Shah Rukh Khan Birthday: From Hema Malini to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, here’s what his prominent directors have to say about him

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan celebrates his birthday today. This year, the day is even more special as he has turned 60. On his special day, here’s what some of the directors he worked with had to say about him.

Hema Malini: I was fortunate to have directed Shah Rukh Khan in Dil Aashna Hai. I needed a young actor who was unexposed, handsome and talented. Shah Rukh fitted the bill. He insisted on being in my directorial debut. Dil Aashna Hai was meant to be Shah Rukh’s debut film. Eventually though, Deewana got released first. When he came to ask for a role, I immediately knew he was going to be a big star. My film was about a young girl Divya Bharti looking for her father. There was no role for Shah Rukh except that of the girl’s boyfriend, which he wanted. When I protested that the role would do no justice to his presence he told me, ‘You leave it to the public.’ He had the confidence, even back then when he was just starting out, that the public would support him.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali: Working with Shah Rukh in Devdas was a completely new experience. I wanted my Devdas to be a simple, volatile, boy –man who’s angry and mean and yet has a sad streak that shimmers in his eyes. Shah Rukh as Devdas could convey shades of anger and self-destruction. I feel any human being who can’t control his anger ultimately destroys his creative energy. Being a good human being Devdas would rather destroy himself than others who love him. “I can’t destroy Paro or Chandramukhi, so I’ll destroy myself,” is what my Devdas feels. Shah Rukh seemed just right. And I was right. I fell in love with his performance. Shah Rukh understood the character without losing his spontaneity. Obviously, the pressures of matching up to K L Saigal Saab and Dilip Saab, who played Devdas earlier, were there. But he never allowed them to bog him down. I don’t know what to say about him. He has left me speechless. I had my doubts before working with him. But it’s his most endearing and honest performance. The performance came amidst all his personal problems. He was able to project the personal turmoil on screen.

If I were to make Devdas again, I’d still cast only Shah Rukh. He couldn’t match up to Dilip Kumar’s Devdas. He didn’t try to. Shah Rukh played him so differently. Devdas was a very restless man like Shah Rukh. But Devdas is a man who does very little. The challenge of having Shah Rukh express implosive rage was what got me. If I let Devdas behave like Shah Rukh, he’d be a lot more mobile on screen. Unlike the Shah Rukh Khan in Darr, Baazigar, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, there’s an amazing childlike vulnerability and honesty in Shah Rukh of Devdas. When my Devdas looks at his mother he looks as a child not a man. To me, Devdas is as honest a child in his emotions. Unlike the character in the novel, he never disguises his emotions. He doesn’t calculate his emotional expressions. He’s uncorrupted. That’s the most endearing part of his personality. He’ll always be the archetypal lover because he’s innocent. And we crave that innocence in our life.

Ashutosh Gowariker: For Swades, I needed someone who isn’t cynical and yet when he thinks the West is where the action is…. contrasting qualities rolled into one. I needed an actor with an unpredictable quality about him. Shah Rukh has it. That Shah Rukh Khan could ride a train, bus or boat as he did in Swades, is unheard of. People said, how could I make him do all this. But Shah Rukh is basically from the grassroots. Thanks to his screen image, he could look an outsider in the situations given in my film. I needed that look. Shah Rukh could be the outsider looking into social issues with a sense of dismay and wonderment. And I had hoped his angst would affect the audience. All this wasn’t done to be smart or clever as a filmmaker. Shah Rukh and I bonded so well, we never realized when the film started. We had done 3 films together as actors. In Swades, we had a ball together. Neither of us was trying to impress the other. I had a script reading with him before shooting. He had never done that before in a movie. But because of the preparation, no actor looked in awe of Shah Rukh in screen.

Aziz Mirza: Shah Rukh is like my own child. I can never move away from him. The only reason why Shah Rukh was not in my last film Kismat Konnection was because the role required a young boy, just out of college. In fact, the minute Juhi Chawla heard the role she said she could see a younger Shah Rukh in it. That's how Shahid Kapoor came in. Shah Rukh was like my bachcha from the time he started. We did Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Yes Boss together. Both were important films in the early part of Shah Rukh’s career. It's wrong to say I helped his career. Everyone has his destiny.

Shah Rukh became an overnight star with Deewana. I remember they had shot half the film with another actor (Armaan Kohli). Shah Rukh came into the project at that late stage. If that isn't destiny, then what is? I've done four films with Shah Rukh. One doesn't have to continue working constantly with the ones whom one loves. Some relationships go beyond the professional. Shah Rukh is certainly one of them.

Also Read: Happy 60th birthday Shah Rukh Khan: How the superstar REVOLUTIONIZED Bollywood marketing with Om Shanti Om; the KING set the template everyone still follows!

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