Congratulations on winning the IPL. Gautam Gambhir has done a super job. Gautam is a very sensible and disciplined captain who is very clear about what he wants. When I went for the auctions, he said, ‘We have a fantastically-balanced team but I want Sunil Narine.’ Personally too, he is at a point in his career where he is instinctively taking all the right decisions.
Is the win comparable to a film release?
It’s a different feeling altogether. Neither is good unless the film becomes a hit or you win the final. But the difference is that in a film, I am participating actively. I know what has gone into it, or whether I like it or dislike it.
But for me, an IPL final is comparable to something like this: if you multiply it 10 times to India playing in a final against any other team. And you feel like your team is India (smiles).
How did you feel when KKR won?
Someone said that I had become insane and I am going through a mid-life crisis and cut a sorry figure. And I was insane enough that moment, when I was standing on that balcony. I swear on my children — I got up on that balcony [to jump off] and I would have been the first human to fly!
I knew that if I could take off from that balcony, I would be able to fly to where they were putting up the victory stand, and land safely. And I really wanted to fly. And then my sister, Gauri and Suhana caught me. And I was very angry with them. I told them, ‘You have taken away my chance to show the world that I can fly.’
Do you regret the MCA incident?
I am not justifying my action. I am really very sorry for my kids. I didn’t go to Wankhede as a team owner. I went there to pick up my kids. And I wasn’t abusing a little girl and I don’t. I will abuse a grown-up man and I did. But you can’t say immoral and non-secular things to me ever, because my kids have not grown up like that.
But you have been angry…
I got angry and disturbed and thought, ‘Okay, I will win the IPL because people feel I don’t know how to run a company.’ And people also said that suddenly, there’s a chink in King Khan’s armour.
But I want to tell people I didn’t say that I can do no wrong. I have never claimed to do the right kind of things and make politically correct statements. Sometimes, I feel the reason I have become a star beyond my films is that I am politically incorrect.
Why do you think people are writing or talking about you badly?
It’s boring now that I’m successful. Even for journalists. Look at Dhoni, he is a great captain and cricketer. He is a dream guy from a small town. So one day he does everything fine, with a big swimming pool on the terrace, lot of ads and money. And in the last four-five months, he isn’t good enough. Sachin Tendulkar, for me, is the perfect human being. Not me.
Why do you think people are writing or talking about you badly?
It’s boring now that I’m successful. Even for journalists. Look at Dhoni, he is a great captain and cricketer. He is a dream guy from a small town. So one day he does everything fine, with a big swimming pool on the terrace, lot of ads and money. And in the last four-five months, he isn’t good enough. Sachin Tendulkar, for me, is the perfect human being. Not me.
Do you feel Suhana is lucky for you? Where was Aryan during the matches?
Suhana is lucky because she is my daughter. Aryan had exams. He is like me. If you break his heart over something, he gives up. He feels like, ‘Arrey what kind of team is this? It doesn’t win.’ When you get too heartbroken, you simply move on.
So he moved on. Now he has a different take on it. He says, ‘Because I moved on, they won.’ So I asked him if he would come [to the matches] next year. And he said, ‘No, papa, I will keep moving on so that they keep winning.’ He has made a great sacrifice to keep moving on.
The family man
He may look a little worn out and exhausted after all the celebrations to mark KKR’s victory, but his famous energy levels are still going strong. Even though King Khan’s detractors have been hard on him in the recent past, he remains cool and calm with his family at least. You get a glimpse of SRK the family man when his daughter Suhana demands that he teach her maths for her test on Friday.
“I have to go to the dentist, but I will teach you. You don’t sleep,” SRK tells Suhana.
On the other hand, his wife Gauri insists that he leaves soon for his appointment with the dentist.
“I am a superstar and the entire world revolves around me except my dentist,” laughs SRK.
He also confesses that he wrote a long piece at 5 am the morning after KKR’s win.
“I keep writing whenever I am sitting alone. One day I think I will start my own tabloid,” he jokes.