Shah Rukh Khan reveals his insecurities and triumphs in a candid chat

Q Apart from whats already being much spoken about what is your personal reason for picking a film like DilwaleA I think the storyline is interesting trailer doesnt really tell enough of the story Its dramatic in the typical Rohit Shetty manner but whats more is that he Rohit has taken the legacy of Kajol and me as eternal lovers retained that kind of romance and dignity and woven a story around it And it is garnished with his typical madnessShah Rukh Khan PicSatej ShindeQ But the trailer doesnt really highlight that aspectA To be honest I didnt want the trailer to divulge too much It is just a montage rather than really telling the films story I am deliberately holding back with this one because I think that aspect should come as a pleasant surprise You seldom get commercial films that have something beyond what you expect But having said that it is a film by Rohit Shetty who likes blowing up cars Each filmmaker has a style mdash Yash Chopra saree udaate the Rohit Shetty gadi udaata hai Karan Johar does movies on society Imtiaz Alis films show darkness in love stories and Anurag Kashyap makes edgy films They all have their own styleQ The trailer received a mixed reaction on social mediaA I dont check on that my office does that for me But I can say that the feedback we get on ground is very different from what we get on online Social media is exciting and fun but you cant go by that feedback because it can be quite misleading positively or negatively Only a minority goes online to check about films It is definitely not the right way of measuring the real response to anything I would rather go by what I hear on ground Like yesterday I was at Yash Raj Studios and people came up to me to talk about the Gherua song If you hear a song of yours playing in a rickshaw passing by then you know you are doing wellShah Rukh KhanQ You have the wonderful gift of the gab and that is evident when you tweet write or give inspirational speeches Dont you think as an icon you could use it for a larger purposeA My reply will be in two parts Yes I think I should I have an idea but havent been able to put it to practice I want to create a weekly video where I could present myself to the world I could be talking about everything not just films But then I also think I should speak less I talk about something and it is misconstrued and I get into trouble Thats a nuisance Like that thing which blew up recently mdash I never said India is intolerant When I was asked about it I said I wouldnt like talking about it but when they insisted I had just said that the youth should concentrate on making this a secular progressive country It is just that people like to believe what they want to believe Misconstruing my words might or might not suit a particular political agenda but I am annoyed because I didnt mean what is being portrayed I am an actor and make films This is enough of a job I am an icon because I can be what I am on screen I would rather stick to that I dont enjoy spending three nights explaining to hairstylists that I didnt mean to offend anyone by naming my film Barber These things take away from my source of happiness I must say I love talking My experiences in life have been such that I can give away certain nice things But then you cant expect everyone to understand your way of thinking or even your sense of humour That is the reason why I stopped hosting shows I was offending too many people One truism in this industry is that you cant please everyone all the timeQ What other life lessons would you say your experience has taught youA Clicheacuted as it may sound it is that there is no alternative for hard work What life has also taught me is that you cannot plan a successful film You cant write it in a way or think that this will be a blockbuster I still keep it simple My only criteria is Am I doing the kind of film for which I am excited to wake up and go on the sets and wear make up Longevity and freshness in an actor reflects in how he feels about the work he does You cannot manipulate anything I watched Golmaal 3 and really loved it So I asked Kareena Kapoor to get me to meet Rohit He knows which world he belongs to and doesnt want to follow a pattern just because it might work Popular patterns are fads not classics When KJo became successful and we made films together people used to say Oh but he only makes pop culture films My reply was If you think it is that easy why dont you try making it When you dont like peoples success you want to put them in a box Being true to your form is the most important thing I tell young guys to find what they are not good at and try improving on that Only then you can hope for longevityQ Is it more head than heart for you after these many years in the industryA No if I did anything following my head I would have reached a different level of material success I still do what my heart says I do films I have some emotional connect with Even as a producer Juhi Chawla and I started out only to be able to enhance the directors experience to let a good director be able to do what he wants to do I can at times afford to tell the director to go ahead with his vision however big it is I have suffered in the process but I am also the only producer who has a ninestorey office and 210 people employed in it Sometimes I feel bad that I dont get to do the films I really want to because my office people tell me to work on something that brings money too But within those parameters I do the best I can I may have the biggest house or the best cars but none of that is the extension of my manhood or my stardom Who needs all that when I have my dimples laughsQ But dont more crores feel like bigger toys for youA Not at all There is only so much that you can do with money I have a theatre at home but I have not been able to watch a movie in it for the last year and half I have a swimming pool I have not had the time to use it I practically live in my van for 20 hours a day I dont get to spend any money on myself I am grateful for the amount of money that God and this job has given me but as they say you can never be too thin or too rich laughs Right now I think I am fatQ Is there any insecurity that lingers on from your struggling daysA Let me tell you something I am the most underconfident nervous insecure man who keeps asking himself if hes got it right I know it is difficult to believe because I dont come across like that I was to watch Fan yesterday and was so nervous I didnt want to see it because honestly I wouldnt be able to gauge if we have done a good job This is my biggest insecurity but also my biggest asset In spite of being in the industry for 25 years and not knowing can work for youQ You mean it stops you from being cockyA In my profession yes This confidence that I show is an act When I have to make a public appearance and speak I get really nervous People say Are you mad You just have to be present to make people happy But I know my just being there would make me the most boring person doing something to make them happy will make them happy When I see actors who come out of their own films and say I nailed it I killed it I get really curious How do we know we gave a great performance You get to know when the audience says or accepts it Also you cant get too confident about these things because you never know why someone liked something you did It could very well be because of some personal thing that made them connect to it