Shah Rukh Khan turns 52 today. The actor, who has been part of over 60 films (without the special appearances), has managed to maintain his superstardom over the last 25 years. Through the course of his career, he has attempted different things — some worked, some didn’t and some set new benchmarks in filmmaking.
Ask him about his plans and he tells us, “We have decided to produce almost nine-10 films in the next two years. I won’t be acting in all the films, we are always willing to do new things regardless of its outcome. Today, our films are doing the business, tomorrow I might lose everything but that thought will never stop me from attempting.”
The actor wants a revolutionary change in terms of special effects in India. “I understand we don’t have the budgets that a Hollywood film does. Today, I have a dedicated team, who is working endlessly to create VFX for films like Fan and Aanand L Rai’s film, which people couldn’t even think of doing, a few years ago. We tried introducing a technology in India with Fan and although the film didn’t work, it cannot take away the accomplishment of my team.When people come and talk to me about it, I consider all this fluff — that my career is ending and I’m going to be finished. That’s what you think but without being pompous, I can say that I’m at a position where I can decide to take on things which come with a huge chance of failure. But if we don’t do it, things won’t progress.”
He also expresses another wish he’s nurtured for quite some time now. “I had loved doing Asoka. Given a chance, I want to make Asoka again. But this time, it will be much bigger and grander. Maybe with some great VFX work which has so far not been seen in Hindi cinema.” He further explains, “We made Asoka in a budget of Rs 8 crores. We didn’t know much about VFX because special effects were still not a rage then. Today, imagine how much more we can do with a bigger budget and better VFX. I’m fascinated by such powerful war stories and someday, I would definitely like to revisit Asoka again.”