'Shah Rukh Is A Fabulous Human Being'

'Shah Rukh is such a generous person, such a giver, that I can only wish for life to give him all the love and happiness he deserves.'

Rahul Dholakia, who bagged the National Film Award for Best Director for his 2007 film Parzania, admits that during their initial meetings, Shah Rukh Khan acknowledged that Rahul would never be able to make an out-an-out commercial film.

At the same time, Shah Rukh was not interested in art-house cinema. Raees was a collaboration between two creative minds from two different worlds and schools of filmmaking.

"He read the script every day, came to the set fully prepped, and occasionally gave suggestions, mostly on the character's look... He would interpret a scene his way, then share his thoughts with me, saying, 'Now, you tell me what you think'."

"One day, I was surprised to see my personal physician on the set. Dr Agarwal is also his doctor and from him I learnt that Shah Rukh was shooting with very high fever," Rahul tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya in a fascinating interview.

'Could you tell me the story quickly, I have a flight to catch'

I clearly remember my first meeting with Shah Rukh at his Mumbai bungalow, Mannat, and him saying, "Could you tell me the story quickly, in 5-10 minutes since I have a flight to catch?"

He was quick to add that when he returned, he would listen to me for a longer time.

I started the narration and the 5 minutes became 25.

While leaving, Shah Rukh promised that we would chat again.

This was in February or March 2013, we met once more in April.

Again, he was dashing off somewhere and told me I had half an hour.

I looked at him quizzically and he smiled, "So every scene is important, huh?"

When I nodded, he said, "Okay, go ahead, let's start."

'Reading my mind, he laughed, "Don't worry, I'm doing the film"'

The admirable quality about Shah Rukh Khan is that he is approachable and astute.

You may have to wait for him for a while, but once he is sitting opposite you, he listens with full concentration.

He is not distracted by phone calls, messages or people.

I stopped when I reached the interval point.

Shah Rukh had a lot of questions.

Once again, I looked at him quizzically, wondering how much I should reveal at this point.

Reading my mind, he laughed, "Don't worry, I'm doing the film."

Wow, Shah Rukh Khan was doing Raees, now, I didn't mind answering his queries, all day, every day!

'I told him there was a line in the film that describes him...'

I quickly realised that he didn't ask questions just for the heck of it.

He was genuinely interested in understanding his character and enhancing his performance.

One of his questions was, "Why me?"

I replied that there is a line in the film that describes him.

Before I could say it, he said, "Baniye ka dimaag, miyan bhai ka daring."

I was impressed by his grasp of the subject and his understanding of the character.

Once I had answered all his queries, we moved on to the second half.

Again, Shah Rukh gave me his full attention and once I was done, he said, "All right, I'll meet you again, and this time, I will make some notes too."

We kept meeting, he continued asking questions till the shooting was completed.

'We had to meet halfway in a way that worked best for both of us'

I got his nod in 2013, but had to wait till Shah Rukh had finished Chennai Express and Fan before we could roll.

We started shooting in Mumbai in April 2015 and completed the film in Bhuj in early 2016.

Raees released on January 25, 2017, it was a long journey.

I come from a very different world and school of filmmaking, but like he is with everyone, Shah Rukh was always very respectful.

He acknowledged during one of our initial meetings itself that he knew I would not make an out-and-out commercial film.

Since he wasn't interested in making an art-house film either, he pointed out that we had to meet halfway, in a way that worked best for both of us.

There was a lot of maturity and clarity in his approach.

He engages and energises you as a filmmaker.

Raees was a wonderful collaboration!

'I was surprised to see my personal physician on the set'

I've met actors who are more interested in what their co-stars are doing.

But Shah Rukh was only focussed on Raees Khan.

He read the script every day, came to the set fully prepped, and occasionally gave suggestions, mostly on the character's look.

Like what frame would suit Raees's personality best, even bringing the glasses he wore at home.

He would interpret a scene his way, then share his thoughts with me, saying, "Now, you tell me what you think."

He was tireless even when he was unwell.

One day, I was surprised to see my personal physician on the set.

Dr Agarwal is also his doctor and from him I learnt that Shah Rukh was shooting with very high fever.

'He had to repeat the line on the urging of the marketing team'

For every shot, he would give me two-three options, enacting it in different ways, then letting you decide what would be apt.

I remember Shah Rukh asking me how I wanted him to speak the "Baniye ka dimag, miya bhai ka daring" line.

"Should I say it like a dialogue?" he wondered.

I reasoned that Raees was at that stage in his life when he was supremely confident of himself.

"He wouldn't brag or show off. So, he should say it like a throwaway line," I suggested.

Despite the casualness with which it was delivered, the line became so popular after the trailer released that he had to repeat the line in another scene on the urging of the marketing team.

'It was a magical moment and the use of eye drops so apt'

When it comes to romance, no one can beat Shah Rukh Khan.

There's that scene in the eye clinic where Raees goes for an eye checkup and sees Mahira's Aasiya there.

I needed him to flirt with her, subtly, and had an idea on how the scene should play out.

He waved me away, saying, "Leave it to me, main karta hoon."

Picking up the eye drops the doctor had given him, he leans back in his chair, making eye contact with Aasiya, standing by the door, and winks at her.

She smiles coyly and walks away.

It was a magical moment and the use of eye drops was so apt given that he was in a clinic.

I couldn't have come up with anything better!

'He pitched very strongly for a romantic song'

Usually, Shah Rukh surrenders to the vision of the director he is working with, but in the case of Raees, he advised me not to get caught up in realism and become too cerebral.

He reasoned that as soon as a writer started reimagining a story, even if it is rooted in reality, it became fiction.

He pitched very strongly for a romantic song with Mahira, pointing out that when you put in a song, the audience starts thinking of the film as fiction and you don't have to justify everything.

Zaleema was his creation.

He spent several nights with Pritam (composer) and Amitabh Bhattacharya (lyricist), sitting up with them till 3 am, designing this beautiful song.

He was very particular about how it should be picturised and we shot it in Morocco.

'I've learnt so much from working with him'

There was this scene featuring him and one of the fighters.

The guy had to say just one line and was bang on during the rehearsals.

But as soon as he faced the camera, coming face-to-face with Shah Rukh, he was intimidated and started fumbling.

Shah Rukh was extremely patient, but after 20-22 muffled takes, I told him he didn't need to be around.

Shah Rukh stayed put, arguing that if his co-star looked bad, it would reflect badly on him too.

He waited till the guy got it right and only after that returned to his vanity van.

I've learnt so much from working with him.

'It was endearing to see the healthy banter between the four'

Nawaz (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and Shah Rukh didn't have many scenes together, but you can see the chemistry between them in whatever they did.

Ditto, with Mahira.

Zeeshan (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) who plays Raees's friend Sadiq Khan had more screen time together and they became good friends.

There was this intense scene between them and when I pushed for "one more" after two-three very good takes, they out their hands up, laughing, "Ab humse nahi hoga, ab to bas Naseer bhai hi kuch aur kar sakte hai ya phir Irrfan (We can't do anything more, now only Naseeruddin Shah or Irrfan Khan can better this)."

It was endearing to see the healthy banter between the four of them when they were shooting a scene together.

Shah Rukh joked that Nawaz's cop Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar wanted to kill Raees so he could run away with Aasiya.

He then pulled Mahira's leg, saying she wanted him dead, so she could run off with Sadiq.

It was fun to see them spinning Raees 2 and Raees 3.

'On his 60th birthday, I have only duas for him'

Shah Rukh is not just a fabulous actor; he is also a fabulous human being.

I don't meet too many people from the film industry, but I'm very fond of Shah Rukh.

If I haven't approached him again, it's because I don't have anything yet that can do justice to his stardom.

We can't take Raees forward because his character is dead.

A lot of people had wanted me to let Raees live or at least have an open ending, arguing that he had struggled and suffered enough.

But I was clear usse marna to padega (he had to die).

We couldn't glorify a gangster, he had to be punished, I reasoned.

I know a lot of people were disappointed, but Shah Rukh, who himself is very strong morally, never pushed me to change the end.

On his 60th birthday, I have only duas for him.

Shah Rukh is such a generous person, such a giver, that I can only wish for life to give him all the love and happiness he deserves.