I would love to go back to theatre: Shah Rukh

The star reminisces about the days he acted in plays and says he would love to go back to the stage and perform live.

GURGAON: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who started his career as a theatre artist, reminisces about the days he acted in plays in Delhi and says he would love to go back to the stage and perform live.

“I started my career from theatre and later went on to acting in television and then films. We used to perform plays at the Kamani Auditorium, which was at that time considered to be one of the biggest theatres. If given a chance I would love to go back to the stage and perform in front of a live audience. I love to interact with people,” he told reporters at the launch of Nautanki Mahal in the Kingdom of Dreams.

The actor has been named the global brand ambassador of Kingdom of Dreams, located in Gurgaon. He added, “I would just like to say that whatever we do in theatre, it should not be considered secondary or taken lightly. We need to give at least six to seven months and produce a quality product. In the west, film actors completely dedicate themselves to theatre whenever they get a chance to perform. We need to have the same dedication here also.”

Currently, the Bollywood superstar is working on his newest film Ra.One which he says is dedicated to all fathers from around the globe. Khan has taken on the role of a super hero for the film and hopes that his children will enjoy watching him in this new role which will show him doing daredevil stunts.

“Ra.One is a simple story of a father and a son. There have been a lot of movies and songs dedicated to mothers but unfortunately, fathers are ignored. Being a father myself and a part of cinema, I decided to give them all some space through my film,” Khan told reporters. “The film is dedicated to all the fathers in the world. I hope this film will help bring fathers at the front and make me a hero in the eyes of my son,” he added. The actor has two children, son Aryan, 13, and daughter Suhana, 10, with his wife Gauri Khan and lost his own father 30 years ago to cancer. Khan posted a comment on Sunday via Twitter saying “Thirty years ago this day my dad died. Never said what I should be. I want to be a gentle and funny father more than any other title. Miss him lots.”

Ra.One is a science-fiction superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha. Apart from Khan, the film also stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal and has been produced under Khan’s production banner, Red Chillies Entertainment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2010.