90s style overacting: British-Pakistani actor Alyy Khan recalls SRK going off script in 'Don 2'

British actor Alyy Khan, who is of Pakistani origin but has worked regularly in Bollywood, recalled his experience working with Shah Rukh Khan on the film Don 2. In a recent podcast appearance, the actor remembered how the superstar arrived on set in Berlin, and proceeded to go off-script in a scene, which caused concern on set, reported The Indian Express.

Alyy revealed that Shah Rukh had just flown in from London, where he was working on the film Ra.One, because of which he was yet to memorise his lines for the elaborate scene that they were supposed to film together in Berlin. As the day progressed, Alyy was summoned to Farhan’s trailer for a quick read-through with Shah Rukh. 

Speaking about the same, he said, “It’s obvious that since I’m doing a scene with Shah Rukh, I’ve memorised my lines. But because Shah Rukh has been busy, he hasn’t been able to memorise his. We hugged, sat down across from each other, and on my left, all the heads of department had gathered. Shah Rukh put on his glasses and said that we should get through them 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.” Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, a close friend of Alyy, directed Don 2.

Alyy recalled that when they were done, Shah Rukh got up to go for lunch when 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. Relax, don’t worry about it (Who is Don? Shah Rukh, right? The public wants to see Shah Rukh Khan).”

Alyy revealed he exchanged a silent look with Farhan. “I was like, ‘Farhan, bata isko, yeh toh k-k-k-Kiran kar raha hai’. Kaunse school mein aagaye hain hum bhai? Ya toh hum uss 90s ke school mein khelein, ya toh aaj ke modern zamane mein (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.”

Meanwhile, Alyy admitted that every star is a star for a reason, and that Shah Rukh had developed 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, describing SRK as a ‘super-intelligent guy’.

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