One Thing SRK Is “Not Great At” According To Farhan Akhtar: A ‘Don’ Shoot Anecdote You Can’t Miss
Farhan Akhtar recently shared interesting anecdotes about Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.
Filmmaker-actor Farhan Akhtar, who has directed two of Bollywood’s biggest icons – Shah Rukh Khan in the ‘Don’ franchise and Aamir Khan in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ – recently opened up about his unique experiences working with both superstars. In a candid interaction, he shared untold stories ranging from failed casting attempts to hilarious on-set mishaps.
Speaking to Mid-Day, Farhan addressed whether Shah Rukh ever questioned him about not being cast in the cult classic ‘Dil Chahta Hai’. Farhan clarified, “He didn’t ask me why he was not in the film because I did try to reach out to him during that time, and I couldn’t get in touch with him. So he didn’t ask me that question.”
While the two had crossed paths earlier due to Farhan’s mother, writer Honey Irani (who wrote SRK’s ‘Darr’), their first formal meeting happened at the ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ screening. However, their true friendship blossomed later in New Delhi.
Farhan Akhtar revealed that he truly bonded with SRK while shooting for ‘Lakshya’ in Delhi. Coincidentally, Shah Rukh was also in the city visiting family and friends – both SRK and Gauri Khan hail from the capital.
“For Lakshya, we once shot at a restaurant in Delhi, and that was owned by Shah Rukh’s childhood friend. We would hang out at the restaurant. It was a really nice time,” Farhan recalled. It was during these dinners that Farhan, fascinated by SRK’s “magnetic and charming” persona, expressed his desire to collaborate, which eventually paved the way for the ‘Don’ series.
While Farhan praised SRK’s many talents, he humorously pointed out the one thing the superstar is terrible at: giving massages.
Recalling an incident from the final schedule of the first ‘Don’ in Paris, Farhan shared that he was suffering from “director’s fatigue” and a frozen neck. SRK stepped in to help, offering a massage and some medicine, promising, “Tomorrow morning, it will all be gone.”
“On the set of the first Don, I realised Shah Rukh is incredible at many things, but there is one thing that he is not great at… One day, when we were shooting in Paris, it was the last schedule and I got director’s fatigue. I got severe neck pain and my entire shoulder and neck were frozen,” Farhan said.
He continued, “SRK made me sit down, and he told me that he would do a massage on my neck that would ease out the pain. He did the massage, and he gave me a medicine. ‘Tomorrow morning, it will all be gone,’ he told me.”
The result was quite the opposite. “The next day, I could not even move my neck in the other direction,” Farhan laughed. “I told him ‘Thanks. That was super.’ He’s good at many many things, but not at deep tissue massages.”
Farhan also shared a valuable lesson he learned from Aamir Khan. The actor had postponed the ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ shoot to complete ‘Lagaan’, giving Farhan a 9-10 month gap. Farhan used this time to "tinker" with and rewrite the script.
However, when Aamir returned and heard the new draft, he rejected it immediately, insisting on filming the original version.
“I had 9–10 months to kill, so I was tinkering with the script. When Aamir came back from Lagan shoot, he wanted to hear the script again, and I narrated the new draft to him and he insisted on hearing the narration of the original script and only went with the old version,” he said.
Farhan recalled Aamir’s advice: “He told me, ‘When writers and directors have more time in their hand, they think that they can improve things, but if you have written something, it is good, leave it, don’t let your mind get ahead of you.’”
On the work front, Farhan Akhtar was recently seen acting in ‘120 Bahadur’ and is gearing up to return to the director’s chair for ‘Don 3’, starring Ranveer Singh.
