Pakistani origin actor Alyy Khan, who now lives in the UK, has worked regularly in Bollywood and recalled his experience working with Shah Rukh Khan in the movie Don 2. In a recent podcast appearance, the actor remembered how SRK overacted in a scene, which caused concern on set.
SRK’s overacting in DON 2
Alyy Khan narrated that Shah Rukh Khan had just flown in from London, where he was working on the film Ra. One, and because of this, he hadn’t remembered his lines for the elaborate scene in Don 2 that they were supposed to film in Berlin. The film was directed by Farhan Akhtar, who Alyy called a childhood friend.
Alyy recalled how Shah Rukh went carless about his lines in the script and randomly executed a dialogue.
“It’s obvious that since I’m doing a scene with Shah Rukh, I’ve memorized my lines. But because Shah Rukh has been busy, he hasn’t been able to memorize his. The shoot began and Shah Rukh put on his glasses and said that we should get through it quickly because he was hungry. So, we read the scene, but I could see the others through my peripheral vision. Right at the end of the scene, Shah Rukh went off-script and added a line, and I could see Farhan silently shaking his head.” Reported Indian Express.
Giving the audience what they need
When they were done, Shah Rukh got up to go for lunch, but Farhan stopped him and said, “Shah, can I request one thing of you? That line you added at the end… Can we do the scene as it was written in the script?” But Shah Rukh looked at Farhan and said, “Abey saale, Don kaun hai? Shah Rukh Khan hai na? Public ko Shah Rukh Khan dekhna hai (Who is Don?, It’s me, Shah Rukh Khan. The Public wants to see me”. Relax, don’t worry about it.” Alyy took Farhan to the side and told him, “Abhi toh tera aaya hai number one, edit tere haath mein hai, usse jo karna hai karne de. (Now it’s your turn, it’s up to you with the editing, let him do whatever he wants)”
Later, when they were on set and ready to shoot the scene, Shah Rukh retained his new line. Alyy said that he exchanged a silent look with Farhan, who indicated to him that he will address it.
Alyy exchanged a silent look with Farhan. “I was like, ‘Farhan, He is doing ‘k-k-k-Kiran’. Tell him, man, what is he doing? If we want to do this 90s-style overacting, we can do it.” But I was giving a more grounded performance; we weren’t on the same page. I was laughing during the rehearsal, but if you do it on set, then that’s what’ll be in the film. So, I needed to bring my performance to his level…”
Alyy finally admitted that every star is a star for a reason and that Shah Rukh had created his persona over many years. “This is what he was trying to say; that if he doesn’t give the public Shah Rukh Khan, they’d feel robbed,” he said.
