I have never taken desperate measures to maintain stardom: Shah Rukh

Mumbai, June 27

He may be the undisputed ‘Badhshah’ of Bollywood, but Shah Rukh Khan has said he has never been “desperate” to maintain his stardom.

The 51-year-old actor said he never came to films with the aim of becoming a superstar and hence the success or the failure of his movies does not bother him after a point.

“I wake up and I go and act... Sometimes well, sometimes badly and bad is also closer to my heart and so is good. I feel bad if my film doesn’t do well, I feel good if it does well but all these things last just for about six hours and I move on. I have never been attached. Beyond that there has never been a desperate measure to maintain (my) stardom,” Shah Rukh said in an interview here.

The actor added he never expected to be called a star.

“I have never given more importance or credibility to it. I have never felt I have become a star. I have never done anything to retain the stardom, to make it or break it,” he added.

Shah Rukh said the biggest task for him has been to maintain the quality of his work as once someone becomes successful they are always expected to excel in whatever they do.

“The biggest problem a big star finds is trying to retain the goodness of cinema that he or she does. You think you can’t fail but there is an amazing enjoyment in failing...Once you become a public figure you are expected to deliver excellence every time... that is when perks of failure are taken away from you.”

The actor is known for his witty style, but his humour has also landed him in trouble at times. Shah Rukh, however, has made peace with it as he believes reacting to what others say about him will not be of much help.

“I am told many times that my humour is misunderstood and it’s unfortunate, so I won’t be humorous? What an actor or public figure feels will never be understood by people and even if I try to do that I will spend most of my lifetime.

“You reach a point, not out of disregard to what people think of me, but I can’t waste time on this as I have to spend time with myself. The most humorous thing is the analysis people make of me, like the phenomenon that Shah Rukh is but they all are far from truth.”

Shah Rukh also believes that the digital media will evolve eventually and the focus would shift towards putting out the right content instead of running after speed.

“Right now because of the digital age, media doesn’t know which part to hang on...do you want to hang on to the speed with which you are giving information, do you want to hang on to a selfie or picture story or hang on to a trend or create a trend?

“But finally it will all settle down to basic things, for actors, writers, filmmakers, that is what is the correct thing or right knowledge, it’s not going to be about the speed or how fast you can give the knowledge but about how correct the knowledge is.” — PTI