London, Feb. 3: Shah Rukh Khan, who was in London on a day Shiv Sena activists tore down posters of My Name is Khan in Mumbai, said he was willing to apologise but only if his critics could tell him what he should be apologising for.
Flanked by director Karan Johar and co-star Kajol, Shah Rukh managed to stick to his guns in the most conciliatory way possible.
Shah Rukh was asked at a packed news conference about threats from Shiv Sena leaders who have warned they would not allow the film to be screened unless he apologised for his remarks regretting the exclusion of Pakistani players from the IPL.
“What I said was not connected to a person or a group of people,” he said. “What I said was true of any person from (brought up in the culture of) India, Pakistan, Bangladesh — that’s how I have been brought up. My country is nice, I am very proud of it. I am very proud to have been born there. I wish people to come to my country and participate in the goodness of my country. If that is wrong, then my children are studying wrong things (at school),” Shah Rukh said.
He clarified that what he had said “is not a statement against anyone. I have said what I believe to be true. It is not nice for a Hindi film hero who is thought of as an icon to say this but the stakes are very high.”
Shah Rukh did apologise but to his colleagues on the movie. “I am very, sorry, I would like to apologise to Kajol and my business partners – because of what I say or what I believe in, their film is going to be affected. I have no idea how to change that.”
He went on: “I am very happy taking my film to the world, I am very happy interacting with audiences.”
There was an emotional moment when he admitted: “I am very sad (about this controversy – and it is not jet lag. I am very sad because this is a very special film. I don’t know why it (my comments) should be taken personally. It is not meant to be that way.”
In his own way, Shah Rukh managed to wrong foot the Shiv Sena. “I don’t know why there is so much confusion about what I have said. I have no idea why there should be. If you have differences of ideas, three people having different points of view, (you discuss it). I have not pointed to a party or a group or a person – I mention no names. (It was) something I said about me and about what I believe in. I think 99.99 per cent of Indians are with me. I don’t know the issues, what it is about, I don’t know what it is I am supposed to regret ...(am I supposed to say) that I don’t want anyone to come to my country, what (that is) all I have been taught by my father, who was a freedom fighter for this country, is wrong, my kids are studying wrong?”
He appealed to Indians all over the world: “I have no idea what people would like me to say. If this (the above) is what they want me to say, I will say it. What do I have to apologise for? If somebody explains that to me and I have done wrong (I will apologise). I have done that in the past... I have apologised to a segment of a Muslim group (because they felt) a song of mine was wrong. Whenever my film has come out, it has never come out with the intention of hurting anybody’s sentiments and I hope it will never happen. If I am in the wrong I would like to apologise.”
He stressed again: “Somebody will have to explain to me what is wrong – so many people’s lives, futures are riding on this. I just request everybody, ‘Just leave the film alone and deal with what I said’.”
Did he find it ironic that his loyalty was being questioned in Mumbai at the very moment academics at the University of Vienna were planning a whole seminar on the importance of Shah Rukh Khan as a symbol of all that was best about Bollywood and India, he was asked.
“It is very humbling,” he responded. “Much more love is given than I deserve, similarly much more importance is given to the negatives that I get. I never get it straight – I get either too much or too less and that is the beauty of being a superstar. Sometimes I am very, very happy and sometimes I am very, very sad. I have never been normal. If you ask, ‘How does it feel to be a superstar?’, it is very, very unbalanced.”
7 comments:
He is consistent in his statements, but i think he is worried about the toll on Karn, Kajol and others associated with MNIK.
Yes - and it is ironic that the questions were asked to him as an IPL owner on an IPL related topic.
Yeah, I like it that he isn't apologizing just for a film. He should stand by it. And I also heard Fox is completely supporting SRK and not pressurizing him to apologize.
http://www.littleabout.com/news/66450,shabana-hails-rahul-shiv-sena.html
Actress-activist Shabana Azmi is all praise for Rahul Gandhi and he "cocked a snook" at the Shiv Sena with his Mumbai trip Friday. And she feels the Sena is trying to boost its "sagging political career" by intimidating the makers of Shah Rukh-starrer “My Name Is Khan”.
“More power to Rahul Gandhi for cocking a snook at the Shiv Sena in its own den in Mumbai by taking the local train from Dadar, which is considered the bastion of the Shiv Sena,” Shabana told IANS through email.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi made a four-hour visit to Mumbai Friday during which he surprised everyone by boarding crowded local trains and mixing with locals while Shiv Sena activists showed him black flags.
“This one act has catapulted him into a hero for all those who have been watching him grow in stature as the leader India is looking for,” said Shabana.
The Shiv Sena has launched a vicious attack on Shah Rukh Khan for advocating the participation of Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“The Shiv Sena is trying to intimidate the makers of ‘My Name is Khan’ as a peg on which to hang their sagging political career. The state must call their bluff and ensure safe passage for the film.
“I am proud of Shah Rukh Khan for standing by what he has said. The film industry is vulnerable because of huge monies riding on the film. The Shiv Sena has sent letters to theatre owners warning them not to release the film. How can any political power abrogate to themselves this authority?
“The state must protect the theatre owners. I am confident ‘My Name Is Khan’ will be released and people will go to watch the film. That will be the appropriate response to the bullies.”
My Indianness shouldn't be questioned: SRK
SRK talks to Barkha Dutt on his return from London.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1199720
Outstanding interview....reminds you of the raison d'être of Shahrukh’s superstardom. He was brutally honest and self-deprecating almost to the point of admitting he is a coward; yet, never before was he so passionate, proud, endearing and vulnerable. This contradiction of sorts is the essence of his persona and the reason he is adored around the world.
Well said Minnie! He was a bundle of human contradictory emotions and yet also most reasoned thoughts came out.
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