'I am not threatened by Hrithik'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="77.5%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><a href="javascript:popUp(&quot1;photopop?msid=174040&type=0&quot1;)"> <img border="0" align="left" src="/cms.dll/thumb?=269&width=269&photoID=174040" hspace="12"" /></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Click to enlarge</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">MUMBAI: The chain-smoking King Khan is on cloud nine.The enormous success of <a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/340605.cms">Kal Ho Na Ho</a><span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> </span>has reinforced his status as the numero uno star in Bollywood.<br /><br />About 13 years ago, Shah Rukh Khan, son of a kerosene dealer, came to Mumbai from Delhi with dreams of making it big in tinsel town. <br /><br />He landed roles in two teleserials, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Fauji </span>and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Circus</span>, but it was the success of his debut film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Deewana </span>that kickstarted his career. <br /><br />Shah Rukh then delivered a string of blockbuster hits, including <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Baazigar, Darr, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil to Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Chalte, Chalte, Devdas </span>and now <a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/335738.cms">Kal Ho Na Ho</a>, which has pushed his price up to a reported Rs 5 crore per film— the highest ever for an <a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/341309.cms">Indian actor</a>.<br /><br />While rapidly recovering from spinal surgery, the 37-year-old Khan spoke to <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Times News Network</span> at his sprawling mansion, Mannat, which overlooks the Arabian sea at Bandra''s Land''s End. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">How do you look back on your career since the days of </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Fauji</span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">?</span><br /><br />Actually, I don''t. It appears like such a long time ago and at the same time it appears like yesterday. I don''t look at the shadows of the past. The day I finish a film, I take a bath for two hours and it is out of my system and I move on. <br /><br />What I am doing right now is important to me, the rest is a fading memory. Maybe I am losing my memory (laughs). But so far it has been a satisfying and <a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/356347.cms">god-blessed ride</a>.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">But you must have grown as an actor. Or is that you are stuck with your stock emotions?</span><br /><br />I don''t know how much I have grown as an actor. Acting is like painting, you do it out of your creativity and it is judged by those who see it. I like what I do. I love the shots that I give at that point of time. Subsequently, when I see them, I feel I could have done them differently. <br /><br />But I won''t be able to give those shots all over again. Technically speaking, of course, I have honed my skills before the camera. I can control my speech a lot better. Many people used to feel earlier that I spoke too fast. <br /><br />My limited way of acting has found its fullest expression in my films. I tell my director, ''Give me a sequence and I will make it memorable.'' Talking of stock emotions, I think emotions are the same the world over.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">You had a bad patch with flops like </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Josh </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">and </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Ashoka</span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">. But suddenly you bounced back from the verge of being written off. How did you do it?</span><br /><br />I did not go anywhere to come back. I am being made out to be a yoyo. I am making a <a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/343341.cms">comeback and competing</a> with a newcomer every year. I think the media is making up all this. I was compared with Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan and Suneil Shetty, all of whom are wonderful actors. <br /><br />But I have only done better for myself as an actor. I think <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Josh, Ashoka</span>, etc ought to have been made, but a film like <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chalte, Chalte </span>did well. Nobody can take away my 13 years of hard work, honesty and focus. Maybe one day I will become a big star and there will be no need for me to bounce back.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Did you feel threatened when Hrithik Roshan burst onto the scene with </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaho Naa Pyar Hai</span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">?</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thetimesofindia.online/articleshow/356327.cms">Hrithik</a> is a fantastic dancer and growing as an actor. I never felt threatened by him. I am very self-obsessed and self-centred. My world is completely dominated by me. People are running in a race and I am in the other track. I am running with myself. I am the Carl Lewis of the 100 metres. Carl Lewis can''t run with anyone else. <br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: 0"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="71.9%"> <colgroup> <col width="49.1%" /> <col width="50.4%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">PEOPLE WHO READ THIS STORY ALSO READ...</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="49.1%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><a href="/articleshow/357082.cms" target="_blank">Beyond boundaries: A dream team</a></div> </td> <td width="50.4%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/359566.cms" alt="/photo/359566.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/356584.cms" target="_blank">Porn fuels Kenya''s Internet boom</a></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="49.1%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/359566.cms" alt="/photo/359566.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/359025.cms" target="_blank">Tech rally predicted for 2004</a></div> </td> <td width="50.4%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/359566.cms" alt="/photo/359566.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/357118.cms" target="_blank">Camaraderie in Karachi</a></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">I am the guy who will come first and who will come last. I am not bothered about what others are doing. I cannot see anybody else''s life, only my own. If everybody does that, then the world will be a better place to live in.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Of all the films, which one was creatively the most satisfying?</span><br /><br />The next one (smiles). I can''t live in retrospect. For example, I cannot look at <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Devdas </span>and say, ''Oh, I really cried'' in a particular scene.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Will the spinal surgery force you to cut down on the number of films?</span><br /><br />I have never done more than three films a year. I will stick to that pace. I normally devote 100 days to a film in a year.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Despite being a star, how come you have never been romantically linked to your co-stars?</span><br /><br />I am romantically linked to my wife, but you media guys don''t find it interesting. Probably, girls find me boring. It is not a prerequisite to have scandals to be a star.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">You have average looks and height. How did you manage to become a big star?</span><br /><br />I don''t know myself. My heroines always ask me, ''How did you become a star?'' They don''t find me even average, but ugly. I think it is hard work. Deep down I know that I have had a good run. <br /><br />Maybe this is the era of average lookers. I don''t have muscles, but I am capable. Maybe it is a 13-year fluke. I am the right person at the right time. Or the audience is shortsighted.<br /><br /><a href="http://clubs.indiatimes.com/clubs/shahrukhfans">Join the Shah Rukh fan club</a><br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: 0"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="71.9%"> <colgroup> <col width="49.1%" /> <col width="50.4%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">PEOPLE WHO READ THIS STORY ALSO READ...</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="49.1%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/359566.cms" alt="/photo/359566.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/357082.cms" target="_blank">Beyond boundaries: A dream team</a></div> </td> <td width="50.4%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/359566.cms" alt="/photo/359566.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/356584.cms" target="_blank">Porn fuels Kenya''s Internet boom</a></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="49.1%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/359566.cms" alt="/photo/359566.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/359025.cms" target="_blank">Tech rally predicted for 2004</a></div> </td> <td width="50.4%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/359566.cms" alt="/photo/359566.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/357118.cms" target="_blank">Camaraderie in Karachi</a></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"></div> </div>