Blogical Conclusion

STAR TREK

AUG 12, 2007 - ANUPAMA CHOPRA’S BOOK on Shah Rukh Khan is as much the story of an actor as the micro-chronicle of a nation. It takes us through the personal life of our biggest star (from the courtship of his parents to his courting of Gauri Khan), through his career (from the simple TV days to the stratospheric present), through Bollywood (from its unassuming, folksy nature in the fifties to the glitzy, global brand it is today), and through India, then and now, all the while folding into its narrative the oddly endearing intimate anecdote. (“In the early days, when he couldn’t afford gel, Shah Rukh tried to contain [his unruly hair] with a homemade mixture of Camlin glue and water.�) The author talks about her ambitious effort.

Firstly, what made you pick Shah Rukh, as opposed to say, Aamir Khan?
I wrote a monograph on Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge for the British Film Institute. While doing that, I became fascinated with Shah Rukh’s story, his dramatic rise to fame and the way in which he became the emblem of the new, shining India and the new, shining Bollywood. I wanted to tell many stories through his story, which is why I chose him.

Once you decided on Shah Rukh, what made you want to trace his rise along with that of “new, shining India�? In other words, why didn’t you simply say, “Let me write about India’s biggest star with lots and lots of glossy pictures?� What prompted the extra mile?
As Robert Browning put it: a man’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for? I always wanted the book to be more than just Shah Rukh’s story. I wanted it to give a context for his rise and why he, as opposed to anyone else, became the new icon. I wanted to create a journey through Bollywood. That’s what made this book so challenging and exciting.

Who is the book targeted at? In the sense that an Indian reader may find some of the information superfluous/redundant (when you explain about the Partition and so on). Is it a western reader you are looking at? A western “academic� reader, more likely, considering that this isn’t just a pretty book?
This book, like a typical Hindi film, aims to be all things to all people. Warner Books and I want it to speak to both the mainstream American reader and the Indian reader. Perhaps we are too ambitious but please see quote above. But I’m not an academic so it’s a book on popular culture written for anyone who is interested. It’s also being translated into Marathi, Hindi and German, so these publishers believe that it will appeal to a broad range of people.

What were some of the challenges while writing the book? One, of course, must have been Shah Rukh’s availability. But what else? Did scope prove a problem (as in, what to include and what to leave out)?
The biggest challenge was structuring the book. Yes the scope was a problem because I wanted it to be detailed but yet not so lost in the small print that we lose the bigger picture. So the narrative had to focus on SRK, then zoom out and then take in a sub-plot and then get back to his life again. This was very hard to do.

What were your apprehensions before beginning the book, and your thoughts after finishing it?
I was afraid that I simply wouldn’t be able to do it — to write a book that does all these things and make it interesting for everyone. This project started as a one-page proposal. It took me a year to find an agent, write a 60 page proposal and then have my agent shop it around to different publishers. There were many, many dark nights when I thought it was no good and nobody would read it. So now that it’s all done and the reactions are largely positive, I’m seriously relieved. I’m going to the US for the launch events. I’m going to speak about Bollywood at the Museum of the Moving Image in NY and at the Peabody Museum near Boston. I’m very proud that popular Indian cinema is in these spaces and getting the respect that it deserves. And I’m also proud of myself, that I had it in me to persevere for four years.

What is the most memorable anecdote from writing the book? The one thing that happened during the writing that you’ll always remember?
I’ll always remember my search for the fan Bhavesh who I start the book with. I had seen him in Nasreen Munni Kabir’s documentary The Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. We spent months trying to track him down and we finally found him in Ahmedabad. He was flying out to the US the next night. I met him at the airport, and interviewed him on the way from the domestic to the international airport in Bombay. His story gave me the tone for the book.

And I think I know the answer to this, but who is your favourite Indian actor?
For my generation, Mr. Bachchan will always be the gold standard. I’m also a big admirer of SRK, and after watching the new Naya Daur, I have become besotted with Dilip Kumar. He was truly the ultimate actor.

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