Twenty-five years, countless conversations and a bond that has weathered its share of highs and lows. Filmfare’s Editor-in-Chief Jitesh Pillaai takes a trip down memory lane, revisiting his extraordinary association with Shah Rukh Khan.
Read on…
A bright moon shone brightly in Kamal Amrohi Studios. It must have been close to 11. I made my shaky steps. He was shooting for Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (February 25, 1994). Deewana (June 25, 1992) had been released, I think. He was shooting for that lovely Woh Toh Hai Albela song with Naseeruddin Shah and some other stalwarts.
He had been anointed as the next big thing after his sensational debut. I was told he was arrogant, cocky and standoffish. We shook hands, he tentatively sized me up, and a war of words ensued. I don’t know how but within ten minutes of that heated exchange, peace was brokered. And SRK became the go-to nice guy in this business of self-interest, agendas and conspiracy theories. It was 1993 or thereabouts.
I’d bump into him at the studios, manically rehearsing for Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein (Baazigar, November 12, 1993). It was the same manic rush of energy, people bustling around him, him talking nineteen to the nineteen hundred. He was sharp, perceptive and the most astute mind I have yet met.
His takes on the business, and the clues into the trade he gave were astounding. Meeting SRK is a joy.
With Shah Rukh Khan, an interview meant four days of banter. Days melded into nights. He taught you patience, and he taught me many things. He would bully me good-humoredly, and I’d complain that friends of my age were partying away at discotheques. He’d shut me up saying all this will hold you in good stead.
And it has.
Thank you, SRK, for the incredible twenty-five years of togetherness. Mostly happy moments and some bittersweet which don’t bear repetition. I always suspect SRK’s kindness towards me also made some of his other guarded co-actors also warm up to me.
Today as he turns a day older, I can only wish him peace of mind, more joy in the heart and wonderful memories at the movies. I can only hope the magic of that night will always play in the movie halls. Like the Woh Toh Hai Albela song. Like that gibbous moon at Kamaal Amrohi Studios. Happy birthday, Shah Rukh Khan.
Like David Letterman, I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing and learning from many people. You would definitely rank among the top.
It’s a bit like writing your own autobiography when you start to write about people you have known well. How to leave out the juicy portions? How to edit his unstoppable wisdom? How to leave out the juice? Suffice to say, I’ll jot down a few moments backstage before and during the Filmfare Awards.
He stared at the crisp sheaves of paper and called me to the side and said, “This script is disastrous. We need to rethink.” Two days before the main Filmfare event, you know the main host of the show, Shah Rukh Khan, looks a bit worried. It’s time to panic.
I know he will wing it. He always does. He can make paper fly. He can make magic out of nothing. He has a hundred things to attend to, he has a bad back and a running fever. I usually fret and break into a cold sweat.
On D-Day, he takes centre stage, all the soft glow lights on him. And he wings it. Within five minutes of entering the stage, he has the audience eating out of his hand. The shiftiest script makes sense. He knows when it’s risqué or when it hasn’t worked.
Once, a politico was offended. Another time, an actor felt he was unfairly stealing the limelight.
The SRK stories are legendary. He can bust a blood vessel, throw a mothership of a tantrum with a truant photographer or just be irritable until the witching hour.
But come showtime, the mood miraculously changes. He just knows how to work an audience.
Our relationship has gone through many a wringer. Sometimes it’s a bright spark manager who has said something and has lead to a combustion. Sometimes, it’s something he’s heard through the grapevine that makes him go cold on me. I’ve endured many an SRK mood swing. A journo-star relationship is fraught with many highs and lows.
The highs were plenty. Right from his first unexpected award for Anjaam (April 22, 1994) and then his massive wins at Filmfare. The lows have been many too, but they were always at the cost of our relationship. The strains and frays appeared, and every time we’d reach a cul-de-sac, something would bring it all back together.
He’s a trooper. He has a premium on loyalty, and I suspect a lot of his co-stars warmed up to me only after seeing his affection towards a cub reporter.
The inane and companionable hanging out on the shoots of Baazigar (November 12, 1993), Karan Arjun (January 13, 1995), and Dil To Pagal Hai (October 30, 1997). The many, many photo shoots on the sets of Deewana and Anjaam. It was all one whirlwind. Fun times.
Instinctively, we bonded like very few journos and stars bond in the business. Flying down to the Filmfares in Chennai and Hyderabad. Going to attend summits in Delhi. Soaking in his wisdom, his mercurial takes on everything from politics and showbiz. Though I must honestly admit that being a reporter at Filmfare was far more enriching than being an editor with SRK.
Dear reader, you are allowed to read between the lines.
Two years went in cold silence. To this day, I haven’t been able to fathom why it was or what happened.
As usual, some corporate type who fancied being an editor herself had created mischief. As always, I became the fall guy. Whenever anything nasty was printed in any of the publications of the Times of India, more often than not, I got hauled over the coals by stars known to me.
Over the years, I’ve learnt to build my picket fences and learnt to stay detached and learn to “manage” my expectations. It saves so much heartbreak.
Sometimes, the person you are writing about is quite divorced from the person you’re actually meeting. I’m guilty of doing that disservice to the reader.
I’ve often had to walk on eggshells with film stars because of the whimsical policies of policymakers, which keep changing every year, and sometimes because the stars are an entitled bunch. So they expect you to toe the line. So often, you become inconvenient when you refuse to back off or stand your ground.
A journalist has morphed into client servicing, event management and lots more. So the collateral damage can also be plenty. You need great balls of fire to hang on to your sanity.
So what did this profession give me? Loads of love and untold goodwill. What did it take away from me? Lots, I suppose, as it comes with the territory of each job. So what are the lessons to be learnt?
That you have to be on the ball. That you need to focus on the target. That there will be good days and bad days. Bad days don’t mean that your career has ended. Good days don’t mean you can retire safely. Consistency is the key. You need to focus. You need to reinvent the tools, and you need to play the game with the same enthusiasm you did when you started out.
Often, film journalism has been accused of being PR driven and the vanity of the star has exploded like meteors, and we can only have whitewashed versions of the truth.
It’s true to a large extent, and in the business of building images and polishing halos some of the truth is definitely varnished. Does that mean you don’t do your job? You do it.
I remember SRK being mildly offended by a headline which called him Shah of blah, but he was sporting enough to take it on the chin and forget it. Post-2000, I’ve seen he’s not easy with the jibes, and there have been many. From calling his mistakes a product of his mid-life crisis and mid-life meltdowns, the cracks have been many. But SRK continues to have a good, albeit bumpy, relationship with the media.
Also Read: “She Was So Bindaas, Full of Life”: Editor Subhash Sehgal Reminisces About Smita Patil
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: filmfare.com
