The shah of Bollywood

TELEVISION
Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan
April 18, 10 p.m.
Discovery Channel

The worldwide box-office and critical success of 2009 Oscar best picture winner Slumdog Millionaire -- an American production but with an Indian story and cast -- has demonstrated India's growing influence on the contemporary global cinema industry.

India's Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai -- informally referred to as Bollywood -- is one of the most prolific in the world, churning out around 800 films in a year. And because of the Indian diaspora, these films find an audience worldwide. With the success of Slumdog, more non-Indians are becoming interested in Indian films and performers.

One of Bollywood's biggest superstars -- actor Shah Rukh Khan -- is the focus of a special program of Discovery Channel called Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan.

The one-hour program presents an intimate portrait of a hardworking self-made man who has conquered Bollywood and whose popularity is manifested wherever Bollywood films are seen. Nicknamed "King Khan," Shah Rukh Khan has ruled Bollywood for almost two decades. In 2008, he was even listed among Newsweek's "50 Most Powerful People of the World."

Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan traces his humble beginnings -- from a struggling director-wanna-be to successful entrepreneur and Bollywood's most bankable star. The program deconstructs Mr. Khan's appeal at the cusp of his possible transition to international success via his latest blockbuster, My Name Is Khan.

Fans will also get a peek into the private life of this devoted family man (he is a Muslim married to a Hindu woman).

Discovery Channel recently arranged a phone interview between members of the Philippine media and Indian film and TV producer Samar Khan, who directed the TV special about the Bollywood superstar. Here are excerpts of the interview.

BusinessWorld (BW): Did it take any convincing on your part to do the documentary?

Samar Khan (SK): I think it took a little bit of convincing... [Shah Rukh Khan] understood the camera could get intrusive at times. It took convincing for his family also, especially his wife, who had to be convinced that we would not get too intrusive into their lives.

[There was] the fact that I have been working with Shah Rukh and I know him for the past 15 years. So the family was familiar with my face... Also the fact that it was being co-produced by his own company, which is Red Chillies Entertainment, and the fact that it was Discovery (Channel) and it was not any other network, that finally convinced him to let the cameras follow him for about 60 days.

So it was completely unadulterated access. There was no restriction on what we could shoot or what we could not shoot. And there was no censorship from his side on any of the episodes or anything that we had shot.

BW: What are the three most surprising things you found out about Shah Rukh Khan while working with him? You said you've known him for 15 years, but I'm sure following him for 60 days, there were some things about him that definitely still surprised you and what were they?

SK: I think the first thing that surprised me about the man [was] how he manages his time. He manages to meet so many people in a day. He manages to do work and he still manages to find time for his children... He meets directors. He does [so much] businesses. He owns a cricket team. He makes films. He does advertising. He meets other people, so there's so much he packs into a day and he still has time for his family, which is so amazingly super human to find time for his family.

The other thing that surprised me was that as a human being, he's a very private person. He likes his solitude. He likes to be left alone. He likes to be in quiet places, while outwardly, he seems like an extroverted person. There is somewhere within him that he's such a quiet person who does not have to many friends in the world.

He's very personal with his friends and he keeps his friends very limited. He does not make friends very easily. He will meet acquaintances. He will have great working relationships. But to be called a "friend" of Shah Rukh Khan, is extremely tough, because he chooses his friends with a lot of care.

And the third thing which I found out about him, was that he does not eat at all. He just eats the bare minimum, which is required. And he's so nonchalant about the kind of car he drives or the food he's eating or the fact that he's staying in a hotel. He's just so nonchalant about it. That it's quite amazing, keeping in mind that he's such a big superstar, but he really doesn't care about these things.

BW: What car does he drive?

SK: He drives a BMW. That's the car that he has for his personal use. That's the only car he actually owns. He does not own a fleet of cars. He had this BMW car, which is a 7 Series, for the last couple of years and that's the only car that he drives. That's the only car that he has.

BW: You mentioned he eats very little -- what food does he eat?

SK: ... he himself says in the documentary that he has the most unhealthy eating habits. His diet contains protein, which is chicken. He only eats chicken. Caffeine, because he only drinks coffee -- he drinks about 10 cups of coffee a day -- and nicotine, because he smokes a lot. So his diet is caffeine, nicotine, and protein.

BW: From what you have said, are you presenting a balanced picture of him? Are you showing his weaknesses as a human being or as an actor?

SK: I don't think we have tried to show Shah Rukh as a perfect human being. He has frailties. He has shortcomings that he has in his life. He has shortcomings as an actor. We have tried to show his life. So the documentary is not a judgment on him. The documentary is not judging him as a human being, whether he's a good human being or a bad human being, or a successful human being, or an unsuccessful human being. We're trying to be as objective as possible for people to make an opinion.

He has spoken about his own insecurities. He has spoken about his own shortcomings as an actor. He has spoken about his own shortcomings as a human being. He has spoken about his own shortcomings as a father.

So we have tried to present to you a balanced picture of a human being and not just the actor or the star that you have been seeing so long... It's pretty balanced... It's a pretty exhaustive look at the man.

BW: What are the biggest challenges you faced in putting this documentary together?

SK: The biggest challenge I think was to be as objective as possible, I guess, because there is a feel that you can get for the man. So the challenge was to remain as objective as possible.

BW: How did you remain objective?

SK: I think we all like him... But my job as a director was to be as objective as possible. I think that I have been that objective because I have a journalist's background. I have been a journalist for most of my career..... I think what helps me is the fact that Discovery (Channel) itself is a very, very objective network...

BW: What are the interesting facts in your documentary?

SK: Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan presents the changing face of India. India has gone through a lot of change from 1990s onward, where we have become a liberal country. Our economy has opened up. We have become a part of the world, more than we were pre the '90s.

There is no part of the world that you can travel [to] that you will not hear about Bollywood and you would not hear about Shah Rukh Khan... you will not go any part of the world where you would have not meet someone who is interested in coming to India, or investing in India, or wanting to be a part of India, or being part of the Indian success story. So he represents, in a way, the success story that India is post the '90s.

BW: To what do you attribute the popularity of Shah Rukh Khan or what is it about him that appeals to the public the most?

SK: Actually, you'll have to see the documentary because the documentary is exactly about that.... Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan is a documentary special that is not so much about Shah Rukh, but it's more about the success of Shah Rukh. So we'll try and dissect for the audience to know what the reason why Shah Rukh Khan is successful and what makes him such a global icon. So for the audiences, they will come to see why or what makes his success or what makes audiences love him.

BW: What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about Shah Rukh Khan?

SK: I think one of the misconceptions people have about him is that he's very out of it. I don't think he's out of it at all, or he has any kind of air about him -- he doesn't let his success go to his head. A lot of people I meet many times think he is very arrogant and expect him to be very brash. I don't think he's arrogant. I think he's just the way he is. Even if he were not successful, he would still be the same way, because that's his personality. But I haven't met somebody who is so easy and so cool about his success and about what he's achieved in his career.

BW: Why do you think India's entertainment industry in general is attracting global audiences?

SK: I think because of the novelty of the entertainment industry of India or I think India's entertainment industry is very unique in its storytelling. It's very unique in the way we make our films. And our emotions are the mainstay of our stories.

We don't razzmatazz with technology. We tell stories with deep human emotions and deep human emotions cut across all countries, and cut across all languages, and people are able to associate with those emotions. So I guess that's one of the main reasons why people connect with Indian cinema.

And also because there are Indians today all over the world. There are Indians everywhere. They travel around the globe and those Indians have taken Indian culture and have made people all over the world familiar with Indian culture. So [film is] a reflection or I would say a glamorization of that Indian culture.

BW: Is it true that Slumdog Millionaire was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan?

SK: That I would not know. That either would be known by Shah Rukh or would be known by the team of Slumdog Millionaire or by [its director] Danny Boyle. I know it was not offered to me, so that I can tell you.

Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan premieres on April 18, 10 p.m., on Discovery Channel. The show will be replayed on April 19 at 1 a.m., 9 a.m., and 3 p.m., and on April 25 at 5 a.m., and 9 a.m. Discovery Channel is Channel 39 in SkyCable, Channel 22 in Cablelink, Channel 24 in Global Destiny Cable, and Channel 19 in Dream Satellite.

Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=9059