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"IT WAS EASIER FOR ARYAN TO DUB"

'It was easier for Aryan to dub'
By: Subhash K Jha December 16, 2004
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CHILD’S PLAY:

Shah Rukh Khan With Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades releasing tomorrow, Shah Rukh Khan is gung-ho. He feels it’s a very important film, going by what it says.

Excerpts from an interview:
Let’s begin with Veer-Zaara. Didn’t the film give you leeway to be more experimental as an actor?
Yeah, I got to play an old man. The impact has a lot to do with the way a role is written.

An old man’s role is relatively easier than playing my own age. You’ve so many props, like grey hair, a slouch, a faltering voice etc. I found it easier to do than to play a 35-40 year old.

Do you feel Veer-Zaara gave you a chance to be different?
I think the difference is in the media’s head. I think I’m different in each of my films.

Swades again looks different. Like Veer-Zaara?
I’d say Swades was a more difficult role to play. Here I had very few props and crutches.

Every project comes with its own baggage. Every film of mine crosses a certain budget and is targeted at a specific number of people. The whole world is the target audience. One cannot afford to be different just for the sake of being different.

How larger than life is your character in Swades?
It’s 100 per cent director Ashutosh Gowariker’s interpretation. By virtue of what it says, Swades is a very important film. It addresses itself to a core issue regarding the destiny of a developing nation like ours.

Hopefully it will make the audience think . Being in the entertainment business it’s important to be focused on ones job, and yet try to make a difference to our world. Swades attempts to do that.

So now you are doing films which make a difference…
I always have. The social message is never the main point. I think I’ve got a sufficient fan following to watch me entertain them. So if a message is teased into my film I’m all for it.

Why did you tell Aaj Tak that there’s an ice-hockey match in Swades?
They just come with questions for which they don’t want to hear the answers. Ice-hockey or not, audiences won’t go away disappointed.

Is there a director lurking in you?
I’ll make a James Bond film. Bond films are the simplest and therefore the most successful. It’s about good making evil look stupid. There’s Ravans within all of us.

Your voice and your son’s will be heard in the animation film The Incredibles on the same day that Swades is released.
It wasn’t as though I had a hand in his being chosen. My son joined me much later. He was part of an audition with many other boys. I was told that they were hesitant about Aryan because they needed an older boy.

But a few days, they decided to go with Aryan. I didn’t want Aryan to get into a situation that would tire him. But it was easier for him to dub than me.

How long did he take?
Three or four days for an hour every day. But there were beautiful ladies to handle Aryan.

What does your production house plan to make in 2005?
We’re producing a film to be directed by Amol Palekar in February. I like the story he had to tell. We didn’t have a big discussion.

Will it be typical Palekar film?
I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen any of his films. But it’s a good sweet story. Finally it will be a typical Shah Rukh movie. Simple, interesting and nice. Rani Mukherjee has agreed to do it.

What else?
So far that’s the only film I’m producing in 2005. Then I’m doing a film with Karan Johar in April. Farah Khan is working on her script. I’ll most probably produce her film as well. These are the three on the anvil.

And Aditya Chopra’s next?
I don’t know. He hasn’t spoken to me about it yet.

Finally how’s your back and neck now?
I’m okay. I’m fine. It hurts a little only when I laugh.