King Khan Back In Action

Shah Rukh Khan doesn’t like to be unemployed for long. So within days of saying that he has no work on hand, the man is back to doing work enough for two.

“I have just signed a film with Aditya Chopra because he’s making a film after a very long time. I also plan to produce a smaller film with Priyadarshan. There is Karan Johar’s film and then there is IPL. There are so many technicalities that I have to understand and all this is keeping me occupied,” he says, adding, “And yes, I will be back on TV soon and I am also planning an animation movie.”

And where does he get the energy to do so much? “I just need four hours of sleep and I am ready to go. I have always been like this and even my kids are like this. They keep on playing till they fall flat on the bed. For instance, Aryan played a match yesterday and won a silver prize. He waited for me to come back home. I reached after midnight, he relayed the whole story, pressed my feet and he was up the next day at 7 to play basketball!”

And this bundle of energy has now decided to advocate responsible drinking. And if you ask him, drinking is as bad as smoking! “To be very honest, drinking is not good and neither is smoking. Unfortunately, I smoke. And when Mr Ramadoss says that what I am doing is wrong, I agree with him. I don’t want my kids to drink and smoke. I don’t even promote smoking through my films. Even in Don , I am not actually smoking. Every time I am about to light a cigarette, I remind myself that it will kill me. This Don is not scared of anything else but he is scared of smoking his lungs out. But I don’t appreciate someone is trying to curb my creativity by banning smoking,” he says.

And talking about people following his onscreen example, he says, “Do you really think people smoke because I smoke? And if people have to emulate me, why don’t they emulate the hard work I do and what I have become because of that? I feel that too much is being made of too little in this case. There are lots of other actors who smoke. There were other people who were smoking while watching the match that day.”

We then ask him another smokin’ question: Are he and Ajay Devgan still at loggerheads? “Ajay is a very quiet guy. He is a very nice person and the last thing he needs is a question like this, which he is always being asked. I know Kajol very well. We both thought that this question will die a natural death but it did not. Honestly, I and Ajay don’t know each other well enough that we should dislike each other. But we know each other well enough to like and respect each other. Main Geeta pe haath rakhke kasam khata hoon that I have no problems with Ajay Devgan!” he says with a smile.

Mandvi Sharma, TNN