, here are the memories that have survived the ravages of time," John wrote to Aseem.

Do you remember the first time Shah Rukh Khan came to TAG?

It has become folklore among the relics of TAG that I was in the auditorium of (Delhi's) Lady Shri Ram College directing an unusually large cast of youngsters up on stage, when this handsome youth strolled up to me and said, 'Excuse me, sir, I would love to be involved in your play, if I may.'

Or words to that effect.

I asked him if he could sing and dance, and he said 'Yes' and that was that.

It turned out that he couldn't sing but he acted as if he could, and danced very well.

Did he come on his own? Was there an audition call?

There were audition calls, but he came later on his own.

Do you remember your first impressions of him?

My first impression was of a Momma's boy with chubby cheeks and a very fit, athletic build.

But his communication skills were warm and direct.

Not many young men could have walked into a women's college auditorium, walked straight up to the director and said, 'I've arrived.'

What was the first play he acted in? And what were the other plays?

The play was the American musical Annie Get Your Gun. It was a joint production by Lady Shri Ram College and TAG, the group that I was the Artistic Director of.

Other plays that he acted in were Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, Whose Life Is It Anyway?/em>, Bhagdad Ka Ghulam, which was an adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters, a play for children Old King Cole.

I can't guarantee that this is a complete list.

Do you remember his acting style at that time?

Shah Rukh's personal acting style was full of bounce, as I remember it. His natural inclination was towards comedy.

The central role in the play Whose Life Is It Anyway? is bed-ridden throughout the play.

Shah Rukh was angling for it, but I gave the role to another actor. Shah Rukh played a mischievous ward boy who chased the nurses.

Did he express any interest in acting in films in those days? Hindi films at that time, and even now are so different as compared to the plays you produced and directed.

He expressed a lot of interest in film, and we all knew that one day, he was going to pack his bags and be bound for Bollywood.

While in Delhi, he acted in a Pradip Krishan film In Which Annie Gave It Those Ones. (Years later in her book King of Bollywood, Anupama Chopra quoted Shah Rukh as saying that he was disappointed to get a small supporting role in the film. He had hoped to play the lead character.)

Do you have any recollections of stories involving Shah Rukh, the friends he had at that time? What was he like when he was not rehearsing and performing?

It's tough to answer this one, mainly because I did not socialise with the group outside of meetings and rehearsals.

He had a set of friends he was close to in the group, and there were other friends from school and college that he maintained.

What did you think of Shah Rukh's early Bollywood films and how has he evolved as an actor? Did the fame affect his acting?

I feel I am not qualified to comment upon Shah Rukh's work in films.

It's a whole different world that creates a whole number of different constraints on the actor and his skills.

All that I can say is that it is something that he always wanted to do and he has achieved phenomenal success in doing it.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff