I Love Being a Star: Shah Rukh on ‘Zero’, Stardom and Social Media

Find out what SRK, Katrina do on social media!

Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif get candid while promoting Zero.

(Photo: The Quint)

Ahead of the release of the much anticipated Zero, The Quint caught up with Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif who candidly spoke about the difficulties they encountered in making the film, dealing with the pressures of stardom and the wrath of social media. Shah Rukh plays Bauua Singh in the film, a vertically challenged man.

When asked about the preparation that went into the character, he said, “The aim of the film is to celebrate equality so I wasn’t really viewing him as someone different. In terms of the VFX there were a lot of aspects that had to be taken care of and we modelled it on this guy called Ashish, so that we would have an idea about the height difference between the characters.”

But was the massive employment of VFX around them a deterrent to the acting process?

I think the VFX team also realised that they had to just let us be, even though they are just doing their job. Aanand, Himanshu and myself don’t really have a plan as such, that we could pre-visualise the scene earlier. Acting is often free flowing and we wanted it to be like that, and so luckily for us the VFX team also understood that. 

Shah Rukh Khan, actor

Katrina though did find it a little challenging, and had to be mindful of certain actions. She said, “I remember Shah Rukh would say can you be a little farther in this scene or look in that direction so it’s just easier for the VFX team, and I did find that a little tricky. But Aanand sir’s focus is eventually on the story so you get used to that.”

They also spoke about their social media usage, which in Shah Rukh’s words is extremely limited.

“I’m interested in talking to people, but not really knowing about their daily lives through social media. I also hate wishing people on their birthday on it. If I want to wish you, I’ll call you and hug you,” says Shah Rukh.

I’d only heard that most people are charmed after an interaction with SRK, but I can now vouch for that. Detailed answers and continuous eye contact, he’s an interviewer’s delight.

Zero releases on 21 December. Directed by Aanand L Rai, it stars Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif.

Camera: Sanjoy Deb

Assistant Camera Person: Gautam Sharma

Video Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan