I am also Shah Rukh Khan!

Today, the world knows me as Shah Rukh Khan’s lookalike, and when I look in the mirror, it’s difficult to spot Raju Rahikwar. I may have lost my identity, but I believe I was destined to be born as Junior SRK. It’s God’s gift.
However, it hasn’t been easy. I grew up in the village Bhandara near Nagpur, where I used to travel 15 to 16 kms to Chandrapur to watch Shah Rukh’s movies.Once, when I was coming out of a movie hall after watching Deewana, I heard a lady behind me call out to me as ‘Shah Rukh’. My friends would often tease me that I resembled him, but this was the turning point, and I decided that I wanted to ‘become’ SRK.
I was 15 years old then and it wasn’t easy to convince my father that I wanted to pursue my dream in Mumbai. I asked him for Rs 5,000 so that I could go to the city of my dreams. He was dead against this ‘nautanki’, but finally gave up. The money ran out soon and in the next five years, I drove a rickshaw, and made rotis at a local dhaba. I got an opportunity to perform at a stage show and earned Rs 200 in my first attempt. Another time, when I went up on stage, I froze and the crowd started abusing me. Finally, I got provoked into reciting SRK’s dialogues and they loved it. I was born with a resemblance to him, but I had to work on learning everything else — the way he walks, talks, eats.
My first film as a Shah Rukh duplicate was Khooni No 1, a remake of Karan Arjun, also starring Salman Khan’s lookalike. I haven’t looked back since. My beautiful wife and my two-year-old son are my biggest strengths. My wife fasted for three days so that My Name Is Khan was released without a hitch. I also fed 11 pundits at a local Shiv temple, for the peace and happiness of SRK’s family.
I will never do anything to defame SRK. I have received many offers from directors and political parties who wanted me to make fun of him, but I refused each time. I have met the star many times and have always found him very humble.
To show my respect for SRK, I have constructed a small temple in his name in my home town, where I am known and respected for what I am today. My father is the proudest man today. I believe we all have a debt and I repay mine by giving away Rs 5,000 to the poor every month from my monthly income of Rs 15,000. Recently, I booked a show of My Name Is Khan on Valentine’s Day and distributed free tickets to SRK fans. Director Karan Johar also came and I was really touched when he said that Shah Rukh would be flattered by my gesture.
S Ramachandran, my journalist friend, who’s also a documentary filmmaker, has made a film on my life. I will release it only after Shah Rukh agrees to speak in it. I gave a copy of my documentary to his office. I’m not sure he’s got it. But, I won’t give up!
(As told to Vaibhav Choudhary)