Wearing 'lungi' made me insecure: Shah Rukh Khan
It was only a 90-minute, nail-biting wait for the Bollywood superstar and his sidekick, with the ear-shattering beats of the ‘Lungi Dance’ almost derailing the enthusiasm for the star cast of ‘Chennai Express’ that was in Dubai on Thursday to promote the film amidst a marketing blitzkrieg.
Needless to say, both Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone lived up to the stereotype of celebrities running on a different time schedule than the masses; but in their case, the actor duo didn’t hesitate to flash their award winning smiles for the cameras and wow the press and sponsors with such gusto, that all was forgiven, for now.
Speaking about his choice in picking up an out and out slapstick comedy, Khan said: “‘Chennai Express’ falls under a romantic comedy, a kind that can only be directed by Rohit Shetty. In cinema itself, you have different genres of filmmaking, but Rohit has created his own genre of filmmaking.
“In the past few years, I have done many intense films such as ‘My Name is Khan’ and ‘Ra.One’. And after I finished shooting for ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, I wanted to work on a lighter film and sometimes these things just have a way of landing in your lap. Plus, I got a chance with Deepika again.”
The real-life camaraderie between Khan and Padukone was visible for all present, with the actress having debuted in Bollywood opposite the actor in ‘Om Shanti Om’, several years back.
Talking about her first meeting with the actor, Padukone candidly confessed: “I was really scared to meet him that first time. Farah (Khan, director of ‘OSO’) took me to meet Shah Rukh to his home in Mumbai.
“You know, back then I was just a girl from Bangalore who would drive past Bandra and look at this palatial home owned by this huge Bollywood actor.”
She continued: “The first time I went to meet him, I was dressed like a Yash Chopra heroine, in a white shalwar kameez, because that was the impression I had: to be a successful actress in Bollywood, you had to have blow dried straight hair and wear a white suit.”
The duo has travelled a long way since that first visit, with Khan, whose production house – Red Chillies Entertainment – is even backing ‘Chennai Express’, alongside UTV Motion Pictures.
It is due to his creative input that the film boasts a last-minute addition by singing sensation, Yo Yo Honey Singh, with the ‘Lungi Dance’ paying tribute to southern superstar, Rajnikant.
In the video, Khan is seen sporting a lungi or the traditional sarong that South Indian men wear.
Little do many know though, that the actor lived in “fear” while shooting for this track.
When quizzed, Padukone laughed and said: “Shah Rukh would keep complaining the lungi was too airy.”
The actor added his two-bit to say: “I’m a simple jeans and pants kind of guy. The maximum I will wear is a shalwar kameez.
“Wearing the lungi made me feel insecure. When I came on set, all the girls would gang up and laugh at me or clap for me, and I would keep thinking the wrap was see through. But Deepika helped me wear it in the end.”
With this dance track already all the rage, Khan’s gamble has paid off, with trade pundits already predicting a bumper opening for the Eid release.
Khan, himself, appeared confident about its box office prospects, saying: “This is a clean, straight forward family film that will appeal to all my fans.”