Bal Thackeray has been very gracious to me: Shahrukh
He's known as King Khan of Bollywood and is one of India's hottest actors and producers. Shahrukh Khan, the global superstar explains why the time has come for developing nations like India to assert themselves internationally, discusses the furore surrounding the premiere of his film My Name is Khan and talks about his hopes for his Kolkata Knight Riders team in this season's Indian Premier League.
It's
fantastic
to
have
you
on
the
show,
you
are
easily
Bollywood's
biggest
star
these
days.
For
those
watching
it
might
have
seemed
easy.
You
are
so
big
they
call
you
King
Khan.
Is
this
the
way
you
saw
you
life
panning
when
you
started
off
as
an
actor?
Not
at
all,
I
still
don't
believe
it.
I
still
think
it's
like
a
dream.
But
when
I
started
off,
I
never
thought
I
would
do
anything
else
but
wake
up
in
the
morning
and
work.
But
the
only
thing
that's
added
to
it,
and
I
tell
this
to
everyone,
is
that
I
still
wake
up
in
the
morning
and
work
but
the
only
odd
thing
my
kids
find
is
that
I'm
a
man
and
I
wear
make-up.
We're
doing
this
interview
at
your
house
and
there
are
often
throngs
of
fans
waiting
outside
trying
to
get
a
glimpse
of
you.
As
they
wait
to
see
what
crumb
you
might
throw
them,
is
that
kind
of
a
weird
feeling
-
the
immense
scrutiny
that
you
get.
I
feel
very
embarrassed
and
odd.
I
don't
even
call
them
fans.
I
think
they
are
people
who
appreciate
what
I
do.
My
wife
tells
me
on
the
weekends,
especially
because
there's
a
crowd
-
a
thousand
people
outside.
So
I
go
for
five
minutes
and
wave,
then
the
cops
get
very
angry
because
the
traffic
stops
so
they
shout
at
me.
So
I'm
really
embarrassed.
I
feel
really
odd
but
I
think
when
people
come
to
visit
me
at
house
then
I
should
be
sort
of
kind
to
them
and
say
hello
to
them.
The
scrutiny
part,
there
was
a
time,
I
have
a
sense
of
humour
and
my
family
feels
I
should
stop
it
because
it's
gets
me
into
trouble.
I
say
things
and
maybe
people
don't
understand
it
or
they
give
me
more
importance
than
to
think,
I
am
flippant.
I
should
not
be
flippant.
I
should
be
more
serious.
But
I
feel
I've
never
been
like
that
and
I
just
want
to
have
fun
and
say
things
that
are
easy
going
but
many
a
time,
it's
not
taken
like
this
and
everything
is
scrutinized.
One
of
things
that
got
you
a
lot
of
headlines
recently
was
that
as
Muslims
it
was
shame
that
the
IPL
hadn't
picked
up
any
Pakistani
players
for
this
season
and
you
own
an
IPL
team,
The
Kolkata
Knight
Riders.
Your
comments
caused
an
absolute
firestorm
particularly
with
Hindu
Nationalists,
did
you
anticipate
the
furore
those
words
would
cause.
You
know
I
did
say
in
the
interview,
you
know
I
do
hope
I
don't
get
into
trouble
for
saying
this
before
I
said
that.
But
I
didn't
think
it
would
go
to
this
extent.
It
became
strange.
Strange
things
were
said.
And
I
said
"the
bottom
line
in
my
country
is
that,
there
is
a
certain
amount
of
freedom
of
speech
which
we
also
restrain
unto.
We
are
not
completely
outspoken,
we
don't
do
strange
things
-
at
least
I
don't
and
most
of
the
people
I
know,
don't.
So
there's
freedom
of
speech.
This
was
my
point
of
view.
They
were
burning
effigies
of
you
in
the
streets,
some
people
I
mean,
people
are
absolutely
going
nuts
about
you.
Some
guy
had
a
slipper
in
his
hands
and
was
hitting
poster.
I
want
to
find
him.
I
want
to
meet
up
with
him.
He
should
try
it
when
I'm
standing
in
front.
Not
on
a
piece
of
paper.
The
main
Hindu
Nationalist
party,
Shiv
Sena,
obviously
took
what
you
had
to
say
extremely
badly,
they
were
the
ones
who
campaigned
against
at
this
time
and
threatened
to
disrupt
the
premiere
of
your
movie
My
Name
Is
Khan.
Were
you
worried
at
all
about
the
safety
of
yourself
and
you
family
and
your
fans?
I'll
be
honest.
I
know
Balasaheb
Thackeray
very
well.
He's
also
been
very
gracious
to
me.
I
know
Uddhav
Thackeray,
he's
been
very
helpful.
I
know
them
very
well.
We've
never
had
...
and
I've
said
this
many
times...
The
top
level
of
the
Shiv
Sena...
They
meet
me,
I
go
over
to
their
house,
they're
really
gracious
and
wonderful
with
me,
and
we've
never
had
ideological
discussions,
maybe
they
have
a
different
ideology
for
the
party
that
they
run,
but
I'm
not
a
political
person
so
we've
never
sat
down
and
"so,
why
is
it
like..",
so
we've
never
had
this
discussion.
If
there
was
genuinely
a
misunderstanding
about
what
I
said,
which
is
quite
possible,
pick
up
the
phone
and
I'd
explain
it,
it
would
have
been
"oh,
okay,
that's
what
you
meant?
Sorry.
We
thought
you
meant
this.
You
don't
mean
that." That's
the
way
it
should
have
been
but
I
just
think
it
became
bigger
than
the
personal
relationship
we
share.
Your
team
the
Kolkata
Knight
Riders
hasn't
had
a
terrible
successful
track
record
in
the
past
couple
of
years,
what
do
you
think
are
the
prospects
for
it
to
do
better
this
time
around?
The
thing
that
I
say,
you've
been
very
kind
when
you
say
they
haven't
been
doing
very
well.
The
first
thing
-
and
I'm
a
little
philosophical
about
this
-
is
that
I
have
to
accept
and
the
team
has
to
accept,
the
truth
is
we
haven't
done
well
at
all.
We've
accepted
that.
The
second
part
is,
it's
very
easy
to
do
better
when
you're
in
the
eighth
position
with
only
eight
teams
you
can't
go
worse
than
this.
So
we
are
going
to
do
better.
I
think
what
we
tried
to
do
is
get
the
Indian
part
of
the
team
stronger.
I
think
the
senior
guys
like
Ishant
and
Ganguly,
they
just
need
to
get
into
the
groove.
I
think
the
main
thing
the
coach
and
Dada
have
brought
in
this
time
is
the
fact
we
training
the
young
guys
just
to
make
them
enjoy
themselves.
20/20
needs
to
be
enjoyed,
when
you
see
a
Matthew
Hayden
play,
he's
enjoying
himself.
I
sense
that.
You
have
to
enjoy
it.
You
can't
just
have
the
test
match
pressure
on
your
head.
Or
the
one-day
pressure
on
your
head.
You
need
to
go
and
enjoy
yourself.
Have
a
good
time.
So
yesterday
when
the
team
was
leaving,
somebody
turned
around,
one
of
the
managers
and
said
we
have
to
win
only
seven
or
eight
and
if
we
only
lose
five.
And
I
said
we
can't
lose
anymore.
We've
lost
too
many.
We've
lost
for
the
next
four
years.
So
I
think
we'll
do
better.
I
think
we
will
do
much
better
this
year.
Let's
discuss
movies
now,
and
specifically
My
Name
Is
Khan
in
which
you
play
an
autistic
Muslim
in
America
post
9/11.
The
film's
done
great
and
particularly
well
in
Islamic
countries,
is
that
your
intention.
Were
you
trying
to
appeal
to
most
of
the
Muslim
audience?
The
fact
that,
you
said
it
so
well
and
it
was
a
convoluted
plot,
an
autistic
Muslim
man
in
America
post
9/11,
when
you
put
it
so
simply
it
sounds
so
complicated.
No,
you
make
a
film,
normally
for
a
universal
audience,
the
kind
of
films
that
I
do
especially
I
would
like
everyone
to
see
them.
Within
them,
I'll
try
to
put
in
something
different
that
appeals
maybe,
if
you
do
hockey,
maybe
the
hockey
guys
and
girls
will
like
it
more.
You
do
it
about
a
bad
guy
recently,
so
when
you
do
that
thing
and
the
youngsters
like
all
the
bad
stuff,
cool
stuff.
So,
they
like
it.
But
the
intention
was
never
like
that.
I
do
remember
the
wonderful
distributor
Fox,
they
were
going
to
say
we'll
release
in
UAE,
and
we'll
release
it
in
Morocco
like
this,
and
Indonesia
and
Malaysia
and
I
said
"why
are
they
doing
it
so
specifically".
Maybe
they
understood
the
spot
much
better
than
we
did
because
yes,
it's
record
breaking
in
the
Muslim
countries,
I
never
thought
it
would
have
been
like
that.
I
really
thought
the
film
was
about
humanity.
Yeah,
this
was
the
latest
collaboration
between
you
and
director
Karan
Johar,
you've
worked
together
on
countless
movies
but
you're
also
best
mates
away
from
the
set.
What
is
it
do
you
think
that
some
sort
of
magic
formula
you
have
seems
that
helps
you
two
work
together
so
well?
I
think
the
first
thing
is
that's
trust.
I
gave
him
a
book
the
"Curious
Incident
of
the
Dog
in
the
Night" and
I
said
you
should
make
a
film
with
a
little
kid
who's
autistic
and
a
story
of
a
father
and
a
son.
Obviously
assuming
if
you
took
me
as
a
father
and
a
little
child
who's
autistic.
And
then
he
came
up
with
the
script
with
me
as
autistic
with
this
whole
plot.
And
I'm
like
"this
is
a
little
strange"
because
when
you
make
a
film
with
me,
as
far
as
Karan
and
me
are
concerned,
we
normally
make
a
little
more
commercially
viable
films.
But
he
said
no,
this
is
what
I
want
to
do.
So
I
trust
him,
I
trust
him
completely.
One
of
the
things
that
got
a
lot
of
publicity
for
the
movie
was
when
you
were
detained
by
US
immigration
which
in
a
way
which
mirrors
a
scene
in
My
Name
Is
Khan
when
you
say
"my
name
is
Khan
and
I'm
not
a
terrorist" to
have
it
play
out
like
that
in
real
life,
there
was
a
lot
of
press
on
it,
what
was
it
like
from
your
standpoint?
It
happens
to
me
every
month,
whenever
I
travel
to
the
western
world
because
of
the
name.
But
it's
not
only
me.
There
are
another
75
people
in
that
line.
It
happens
to
my
kids.
And
I
say
this
again
and
again.
I
have
no
issue.
I
have
no
issue
with
it
personally
because
this
is
the
world
that
we
have
created.
This
is
how
it
is.
I
think
what
happened
that
day
was
that
it
took
a
little
longer.
This
was
at
the
immigration
for
the
first
time
-
normally
it
happens
at
the
security.
I
think
the
processes
just
went
wrong
and
it
took
a
couple
of
hours.
I
had
to
call
the
Indian
Consulate
because
I
had
a
meeting
in
Atlantic
City,
if
I
got
caught
up
here,
there
was
no
point
me
going
all
the
way
to
America.
So
I
asked
"can
you
get
me
out
of
here",
so
I
think
it
just
went
out
to
the
press
and
we
have
reached
a
stage
in
India
and
I
think
rightly
so,
when
a
developing
nation
is
on
the
threshold
on
coming
out
and
Inshallah
taking
over
the
whole
world
-
in
terms
of
economics,
in
terms
of
politics,
in
terms
of
business,
I
think
certainly
we
have
a
voice.
We've
been
pushed,
all
developing
nations,
I'm
not
just
saying
India
and
suddenly
we
have
a
voice
in
the
world
which
matters
and
sometimes
that
voice
is
a
little
louder
than
it
should
be.
So
anytime
anything
goes
wrong
with
Indians
anywhere
in
the
world,
you
notice
all
Indians
get
up.
Not
on
the
outside.
It
happened
when
the
Shiv
Sena
thing
happened
-
all
the
Indians
came
and
said
"no,
this
is
wrong".
I'm
really
glad
we
have
a
voice
like
that,
and
that's
what
happened
"they
stopped
Shah
Rukh,
how
dare
they"
and
I
was
joking
about
it
until
about
half
a
day
actually,
and
I
even
joked
that
when
the
American
Hollywood
actresses
come
that
I
should
be
given
the
right
to
frisk
them
in
India.
I
want
to
be
the
first
guy.
It's
only
fair.
You
did
say
you
wanted
My
Name
is
Khan
to
be
a
global
hit
like
Slumdog
Millionaire.
You
could
have
been
in
Slumdog
Millionaire.
You
got
offered
the
role
of
the
quiz
show
host
but
you
turned
it
down
and
Anil
Kapoor
got
it.
Do
you
beat
yourself
over
that
decision?
No,
I
really
wanted
that
film
to
be
made.
I'd
read
the
Indian
novel.
I'd
bought
it.
I
wanted
to
make
it
myself
but
an
Indian
film.
When
I
read
the
script,
I
knew
they'd
made
a
much
better
film
than
I
could
ever.
Why
didn't
you
want
part
of
that
fantastic
film
then?
One,
I'm
not
offered
many
great
films;
honestly,
I
don't
have
an
agent
for
stuff
in
the
west.
Also,
I'd
hosted
"Who
Wants
To
Be
A
Millionaire".
Here
the
host
was
a
bit
of
a
fixer.
I
only
fixed
"Who
Wants
to
be
a
Millionaire" in
a
way
that
I
felt
bad
for
the
people
and
I'll
like
"listen
why
don't
you
retire
now,
don't
don't,
this
looks
like
a
difficult
question.
So
you've
got
half
a
million
dollars,
go
back
relax"
then
they
say
"no
we
want
to
play"
and
I'm
like
"can
we
go
for
a
break".
I
used
to
feel
really
bad
and
I'm
not
allowed
to
say
anything
but
I
know
this
question's
a
little
difficult
young
man.
So,
I
just
felt
that
I
had
so
much
fun
doing
it
personally
that
I
didn't
want
to
be
on
the
side
where
I
take
the
guy
into
the
loo
and
say
"I
can
fix
this
for
you".
I
didn't
want
to
be
the
bad
guy
because
I
won't
do
it
like
that.