How to win a billion hearts and keep adding more? If only the answer were so simple, each of us would be one Shah Rukh Khan. But, as luck would have it, there is only one King Khan – a fact also famous journalist Rajat SharmaBest known for the iconic chat show Aap Ki Adalat, wholeheartedly agree. Recently, Sharma took a nostalgic trip down memory lane, recalling how SRK charmed him on their first meeting and managed to do so within four lines of conversation. He also shared how much Shah Rukh admired Rajesh Khanna, aspiring to reach the heights of stardom right from the beginning of his career.
‘Once I was at the airport and Shahrukh was also there. It was after the release juggler. He approached me and said, ‘Sir, I know you,’ and I replied, ‘I know you too.’ Until then, the only film star to go to Aap Ki Adalat was Rajesh Khanna. Then Shah Rukh told me, ‘Sir, but I hate you. i hate you.’ I was surprised and asked why. When the lady who was cleaning the floor came near me, she said, ‘Sharma saab, can you move’ and when she approached her, she said, ‘Hey Shah Rukh, move.’ He asked, ‘What should I do, sir? Should I walk around with glasses or a computer (to get so much respect)?’ He was charming and won my heart in just four sentences,” Sharma said during the conversation ANI.
Read this also When Shatrughan Sinha explains why he married Poonam despite his affair with Reena Roy: ‘I had to…’
Rajat Sharma revealed that they talked for the entire flight and by the time they landed, he was already a fan of Shah Rukh Khan. “Then he asked me, ‘Sir, have you ever hung upside down?’ I was like, ‘Why should I?’ He replied, ‘I can hang upside down from a tree for three hours but I am ‘Ay Shahrukh’ and you are ‘Sharma saab’. He asked me to try hanging upside down sometimes.
Sharma also remembers how as they were coming out of the airport, Shah Rukh casually invited her to visit the film sets and in what she described as a kind of magic, Sharma readily agreed. Shahrukh had a red car at that time. He said, ‘This car belongs to Rajesh Khanna and I bought it. The driver sitting in the back, he worked for Rajesh Khanna and I also hired him. Now Shahrukh Khan should be brought in the same way as Rajesh Khanna was brought to AAP’s court. I told him but he had only done one or two films, but he insisted.
ICYMI The theater showed the second half of Pushpa 2 without showing the first half; Viewers say, ‘In the era of non-linear narrative films…’
A month later, while planning an Aap Ki Adalat event in Mumbai with Bal Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and Gulshan Kumar, Rajat Sharma suggested including the “charming” Shah Rukh Khan as a guest. His team initially resisted, arguing it would undermine the show’s stature. “Till now we have brought only the biggest superstar Rajesh Khanna and now you will bring down our stature by bringing this guy (SRK),” they said. But Sharma was confident in Shah Rukh’s abilities and the episode was a huge success.
“He came out with flying colors. He told me later, ‘If I was loved by 5,000 people before[coming on the show]now I’m loved by 500,000 people.’ After 18 years, he reappeared on the show and when I was about to ask my first question, he stopped me and told the audience, ‘My first big interview was on ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ and I want to thank you for making me such a big star. ‘ That’s his greatness. Shah Rukh would have become a star anyway. But these words show his big heart,” he added.
Click for latest Bollywood news with more updates and entertainment updates. Also get breaking news and top headlines from India and the world on Indian Express.