'For him what's important is relationships, his role, and, of course, the script.'
Rediff celebrates Shah Rukh Khan's 60th birthday on November 2 with a special series that introduces us to the man behind the superstar.
Shah Rukh Khan and Producer Ratan Jain have collaborated on five superhit films: Baazigar, Baadshah, Yes Boss, Josh and Main Hoon Naa.
"Today, Shah Rukh has everything he could ask for -- name, fame, money," Jain tells Rediff Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya. "Not that money was ever a criterion; he only discussed it with me once, when I first went to him with Baazigar."
'He agreed immediately, saying, "I'm the best choice for this role"'
My first meeting with Shah Rukh was by the poolside of Mumbai's Sea Rock hotel where I sketched out his role in Baazigar to him.
I had taken it first to Boney Kapoor who had pointed out that his brother Anil Kapoor was playing the good guy in several Hindi films being produced down South at the time and couldn't risk his career playing a 'villain'.
I then approached Salim Khan, for his son Salman.
Salimsaab not only turned down the offer, but even advised me not to make the film.
That's when I saw some of the rushes of the songs of Raj Kanwar's Deewana whose music rights we had bought.
Though his character in the film, Raja, is very different from Baazigar's Ajay/Vicky, I thought Shah Rukh was apt for the role.
He agreed immediately, saying confidently, 'I'm the best choice for this role, no one can play it better.'
I called my director duo, Abbasbhai and Mustanbhai, and told them to meet Shah Rukh, who had confirmed he was doing our film, and gave him a more detailed narration.
The performance fetched him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.
After the phenomenal success of Baazigar, I repeated the trio of Abbas, Mustan and Shah Rukh in Baadshah, a comic thriller which was very different from the earlier revenge drama.
Back then, we didn't work with bound scripts and writer Neeraj Vora, who was a busy man, kept writing and we kept shooting.
Baadshah did really well commercially and continues to be a big draw on TV primarily because of the comic scenes.
'I remember Shah Rukh playing the piano on a truck'
Yes Boss, another superhit, was a pleasant production because Aziz Mirza is a very good director.
It is an unconventional love story inspired by Michael J Fox's 1993 romantic comedy For Love or Money.
Shah Rukh has always been a brave actor.
If there's something new in the script and he likes the character, he will do the film even if it doesn't follow the straight and narrow path.
Jatin-Lalit's musical score was extraordinary and Aziz bhai picturised songs like Ek Din Aap Yun Humko Mil Jayenge and Chand Taare beautifully and innovatively.
I remember Shah Rukh playing the piano on a truck as it drove down Bandra's Carter Road to the tunes of Chand Taare.
Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaaon, another chartbuster, bagged Abhijeet Bhattacharya Filmfare's coveted Black Lady for Best Playback Singer (Male).
'I took the role of Max to Salman who was excited, but...'
Josh was planned with Aamir Khan as Rahul and Shah Rukh as Max, two characters who are poles apart.
One day, Aamir told Mansoor Khan, his cousin and the film's director, that he wanted to play Max.
When Mansoor confided in me, I pointed out that Shah Rukh had already been confirmed for the role.
Aamir, the brilliant actor that he is, might well have pulled off Max while playing him differently, but I had always visualised Shah Rukh as this character and him as Rahul.
Meanwhile, Shah Rukh suggested to me that we have a joint narration with Aamir and Mansoor.
The three of us were already seated in the room when Shah Rukh entered, saying, 'Okay, let's start.'
At that point, Mansoor told him Aamir wanted to play Max.
Immediately, Shah Rukh got to his feet, and saying he wasn't doing the film, walked out.
Eventually, Aamir also exited the project and I took the role of Max to Salman who was excited.
But he told me I would have to wait a year for him to wrap up the films he was already committed to before we could roll with Josh.
While we were waiting, he got into talks with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and after that, I could see Salman's interest in Josh waning though he never said anything directly to me.
It was understandable given that he was playing Aishwarya's brother in our film while he was opposite her in Sanjay's love story.
'I had Akshaye Khanna and Saif in mind for Rahul'
By then, Josh had become a must-do film for me and I returned to Shah Rukh, who had always been my first choice for Max.
He told me he needed time to think, but got back within a day to inform me that he was doing the film.
His dates were blocked for Yes Boss, but since that was also our film, I sat with Azizbhai and we worked things out amicably.
Shah Rukh asked me who was playing Rahul.
I had Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan in mind for the role of Aishwarya's lover in Josh, but the director eventually opted for Chandrachur Singh.
Mansoor returned as a director with Josh after a hiatus of five years.
'We do talk about collaborating on a Baazigar sequel'
Four years after Josh, we released Main Hoon Na, jointly produced by Shah Rukh's wife Gauri Khan and us, under our respective banners, Red Chillies Entertainment and Venus Movies.
Debutante director Farah Khan had taken the idea to Shah Rukh and he was ready to produce the film.
He was looking for a partner to collaborate with and asked me if I was interested.
I told him, 'Wherever there is Shah Rukh Khan, I want to be there.'
During our earlier films together, I would be on the set all day, every day, but this time, with Shah Rukh's company handling the production and him so pro-active, I just attended one schedule in Darjeeling.
Like all our films, this one too had fantastic songs composed by Anu Malik and Main Hoon Na was one of the highest selling Bollywood albums of the year.
We haven't collaborated after that because most of Shah Rukh's films since have either been produced by him or directors like Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Farhan Akhtar.
We do talk about collaborating on a Baazigar sequel, but we need a good script first.
Today, Shah Rukh has everything he could ask for -- name, fame, money.
Not that money was ever a criterion; he only discussed it with me once, when I first went to him with Baazigar.
I have worked with several good actors whose primary consideration for doing a film is their remuneration, but Shah Rukh doesn't work for money.
For him what's important is relationships, his role, and, of course, the script.
For us to make a sixth film together, we will need not just a script, but a killer script.