He's a cool papa, everyone knows that. But not too many details are out on what a loving huby SRK is too. This was in evidence on the 8th of September, when the Khan flew back all the way from New York, to celebrate wife Gauri's birthday. Of course, he coupled it with another event he had to attend, but the fact remains that he's there for his better half just when she needs him. And even post birthday, he's not lined up too many meetings. Choosing to spend time with the family alone. Before flying back to join Karan's shooting in the Big Apple. Like we say, no one's more passionate than this Khan(daan), eh?

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

Aseem Chhabra in New York | October 14, 2005 18:44 IST


On October 13, Shah Rukh Khan came to Jackson Heights in Queens, New York, USA, for a much publicised event to mark the DVD release of Nasreen Munni Kabir's documentary, The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan.

Hundreds of screaming fans -- young girls, kids, teenagers, men and even elderly people -- stood in a line outside the Eagle Theatre braving the cold rain that has soaked the North East US. But most never got Khan to autograph their DVD. In fact, many did not even get a glimpse of their favourite Bollywood star.

The timing was perfect for Eros Entertainment to release the DVD of a year-old documentary. Khan has been in New York City for a couple of weeks now shooting Karan Johar's new film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. The desi community in the city is buzzing with sightings of Khan, and the film crew. And Kabir flew in from London to promote her film.

The event, publicised heavily on the local desi television programmes, was supposed to take place last week. The television channels showed clips from the documentary -- the private life of Khan, with his family and friends.

Two weeks ago, Khan gave a television interview to AVS where he talked about how he was such an ordinary man, but he loved his fans and their adulation.

But due to a delay in the shipment of the DVDs, the event was postponed to Thursday, October 13.

Fans were told to buy the DVDs and that Khan would autograph each copy. Later, some web sites announced that the actor would only autograph the first 100 copies of the DVD.

In the crowd, outside the theatre was a middle aged New Yorker, Virginia Kelly, who had come all the way from Manhattan "because I love Shah Rukh."

She added that she seen Khan in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Duplicate, Dil Se and many more films.

"Oh, I don't think there is anybody like him. He is a wonderful actor." Kelly, who is a psychologist, added that Khan was more appealing than Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

Sharmeen Sarkar had been in the line for four hours. And it was only 8 pm. Khan was expected to arrive at 9 pm.

"In the universe, everybody knows he is a good actor," the 20 year old shouted loudly over other screaming voices. "And it is the only chance to see him here."

She was there with her friend Anwar Hussein, 25. And which movies of Khan did he like? "Everything, everything. All his movies."

"They said the first 100 will get in," Sarkar added, feeling confident that she would be able to see the star.

"Oh my God, I love Shah Rukh Khan, more than anything in life," screamed 17-year-old Nba Suhail, a Pakistani-American teenager who had just arrived from Staten Island with her friend and her parents. "We are going to take him home. We have a getaway car. Don't tell the police."

"This feels like a movie," Suhail added, giggling and her voice quivering with excitement. "It feels so real."

Suhail was not in the line, and the sidewalk was crowded, but that was no challenge for the teenager. "We are going to get in," she said, very sure of herself.

By now, the rain had stopped. The crowd grew pretty wild, with only a handful of NYPD cops on site doing their best to keep everyone off from the main road.

Khan did arrive, promptly at 9 pm in a huge white stretch limo, the kind that looks like an armoured car. But the limo pulled up near the side entrance of the theatre and only a few resourceful fans with their cell phone cameras, thought of looking for the star in the right place. Three huge African-American bouncers escorted the star inside the theatre, while the fans elbowed their way to click pictures with their cell phones.

Once Khan was inside, the side entrance door was shut. When it opened once, several more people, including this reporter, managed to get in.

Inside, there were about a hundred people, mostly those with connections to Eros Entertainment and the theatre. Khan, dressed in a suit, sat in an inside room, facing blaring lights from desi television cameras. But the main door to the theatre was never opened and the fans, who had been in the line since the early part of the afternoon and had bought DVDs, did not get a chance to see him.

A bouncer, and an NYPD cop blocked the entrance to the inside room. For next 45 minutes, the bouncer yelled and blew his whistle in a desperate measure to control even this small crowd.

The bouncer was finally heard saying: "I am so disappointed in you. I have never seen people behave like this before."

To that, a man replied: "Because Shah Rukh has never come here before."

Finally, by 10 pm Khan decided to leave, again from the side entrance. The television cameras and lights followed the star, who gave a nervous smile and blew kisses in the air.

Once outside the theatre, he hopped into an SUV and the NYPD cop who looked like a movie star was seen driving the car away.

By now, it was pouring again.

The front of the theatre was still jam packed. Standing under umbrellas, the fans could not believe that Khan had left and their afternoon and evening had been wasted.

Would they now protest and boycott Khan's movie?

"No, no," a groups of girls said as they laughed and screamed. "But this is so unfair. They should have organised it better. This is so upsetting."

And then one Indo-Caribbean woman walked past muttering to herself, "I am so disappointed in him." She would not give her name, but added "It's very, very bad."

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

The world of Shah Rukh Khan


How does Shah Rukh Khan juggle his professional and personal life so adeptly? Does he bring up his children according to Hindu customs or do they follow Muslim mores? What makes him a superstar?

The answers to all this and more will be available on a documentary made on SRK's life. It is called The Inner World and the Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan and is directed by the British-based author and director Nasreen Munni Kabir (left), who is considered an authority on Hindi cinema. The DVD, launched by Eros Entertainment group, will be released October 4 and is priced at £ 10 abroad. The pricing for this DVD in India has not yet been decided.

Nasreen, who has made more than 80 documentaries on film personalities -- like Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor and Guru Dutt -- says, "I have never met a person who lives for the moment. Shah Rukh is one of them. When he is with his son, he is the perfect father. When he is with his friends, he is the perfect friend. When he is with Gauri [his wife], he is the perfect husband."

She made another documentary on SRK earlier, for a British television channel.


Would a biopic DVD on SRK be snapped up? Says Nasreen, "I am sure this will sell like hot cakes. It will be a collector's item. There are many things about him which people would want to know. They will [find out] after watching this DVD. For example, Shah Rukh believes in both the Hindu and Muslim gods. The Koran is placed next to idols of Ganesh and Lakshmi in his [home]. He is a secular person. I have highlighted all this in the documentary."

Shah Rukh who was present at the press conference to announce the release of the DVD in Mumbai. He says, "My life is like any other person's life. I am just a normal person like anyone else and lead a very normal life."

The documentary takes viewers to New Delhi where Shah Rukh spent his early life and also to different cities of the world where he has performed for his signature Temptation stage shows.

"The documentary is not [made] in MTV style. It has more than that. It will have a longer and lasting value for the people who buy it," Nasreen says.

She added that Shah Rukh trusted her implicitly during the making of the film and never asked her to change any portion of her documentary.

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

When Mannat was Villa Vienna
By: Shradha Sukumaran
October 16, 2005

Mannat , Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow stands next to Gallery Chemould owner Kekoo Gandhy’s home. Mannat originally belonged to Gandhy’s grandfather

When Kekoo Gandhy first visited his new neighbour Shah Rukh Khan, he was glad to see the elaborate M still engraved on its terrace.

The letter is a reminder of the bungalow’s old owner and Gandhy’s maternal grandfather Maneckji Batliwala — of a time when the bungalow had no electricity, but there were sprawling tennis courts and servant’s quarters. It was called Villa Vienna then.

Today, as Shah Rukh’s Mannat, the bungalow retains its facade from years ago in Gandhy’s mind’s eye, despite the public interest litigation filed by conservationists recently.

Conservationists object to the actor constructing an adjoining building to the mansion on the grounds that it is a heritage structure. “To my mind, he has restored it quite well,” says the 85-year-old Gandhy, who recalls his grandfather modeling his dream structure to the style of villas on the Italian south coast.

The Batliwala family: Seen here are Maneckji and Dhunbai Batliwala (the previous owners of Mannat, then Villa Vienna ) with mother and three daughters — Roshan, Aloo and Perin

Maneckji Batliwala lived in Girgaum before he bought Villa Vienna (about 1915) and built the mansion in grandeur.

Even though Gandhy’s mother Roshan moved next door to the sprawling Kekee Manzil after marriage, the art gallery owner remembers days spent visiting his grandmother and presumes he may even have been born at Mannat.

“I was very fond of my mother’s sister Aloo and went over on Saturdays to visit her. After lunch, she would give me a cube of barley sugar and put me to sleep. When I got up at 4 pm, the pillow would be red,” he smiles.

Ironically, Batliwala died a pauper. “He used to loan money,” explains Gandhy. “Later he had to rent out the bungalow and live in one room upstairs. By the time he died, he had mortgaged most of his properties.”

While Gandhy’s maternal grandfather Maneckshaw got some properties, the house went to Batliwala’s sister Khurshedbai Sanjana and her husband, who were his business partners.

Having no heirs, she wrote it off to her sister Goolbanu and it went onto her son Naryman Dubash, known for promoting the cause of Parsi priests. Dubash owned the mansion, till he sold it to a builder, from whom Shah Rukh bought it.

Gandhy feels that he may have kicked off the current controversy years ago himself when he made a chance remark before Shah Rukh bought it that the grounds should be used for an art gallery.

Kekoo Gandhy

“I was insensitive to the fact that the building belonged to my cousin Naryman and Shah Rukh is paying for that now. I was lost in my vision. I suggested it inadvertently and I regret it now,” says the art patron.

While the actor and he may come from different worlds, Gandhy points out that his grandson Arish and Shah Rukh’s son Aryan are very close. “They play every evening. I remember when Arish was very young, his cricket bat and he were inseparable. When I took him there, Aryan tried to snatch it. I didn’t know, but Arish asked if he could come home and leave the bat back,” he laughs. Gandhy himself was unaware of Shah Rukh’s reigning status.

Shah Rukh Khan

“When he first moved in, I came back home and saw a trench dug up outside my house. I was sitting there furious when he knocked on my door and apologised so sweetly,” describes Gandhy. When Gandhy offered Shah Rukh art pieces to fill up his walls, the actor invited him over for his Holi party. “As people rolled in, I recognised lots of faces from my corner.

Then Shah Rukh affectionately put his arm around my shoulder and said that he had to return my favour. Before I knew it, he picked me up bodily and carried me to the terrace. I was worried about my slip disc when I saw the tank of Holi water. But he touched me very gently to the water,” recalls Gandhy, “We have a nice friendship, but his domain is different from mine.”

And while Kekoo Gandhy may not stop by at Mannat often, he knows that memories of his grandparents’ days are just a wall away.

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

Within days of the launch of Nasreen Munni Kabir's documentary, The Inner/Outer World Of Shah Rukh Khan, Rediff have been swamped by requests from around the world, eagerly enquiring about release dates for the DVD in their countries.

Well, so far, only the UK had access to the DVD, as it was released there on October 4. Now, SRK has launched a Special Collector's Edition version in the US on October 13.

Currently in New York filming for Karan Johar's next, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Shah Rukh joined EROS International CEO Ken Naz to make the announcement from Jackson Heights.

As for the rest of the world, all we can do is wait, and hope we'll get to see the DVD before SRK turns 40 on November 2.

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

Aseem Chhabra in New York | October 18, 2005 19:02 IST


Nasreen Munni Kabir remembers Shah Rukh Khan's reaction when she pitched the idea of a documentary based on the star's life to him.

"His first reaction was why me?" says the British Indian filmmaker and journalist as she sits in the lobby of Manhattan's Radisson Hotel, to talk about her two documentaries The Inner/ Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. "Am I important enough to make any difference?"

And in The Inner World, the first of the two films, Kabir shoots a similar scene where film journalist Anupama Chopra (wife of filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra) pitches a book project to Khan. "I am honoured, but when I first told Gauri (Khan's wife) that Anu wants to write a book on me, she said, 'Are you mad, who will read it?'" Khan says in the film.

Kabir choose Khan as a film subject because she felt that the actor had brought a distinctive change to the Hindi film industry. Quite in the same way as Shammi Kapoor changed the way young heroes were perceived or the impact that Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar or Guru Dutt had on the industry.


"Shah Rukh is definitely a man who has taken Indian cinema to the next level," says Kabir, whose documentary subjects have ranged from Guru Dutt, Bismillah Khan, and the staging of Bombay Dreams and next year's The Lord Of The Rings in London. "Shah Rukh is still in the middle of his career. In his case it is happening now, so you can record right now how is he is behaving."

The Inner/Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan do not analyse Khan's film career. Instead the two films explore the inner thoughts and the life of Khan, and how the actor and the star in him try to stay honest and earnest, with a constant desire to sound humble.

"Bahut sharif aadmi hai yeh (He is a very straight guy)," she says about Khan. "He doesn't push his weight around. He loves his stardom and his connection with the audience, but he doesn't misuse his power. He has the world at his feet, but a lot of people have the world at their feet by hook or crook."

Kabir's assessment of the reason why Khan is honest and stays real is that he is a product of an educated middle class family. "The man has certain amount humility in public situations," she adds. "He often says, 'Oh if I say this, I may sound pompous.' He is very aware of how he is projecting himself."

What keeps Khan grounded is his work, Kabir says. With all the stardom, fame and money, ultimately Khan gets up in the morning and goes to the set and he works. Making films is a job for him.

"He enjoys stardom, but he remembers the days when he did not have the stardom," Kabir says. "He excelled in school. He had a humble middle class life in Delhi. But he always had a charisma, not because of the movies, but because he is who he is."

There was an incident in Khan's life that he recalls a couple of times in the two films. When he was young, he had approached Pakistani cricket player Imran Khan for an autograph. Imran brushed him off. That stayed with Khan and so no matter how tired he may be, he is always willing to oblige his fans for autographs and pictures.

The world of Shah Rukh Khan

"I remember Amitabh Bachchan said to me when he was young, he was in a restaurant with his parents and he saw Dilip Kumar," Kabir says. "He asked him for an autograph and Dilip Kumar refused. Aisa hota hai."

But sometimes the fans really start to test Khan's patience. "I have to say middle age women are the worst behaved," Kabir says as she talks about the October 13 event in Jackson Heights, Queens, when hundreds of Khan's fans were turned away from seeing the star, who was making a public appearance to mark the DVD release of The Inner/ Outer World. "They were pushing much more than the teenagers. There was a woman, who got him to sign her DVD, and then she had him sign a piece of paper, but she wouldn't move. They (the event's organisers) didn't let more people in because some of these people were not moving."

The reaction of the fans to their favourite star has much to be the reality of life in the West, Kabir says. The Outer World is packed with thousands of screaming fans in the US and UK, as Khan performs with his co-stars on the 2004 Temptation tour. "The younger generation that lives here, they see their peer group -- the Americans or the Brits and they see there is a lot of screaming and boisterous behaviour when it comes to rock stars and film stars."

"So they are reflecting that kind of behaviour and it is intensified because here, they see Shah Rukh only once," she adds. "They are not living in Bombay so they can't just happen to see him any time. In India, you have Indian life all around you. But here you have pockets of Indian life, and Shah Rukh is in one of those pockets, in the imagination about what India is, what romance is, what good looks are."

There is another reason why the fans in the West act so maddeningly crazy, Kabir says. "There is a culture now that if you pay the money and buy a ticket, then you own these stars. That the stars owe them the attention."

Khan watched the finished version of The Inner World with Kabir, while he was on the sets of Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades. He obviously liked the film and so he decided to produce the second project, The Outer Life. Later, Kabir sat in Khan's home and watched the second film with him.

"He was very quiet. Then, he thanked me and said 'Oh it is very nice,'" she says. "He said, 'I want to give you hug,' which he did, and that was the end of the story. We started taking about other things."

"But it is interesting that I have been working on this industry for 25 years. Privately they (the stars) have been encouraging, but he (Khan) is the first one to publicly acknowledge my work. Movie stars are sometimes so full of themselves they don't even realise you are in the room. For Shah Rukh to do that, I thought it was very generous."

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.