'I feel a little protective for Deepika'

Shah Rukh Khan is going south for his love ...well, that's Chennai E xpress for his fans. TWF correspondent Sreya Basu catches up with the superstar in Mumbai

Since Chennai Express shows you as a train traveller, let me start by asking, how far have you gone via train in your real life?
I used to travel a lot in train before becoming Shah Rukh Khan. I was from Delhi, so often I had trips to Jaipur. I journeyed to Bangalore and Chennai in train. But the experience of my life was when I came to Mumbai. I didn't know that once the train from Delhi enters a Mumbai station, it becomes a local train. So I was lying comfortably on my berth when a lady came and on my refusal to leave my berth, scolded me like anything.

This is the first time you are working with Rohit Shetty. How was the experience?
Rohit Shetty is great fun to work with. The only problem I had with him is that on the sets the girls found my director more attractive than me. So I will work with him again only if he stops looking so cool or covers his face at work.

You worked with Deepika Padukone in her debut film Om Shanti Om (2007). How has she changed in the last six years?
She has grown up (laughs). Jokes apart, I strangely feel too much proximity, love and warmth when I am with her; may be because she did her first film with me. I feel a little protective for Deepika. She has worked very hard and is a fantastic actor. I liked her Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) and Cocktail (2012) among others.



Tell us one advantage of working with Deepika Padukone.
The best part of having Deepika as my co-star is, when I used to go out shopping in between shoots, I didn't have to worry about getting down things from high shelves (hinting at her height).

After so many years in the industry, acting must have become an easy job for you?
It's never easy. Filmmaking itself is a very difficult job ... for the director, producer, actors and the entire crew ... there are lots of slips, ifs and buts which we have to overcome and put in a lot of hard work. So people must respect person who is involved in the process of filmmaking, be it in India or abroad. Because we make possible which is almost not possible.

What is easier for you - playing a romantic hero or an action hero?
Action is easier than shooting a love song in any film, provided if it's a Rohit Shetty movie. The way he and his crew plan and organize action scenes are unbelievable. Doing action for Rohit is safe, harmless, gentle and easy.


In the film you say that every man has a twist in his life by the time he turns 40. You are 47. Did you have your share?
I am all twisted. I am like a screw, you see. One day I will pen a book and then we will sit together and discuss all the twists in my life.