SHAHRUKH KHAN: JOURNEY TO THE OTHER SIDE

By Fuad Omar.

Shahrukh Khan is very tired. His whirlwind tour of the UK has seen him dashing from London to Birmingham, doing interview after interview and talking to all who'll hear about his new film. The press junket can be a black hole that swallows you entirely and spits you out when its devoured you of all your energy, and leaves many suffering from exhaustion. Shahrukh Khan is tired but from his enthusiasm you could never tell.

When I meet him, I know he's had an early start after a late night and his day has many more appointments after mine, yet he smiles, greets me warmly and is still talking about his new epic with a burst of life that parallels a newborn.

This is why there is only one Shahrukh Khan. His passion for what he does is unrivalled and his ten year journey in his profession has seen him go from crawling and finding footing in the industry, to walking, running and now flying with a film that is the cinematic event of the year, thanks solely to the man sitting opposite me, and his dedicated team.

I begin by congratulating him on not only the movie Asoka, which is easily one of the best films to grace the big screen in recent times (and I'm not talking of just Indian cinema), but more so on the scale of promotion for the film. I tell him how proud I feel to see the posters of Asoka at every tube station as I go up the escalators and tend to stare at each one so that people notice and want to see what it is that has piqued my interest so much, in hope that they too may go and see it, and how great it is to see him promoting the film and Indian cinema on national television in programmes such as the Big Breakfast and Film 2001. Overall I congratulate him on the promotion of Asoka.

"Actually more than me it's my partners, who are Jai Mehta, who actually set this up, and of course Juhi and Aziz. When we realised we were not getting someone to take this film on and release it at that level, we decided to do it ourselves," he tells me.

The biggest compliment I can give the film's publicity is that it truly has been launched on an unprecedented scale, such that when I asked the man selling the Big Issue at Harrow station what the latest blockbuster was, instead of saying the Julia Roberts-Catherine Zeta Jones starrer America's Sweethearts, he says 'It's that Asian film that's everywhere, A-soka!' I give him a smile as I proudly tell him, 'You must go watch it, it's one of the best films I've seen.'

Asoka is everywhere because its launch is by the same dedicated team that passionately made the film, since Shahrukh's company is releasing the movie itself. A risk yes, but given the product is of such high quality for it not to do well would be a crime.

"There were two reasons for making this film," says Shahrukh, leaning forward slightly. "One was that a director of Santosh's calibre should be given the kind of exposure he deserves. He's already had that with Terrorist and we thought if he's cast me in a film it should just add on. It's also because of the graciousness and kindness that the South Asian audience has already shown to me in the last ten years in London and America and the rest of the world. So we thought we'd combine the two and then Jai went one step ahead and said let's release this film and show we're proud of our film."

Releasing the movie himself is a big risk, especially overseas. Sony claimed it never was to distribute the movie, even though it clearly had made an announcement earlier on, and have since also dropped out of their distribution deal for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Instead of feeling bitter, Shahrukh turns the negative into a positive and says he's happy to be able to give a project so close to his heart the launch it so richly deserves. "When I say we're proud of our film, what I mean is that there are so many people who are not so enthusiastic about someone else's project and they have no reason to be, because I understand that be it Sony or whoever, the film is not theirs and they don't know what we're making. It's our baby and our child and we wanted to give it the best birthday we could, the best chances in life that are possible, and we do that by ensuring it goes to the best theatres in the country and to the best people," he elaborates.

"The second reason was that it's the gratefulness we (Shahrukh, Juhi Chawla and Aziz Mirza) wanted to show as a team to the people living here, who I personally believe have made me such a huge star. My marketability in India is high because I'm an overseas star and I sell well here, and it's not about selling it's about people loving me. I see a 13-year old kid who met me eight years ago and now she's a twenty one year old lady and she still loves me, it's so wonderful to see her having a boyfriend now and getting married and she's moved on but kept me with her. So I am what I am mostly because of the love given here by Asians and I want to say thank you, and my way of saying thanks to everyone is to Inshallah try and do nice films which are also commercially viable in the Asian market. Another way to say thanks is to say Fuad has been quoted in an article in Total Film, which is read by people who haven't seen a Hindi film before and now will do because of that article and the one they watch is of high quality like Asoka. I can assure you this is a film you can take your friends to, it has a standard popular Hindi film format in that it has songs, it has dances, emotions, colour, a mother, it has everything, and you can show it to your friends and not feel apologetic. Neither would you have to succumb to their pre-conceived notions that Hindi films are a little silly, or it's a little long. Yes it's long and it's got songs, but just like most Chinese films have Kung Fu, we have songs, it's part of who we are and how our films are made. We're trying to say the same thing as the maker of Snatch or Titanic is trying to say, but our language is a little different."

Shahrukh's point dawns on me like an epiphany. As a film journalist, for me the holy grail is reaching the point of acceptance from the movie-going public for Indian cinema that is standard of British films and Hollywood. There is no reason for our cinema to not achieve the recognition it deserves, because if anything the same amount of blood, sweat and tears that go into making a film anywhere goes into Indian cinema, yet for some reason it fails to break through the barrier. Feelgood movies don't come any better than the ones born in Bollywood and where the talent is concerned, our reservoir never runs dry.

"If you can overlook the language, the essence is still the same (In Indian and foreign cinema). The performances are the same and the technique is almost the same too, and Inshallah in a few years we'll catch up there too because of the exposure. If the market increases we'll catch up faster and you can see films from the greatest film-producing nation in the world, the longest surviving film industry to Hollywood."

I rock back in my chair letting out a silent 'eureka', as though Shahrukh has just told me the key to a formula I've been trying to understand for years. The answer he gives is spot on.
"It's all about giving it one look. My request to everyone is, and I'm not saying this because it's my film, we have taken a big chance and spent a lot on publicity and got posters everywhere and all because it's our baby, but it is also so you can take one of your western friends with you to see Asoka. So please see it and I can assure you the next time that western friend is travelling on the tube or sits in a barber shop and sees a magazine that has an article on our industry that wouldn't normally carry its reports, he would turn to the barber and say 'Hey these films are interesting,' and maybe he too can spread the word. And that is the only way we'll make it because we can't afford to make it the way foreign films are made, we don't have that market or that money, and that belief in Asoka is what we've taken a big chance on, so I hope it does well."

Shahrukh pauses for a moment, allowing me to take in the revelation he's just delivered. The key is exposure and Asoka is definitely a film that is being talked about and promoted everywhere and even covered at all times of day from breakfast time to evening chart shows to late night film reviews, and the reason is because it IS of international standard, and anyone can go and watch the subtitled film and get out from it as much enjoyment as a Hindi film fan. I tell Shahrukh how the film is a success whatever the outcome, because he has pushed the envelope and pioneered the foray into the international arena with this movie like none before him, but how does he feel it will fare in India, I ask.

"Inshallah it will do well in India as well," he says, but frowns before continuing.
"It is unfortunate Fuad, sometimes people have a very narrow way of looking at things. I have been working for ten years and unfortunately am doing a job which is half commerce and half artistic, as a matter of fact it's fully artistic, it's just that it's weighed on a commercial scale. And because it is weighed like this, people get a very narrow picture of what it is." I begin to catch on to what he's saying, but before I can comment, he explains himself.

"I have taken chances because I believe art has no form, and you can do anything that you want, as long as it entertains people and they appreciate the effort. One has tried to do the effort many times and it's not the failure of a film at the box office that disturbs you, it's the failure of people recognising the effort. Even my friends who have seen the film and like it also weigh it in a commercial sense saying 'Yeah I don't know if it will do well commercially but it's a beautiful film and you'll get a lot of critical acclaim'. Why are these two things separate entities? To me, a good film is a good film and either the business does or does not happen. I hope Asoka breaks that myth, because it's not important to me to earn the money from the box office because I've already put my last penny on this film, and so has Juhi and if we don't recover it then we'll never be able to produce another film, which is okay, we'll still get by," he says matter-of-factly. I ask him not to say such things because Asoka is at the very least a huge step forward in Indian cinema and it would be a shame if the team responsible for it were not going to continue bearing the torch. He sighs and says it would be good for it to do well because it would show that good films need to be made.
"I just want to break the myth and say here is a film that collected at the box office as well, and good films deserve a special place and appreciation. I hope people watch the film and applaud the effort."

Not only has Shahrukh's team's efforts been applauded, but the good word has spread like wildfire. Be it the Times, the Guardian or the Independent, the film has got attention and fantastic reviews, and is surely one every Asian will be proud of when they see it. I think Shahrukh's busy schedule means he is not hearing all the claps or feeling all the pat-on-the-backs, and so I smile, knowing when his tour is over and he gets a moment to himself his ears will ring with the echoes of applause, and he'll come to know his efforts have not only been appreciated, but embraced wholeheartedly.

I shift topic and mention how I noticed his character in this film had no shades of any other he has played before. Asoka has the same traits as some of the others like arrogance, but it is different to that of Rahul's in Dil to Paagal Hai or Raj's in DDLJ. He laughs and narrates to me the reason. "I thank Santosh and Juhi for that! Juhi told me, 'and you don't do any of your acting, just listen to Santosh and do what he says, and Santosh if he tries to do his same old routine just tell him shut up and make him do it how you want him to!' Santosh also had an innocence running through the characters and I wanted to convey that in every aspect of the film. Asoka was innocently aggressive and innocently pompous and naively violent and child like. I wanted to narrate it like a story."

We laugh as the mental picture of Juhi telling Shahrukh to stop acting like he has in the past is one I'm sure any of her fans can imagine, with her frown and child-like smile and finger pointing at him in a telling-off stance, so reminiscent of their many movies together. As I eye the clock I realise my time is almost up, and I move onto an aspect of Asoka that fascinated me: The journey.

I draw comparisons with Paulo Coelho's book The Alchemist, which is also about a boy on a journey to reach his destination, only to find his travels taught him more than where he was heading. A book that Shahrukh has read, he 's quick to respond even testing my memory of the character's names, elaborating on the whole aura surrounded by a journey.

"I think the thing about travelling is an Indian philosophy, but I'm not sure. It's one even my mother used to tell me from a story in the Quran. She used to tell me every night, about a boy who's mother used to put some coins and stitch them into his coat (instead of pockets). Some thieves caught him on his way somewhere and stole his horse and said 'Haven't you got any more money? You've only got this much?' and they went off but the boy called them back and said, 'No I also have this much, here take this as well' giving them the stitched coins and he said he did this because his mother told him not to lie. And he said 'I hope you don't harass people who don't have any more,' and the story has inherent in it that you learn as you travel. Even in modern time they say a traveller is very educated, you travel the world and education comes through."

"So the process of life is very important, and this is what I learnt and have mentioned in the epilogue of the 'Making of' book, is that the process holds more value. The shadow or the shade of the tree is as important as the hole that you fall in. The little hurt that you get is as important as the flower that you smell, because it can end anytime. And when it ends, you need to tell Allah, that I did everything along the way. He is not going to ask you 'did you reach the end?' because there is no end. The end is when He decides. And He wants your life to end in a way that you say, 'hey listen, I don't mind if tomorrow did not come, because I saw the shade and saw the pitfalls, and I enjoyed them.' The process is important. God is not looking for you to reach a place, because that place He is. And He calls you to that place and asks you 'Before reaching Me, what all did you see' because He just wants us to enjoy the journey, similarly the analogy is the process of making the film which should be nice, and not the end result. It's a general philosophy which I believe in and I think Santosh also believes in, as do my partners, Juhi Chawla, Jai Mehta and Aziz Mirza."

My eyes light up as I listen to Shahrukh. Not only does he tell stories when he's paid to, but he does so off-screen as well, and a private audience with him holds much to learn. The story is familiar to me, but hearing him narrate it again brings with it a new meaning and once more signifies the importance of the journey and all that is learnt along the way.

Snapping myself out of being enchanted by his words, I realise our time is almost up, and this time he continues before I can remind him, wanting to finish his analogy fittingly, and relating one of the many memories of London he will be taking back with him. "When we went to the premiere it was so nice and people were so gracious and kind that please do thank them on my behalf in your article. It was great and Juhi called me up, Aziz called and my wife called up and said 'how was it' (about the premiere), and I said, 'I don't know'. I'm just enjoying the process which is so beautiful. And the process ended for us at that premiere and it has been really marvellous the whole journey of doing this promotion and making and presenting this film and that's what matters, what happens in the end result is not important. I hope and pray God gives me enough strength, courage and resources to do this process again and again."

I say a silent prayer on his behalf too, wishing the same, reiterating that this man has much more to give, and Asoka is only the beginning. It is a film that we can take our non-Asian friends to see and know they'll enjoy it too as much as they would any piece of international cinema. Shahrukh talking about the journey of making and presenting this film brings back memories of being on the sets at one point and makes me thankful to have been able to witness a few of the steps and today, share in his contentment of relishing the journey.

Before I leave, as an afternote he adds, with the trademark smile seeping through: "And of course like I said at the premiere, we hope the western audience soon wants Arnold Schwarzenegger to start dancing in their films!"

Typical Shahrukh, always wanting people to leave with a smile. Shahrukh Khan is very tired, but looking at him you could never tell. Because he's about to jump higher than ever before and scale new heights of success, making sure along the way he's put Indian cinema well and truly on the international map.