'His belief that he is touched by the Almighty reflects in his performances.'
They have collaborated on only one film, but the dark psychological thriller, Anjaam, which has Shah Rukh Khan playing an obsessive lover bagged him the Filmfare Award for Best Villain.
Anjaam released soon after Baazigar and Darr, but Rahul Rawail asserts that he was confident they would not typecast Shah Rukh.
"Whatever Shah Rukh does, he does it really well, and you can never typecast a good actor. I knew that a versatile actor like him would score with any character," the filmmaker tells Rediff Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya.
'Shah Rukh nodded and said, "Yes, I own it"'
I remember Shah Rukh from when he had just started working in films and even back then, what struck about him was that he is a very confident person.
He was living as a paying guest with his wife Gauri on Mount Mary Road in Bandra (northwest Mumbai) when I approached him for Anjaam.
Their one room overlooked Mannat and pointing to it, I told him it was the most sought-after residential property in Mumbai.
Shah Rukh nodded and said, "Yes, I know, I own it. I went and bought it last night."
I was taken aback by his words, more so when he confided that he had gone to Bharat Shah, given him an advance of Rs 100, with the promise that he would pay back the entire money he had borrowed from him for the purchase of the heritage bungalow in a year's time.
And he did!
He worked in films, even danced at weddings, and paid back the entire sum to Bharat bhai in exactly one year which is very creditable.
Today, Mannat is his home!
'My nephew suggested his name for Anjaam'
Anjaam is a dark psychological crime thriller which revolves around a woman whose life is destroyed by a man who loves her obsessively and will go to any lengths, even kill, to get her to marry him.
It was Sutanu Gupta's story and I found it interesting.
I could think of only two actresses who could pull off the role of Shivani Chopra, Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi.
I didn't approach Sri because I wanted a very deglam look for the character post interval and I wasn't sure if she would agree to that.
Fortunately, Madhuri, who I thought was best suited for the role anyway, jumped at the opportunity.
Once she was confirmed, the search for an actor who could play the antagonist and take her on started.
I couldn't think of anyone, finally, my nephew, who was working as an assistant to Ramesh Sippy at the time, suggested Shah Rukh Khan.
He was doing a film with them and my nephew insisted he was a damn good actor.
'He had come with a list of directors he wanted to work with'
I met Shah Rukh for the first time at a party at Hotel Juhu Centaur after the Filmfare Awards.
Vivek Vaswani (actor and filmmaker) introduced us, saying, "Rahul, this is Shah Rukh, he's from Circus."
I asked him which circus and he smiled, "Sir, I'm acting in a television serial called Circus."
I apologised, admitting I didn't watch TV serials, but I did watch Circus after that.
Then I went to meet Shah Rukh with the role of Vijay Agnihotri.
He told me he had come from Delhi with a list of directors he wanted to work with.
"Your name is on it, so yes, I will be happy to work with you," he stated.
'He came to the set for five days and watched Madhuri dance'
Anjaam had a lot of intense scenes, both Madhuri and Shah Rukh sailed through them.
There are actors who prep for months, then take the character home with them whom we call 'method actors'.
Shah Rukh, Madhuri, Kajol, even the late Rishi Kapoor, are not 'method actors' -- but just 'actors'.
That made the job of directing them easy for me because I was very sure that they could pull off anything I threw at them, and they did.
Shah Rukh had just one song in the film, Badi Mushkil Hai, Khoya Mera dil hai and he did it so smoothly.
Channe Ke Khet Mein was Madhuri's song, with only two-three shots on him.
When it was being filmed, he came to the set every day, for five days, and sat from 9 am to 9 pm, watching Madhuri dance.
One day, I told him he didn't need to be there every day and he said, "When will I get another opportunity to watch Madhuri perform? I am learning more from her than she will ever learn from me."
'Whatever Shah Rukh does, he does it really well'
When he signed Anjaam, Shah Rukh was already doing Baazigar and in talks with Yash Chopra for Darr.
Eventually, he did all three films, and in all of them he plays the antagonist.
They came in quick succession, Baazigar and Darr in November and December 1993, Anjaam on April 22, 1994.
Anjaam bagged him the Filmfare Award for Best Villain, but I was confident that he would not get typecast as a villain.
Whatever Shah Rukh does, he does it really well, and you can never typecast a good actor.
I knew a versatile actor like him would score with any character
I remember when I had signed Amjad Khan to play Havaldar Sher Singh in Love Story, everyone from the industry, including the producer (Rajendra Kumar), had insisted he would be miscast.
Sher Singh is a constable who is assigned the job of finding the missing boy and girl -- Kumar Gaurav's Bunty and Vijeta Pandit's Pinky -- after they run away from home, but instead, he ends up helping the ludka and ludki after they fall in love against their parents' wishes.
It was a comic role and Amjad was a villain, Sholay's Gabbar Singh.
My guru Raj Kapoor told me if I was convinced he was the right choice, I should go ahead with him.
Love Story changed the direction of Amjad Khan's career. After its release, he was flooded with similar roles.
Ditto for Shah Rukh Khan.
If Baazigar, Darr and Anjaam had made him a much-hated bad guy, then Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge turned him into everyone's favourite lover boy.
'This kind of stardom is unprecedented and phenomenal'
I can't say I visualised him becoming the King of Romance or even the mega star he is today.
Anyone who says they predicted that is a liar because this kind of stardom is unprecedented and phenomenal.
I attribute his meteoric rise to his amazing self-confidence that had impressed me early on.
His belief that he is touched by the Almighty reflects in his performances.
He says he is God's good child!
I went back to him with Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi with Kajol in a double role as estranged identical twins.
He told me that he would like to hear the script and I gave him a narration.
He told me, "Rahul, it's very nice, but I don't think it's the right kind of film for me at this stage in my career."
I said "fine" and didn't push it.
'He has evolved as an actor, but as a person he hasn't changed'
Shah Rukh continues to soar professionally and has been excellent in several films.
He was very good in Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara, playing a character whose graph spans almost a lifetime.
Fan was also very interesting in the way he underlined the differences between the two characters, movie star Aryan Khanna and Gaurav Chadna, his lookalike obsessive fan.
More recently, I enjoyed Pathaan.
The action scenes are brilliant, but they are the kind you see in the Marvel movies which I don't watch.
I know they are huge hits globally, but they belong to another world and don't appeal to me.
But I really liked the chemistry between Pathaan, Shah Rukh's R&AW agent, and Dimple's (Kapadia) Dr Nandini Grewal.
He has evolved as an actor, but as a person he hasn't changed.
You can still see the same honesty on his face.
Shah Rukh Khan is still God's good child!
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