There was frenzy at the premiere of My Name Is Khan in Abu Dhabi last week as fans rushed the red carpet, and the packed cinema sparkled like a starry night with flash photography documenting every move on the screen made by Khan or his beautiful co-star Kajol Devgan – a star-studded night indeed. Bollywood has come to the Emirate ...
What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot, if the name is Shah Rukh Khan – actor, producer, television presenter, husband, father, role model and heartthrob for India’s female population (and to some of us in the office, we admit). Right now, with his latest film My Name Is Khan in the cinemas, you won’t be able to move an inch in the box office lines without hearing it.
A few hours before show time at the premiere on 11th February, we’re sitting next to the Bollywood legend. He’s pretty tired yet still handsome and sleek, and since touching down in Abu Dhabi he has seen nothing but the inside of Emirates Palace.
“I’ve been here a couple of times for shows and have then had to rush back – it’s always been in and out straightaway,” says Khan. “I want to get my kids out here and spend some time with them here, and if I had more time on this trip I would’ve.
“It’s a really beautiful place, though, and it’s very gracious of everyone to invite us here and make this day
so special.”
But jet-setting around the globe comes with the territory, and even more so for an actor such as SRK who’s huge in India and on the verge of breaking into Western cinema. Typically cast for the last 20 years as the perfect and irresistible good guy, it was a whole new ball game this time around – playing a young Muslim in America who suffers both from Asperger’s Syndrome and the devastating effects of 9/11 on the Muslim community and the American population.
“It’s a very interesting, multi-layered film,” says SRK. “I’ve never done anything like this. The character has a lot more fixed perimeters than most, having Asperger’s, so it involved a lot of research. I met a couple of people who were inflicted with the disorder, read up on it a lot, watched a lot of documentaries, learned the walk, the voice, that sort of thing ...”
As for the political and religious hurdles faced by his character Rizvan, SRK insists that being Muslim himself was not what had initially drawn him to the role. “That had nothing to do with it. It was more the fact that I had an opportunity to play such an atypical character, something new – that for any actor is a turn-on.
“We don’t take it lightly. But as an actor, it’s interesting to completely transform yourself and think like a person you’re not. You’ve got to be real and still be able to create a character.
“The beauty of this character is that he has no feelings. He can’t laugh, he can’t love, can’t cry, can’t express anything. One of my goals was to still want every woman to say ‘Oh wow! I wish I had a man like this’.”
You would think that was challenge enough; but talented director Karan Johar didn’t stop there. He shipped the crew out to unfamiliar territory (the film is set in the US, mostly shot in California) and still didn’t have a concrete plan for filming it when he got there. “It was all very organic, and we were also kind of discovering it as we went along and didn’t know how it was finally going to come out.”
But it helps when you’ve worked with the director and cast near half a dozen times. “Shooting with friends is always fun,” says SRK. “Karan is really talented. He’s always made films according to the age and stages that he’s passing through in life. When I just started working with him he’d just left college and the experience was still fresh in his mind – so he made a film called Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which was about college romance and what follows that. Then he found a close bond with his father that he never had, so he made Khabi Khushi Khabie Gham, a film about loving your parents. Somewhere along the line a lot of friends of ours were going through bad marriages and relationships, and he was also not sure where he wanted to go with his life – should he marry or not? – and he just came up with this whole idea that maybe the institution is a little cracked or disturbed, so he made Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.
“And now he’s taking a look at political and religious themes and what’s going on in the world at large. His films always reflect honestly what he’s going through. So those changes are interesting to watch.”
It’s not conventional Bollywood cinema, with an absence of singing, dancing and Indian locations. It is still brimming with all the other good stuff that Bollywood fans anticipate – compassion, commitment, devotion in spite of the many obstacles, and a tear-jerkingly good love story between two good-looking people.
So SRK is not too worried about his fans’ reactions. “At this stage, this film doesn’t belong to me anymore. It’s ready to be sent out into the hands of people who will make their own decision what it’s going to become. I made a decision three years ago [to take on the movie], felt it was the right decision, lived by that decision and am now released by that decision.
“On the other hand, it’s like nurturing a child and then letting it go out into the world. You feel kind of like that. You know that the child is very special and it will always be yours – but now it’s time to let it go free. It’s a little sad, but still a great feeling.”
Filming in America had its challenges but he feels extremely privileged to have been there. “Los Angeles was very cold, and I was injured throughout the shooting of this film – I broke my shoulder doing a stunt in the film before this one. So it was a little uncomfortable for me, but still amazing and memorable.
“And from what I learned, I also now have so much more respect for those with special needs. I’m intrigued by Asperger’s Syndrome and other neuro-atypical disorders; I think that that’s part of mutation or evolution, and may be the next step in the world’s progression. I now truly believe that people with Asperger’s are the more gifted ones.
“But all in all it was a great first. It’s always nice to be in Hollywood.” He laughs: “I feel I’m a Hollywood star now.” At the rate he’s going he’s very nearly there, and My Name Is Khan is about as Westernised as Bollywood has got. Still, look at the crowds at the Abu Dhabi premier: with a mammoth Indian fan base sprouting from all corners of the globe, who needs Hollywood?
Ok yes you Khan!
My Name is Khan – Dir. Karan Johar, starring Sharukh Khan, Kajol Devgan
A typical Bollywood film is a three- hour extravaganza consisting of painstakingly-choreographed dance routines, flirtatious glances behind mango trees, and much heartache at every turn, all accompanied by memorable love songs. Well Johar took a different route with this one.
Set mostly in America, it follows the unconventional Forrest Gump type hero, a young Muslim man with Asperger’s Syndrome (Shahrukh Khan) and a simple goal – to find happiness in America. He snags Mandira (Kajol), a beautiful free-spirited Hindu hairstylist (plus her son Sameer), the dream house, the dream life ... and just when you’re beginning to enjoy the cute and cosy moments they share, 9/11 hits the US.
A racially-fuelled school scuffle kills Sameer. Because of this, Mandira begins regretting welcoming a Muslim into her life – just as the nation seemed to. She shuts him out, and this sends him on an arduous journey across America to meet the president and tell him one thing: “My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”. Although targeted as a terrorist because of his movements, through a series of selfless acts helping others in many states Rizvan accidentally becomes a nationwide hero.
It’s a multi-layered, ironic film that’s deeply moving yet still peppered with lots of giggly moments (and bathroom-break opportunities). Although beautifully filmed, the director is slightly over-indulgent with the cross-country scenery. But it’s worth it seeing Khan (forever Bollywood’s hero heartthrob) tackle an atypical role so astonishingly well.
Kara Martin
