Successful businesses, blockbuster movies, a dimpled smile, witty one-liners and now, an eight-pack ab, too. SRK is on a roll and how
If Shah Rukh Khan caught me looking deep into his eyes or staring at his dimples too much, I’d simply say I was amazed at how he looks far better than men half his age. I was sure, however, that he won’t notice, given how his hyperactive and hyper-energetic nature might not even give him a chance to hold my gaze. But notice he did and I gave him my rehearsed reply.
“But I have nothing to do with the way I look,” he asserts, “I look the way I do because my parents were beautiful. You should see pictures of my father — I have not come across anybody as good looking as he was.” So then let’s talk about something that is his doing — something that has got the women squealing - yet again. After all, it’s nothing short of a pleasant surprise that he built an eight-pack just a month shy of turning 49. It’s an incredible feat for the superstar who has a five million fan following on Twitter, has completed 80 films, and was recently crowned “The World’s Most Popular Movie Star” by The Los Angeles Times, beating the likes of Hollywood hunks such as Brad Pitt and Daniel Craig.
“Well, I had made a promise to Farah (Khan, director of his upcoming movie Happy New Year) that I would strip only for her,” he says with a smile, adding, “I did that in Main Hoon Na. And then she told me my character Charlie had to do it because he is a kickboxer. I took inspiration from my trainer Prashant (Sawant) and my son Aryan. In a way, this isn’t purely my effort.” Surely it wasn’t as easy as he makes it sound? “Of course it wasn’t. After Chennai Express my shoulder was operated upon and I was on rehab training,” he says. To add to it, he hurt his knee on the sets of Happy New Year, and took nearly two months to recover, during which he couldn’t even lift a pound. “It is only because of Prashant that I was able to do this,” says the modest star. According to him, Sawant, who has been with him since Asoka, had a picture of the six-pack from Om Shanti Om in his gym and told Khan they needed to replace it with something better. “The fact that I was able to do it despite my body falling apart, was because of his encouragement,” he adds.
The eight-pack abs come as yet another example of SRK’s diligence, and are also an inspiration for those who say they cannot exercise for “medical reasons”. Thanks to his motivation, Abhishek Bachchan, infamous for not being inclined towards fitness, was inspired to go shirtless. “It was a kind of dare between Abhishek and me. He has lost nearly 10 kg, thanks to the strict diet and exercise regime. I am really happy he is now fitter and looks great,” says SRK. The movie’s best bodies will kick up a storm at the world tour to promote the movie. In fact, this would, perhaps, be the first time Shah Rukh is not going the media interview route to promote his film. “We are all taking to the streets with a begging bowl to ask people to watch our film,” SRK quips in his trademark style. The Slam tour will feature SRK’s co-stars from Happy New Year - christened The Happy Troupe - and the shows will be conducted in the US, the UK and Canada. A report by The Mirror has estimated these shows to make nearly Rs 200 crore, and that’s before the film even releases in the theatres. The same daily says that SRK - who is also infamous for making money by dancing at weddings - was invited to perform at 250 weddings in 2012, but accepted only 10 offers. According to reliable sources, King Khan charges close to Rs 8 crore for a performance. “This year I won’t be able to do more than a handful,” he says cheekily, adding that he does sieve the offers before he accepts where to shake a leg, “I will only perform for people I personally know. So, unless you approach me through somebody I personally interact with, I am not going to take up your assignment,” he clarifies.
While his wedding performances probably stem from the fact that he realises how films can be a volatile proposition, Khan’s business acumen cannot be underestimated. Over 2007-08 and 2008-09, his Kolkata Knight Riders clocked net profits of Rs 37 crore and revenues of Rs 197 crore, thanks to a steady stream of sponsorships, earnings from gate receipts and merchandise, amongst others. But SRK is clear: KKR has to win to justify its existence. “I didn’t buy an IPL team to Thanks to his motivation, Abhishek Bachchan, infamous for not being inclined towards fitness, was inspired to go shirtless. “It was a kind of dare between Abhishek and me. He has lost nearly 10 kg, thanks to the strict diet and exercise regime. I am really happy he is now fitter and looks great,” says SRK.
The movie’s best bodies will kick up a storm at the world tour to promote the movie. In fact, this would, perhaps, be the first time Shah Rukh is not going the media interview route to promote his film. “We are all taking to the streets with a begging bowl to ask people to watch our film,” SRK quips in his trademark style. The Slam tour will feature SRK’s co-stars from Happy New Year - christened The Happy Troupe - and the shows will be conducted in the US, the UK and Canada. A report by The Mirror has estimated these shows to make nearly Rs 200 crore, and that’s before the film even releases in the theatres.
The same daily says that SRK - who is also infamous for making money by dancing at weddings - was invited to perform at 250 weddings in 2012, but accepted only 10 offers. According to reliable sources, King Khan charges close to Rs 8 crore for a performance. “This year I won’t be able to do more than a handful,” he says cheekily, adding that he does sieve the offers before he accepts where to shake a leg, “I will only perform for people I personally know. So, unless you approach me through somebody I personally interact with, I am not going to take up your assignment,” he clarifies. While his wedding performances probably stem from the fact that he realises how films can be a volatile proposition, Khan’s business acumen cannot be underestimated. Over 2007-08 and 2008-09, his Kolkata Knight Riders clocked net profits of Rs 37 crore and revenues of Rs 197 crore, thanks to a steady stream of sponsorships, earnings from gate receipts and merchandise, amongst others. But SRK is clear: KKR has to win to justify its existence. “I didn’t buy an IPL team to make crores of rupees. I can make money by dancing at weddings,” he quips. His team didn’t disappoint and KKR were the champions in the recent IPL season. After owning successful business ventures such as a production house and a cricket team, SRK will now be seen promoting a new enterprise — a theme park for children. “Unfortunately I can’t go out with my children too often in Mumbai or, for that matter, in India,” he laments. But when SRK was in Dubai a few years ago, his wife Gouri had plans to go out with her friends and she asked him to drop their daughter (Suhana) off at just such a theme park. “It was inside a mall, which belongs to my friend Mohammed. My daughter spent some eight hours there and for the next three days, all she could talk about was how wonderful it was,” he says. SRK then decided to go KidZania in Dubai and saw how his children loved it. “I thought why not to have something like this in India? That was my motivation,” reveals SRK.
Despite his foresight and business acumen, however, Shah Rukh claims he earns to spend. “My parents used to encourage us to experience the world and see, hear and feel the differences,” he reminisces. He talks about how his first job was as an usher at Pankaj Udhas’s concert in Delhi as a school kid. “I earned Rs 50 from it and asked my mom what to do with it. She told me I should go see the Taj Mahal.” SRK did just that and never regretted it. “I live hand-tomouth and love it that way. I guess that is why I am the King and don’t get into the nonsense of savings, money, etc.”
SRK’s take on money and finances, perhaps, stems from the unstable times the King of Bollywood faced as a youngster. “Where I came from, I had no money to eat. I was a kudki - we had to sell our home because of debt. I come from a realistic place. My parents died in debt,” he says, adding, “I remember, during the promotions of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na in Gurgaon, someone from the audience yelled at me saying that my mother owes him Rs five lakh. My mother was no more then. And here I was, being a star, and I was being told she owed somebody money. I don’t want that to happen to my children.”
Clearly money is not an issue for SRK today. The second-richest actor in the world is fond of traveling and hopes to own a luxury aircraft someday. “That’s probably where the money will go if Happy New Year makes any at all. So that we can all go to meet Aryan in London whenever we wish to,” he smiles, with the dream twinkling in his eyes. SRK the heartthrob is, after all, a family man.