'There Can't Be Another Shah Rukh Khan'

    by Subhash K. Jha

      MUIMBAI(IANS) - After being selected to play the lead lovelorn legend in Sanjay Bhansali's proposed adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's Bengali classic novel 'Devdas', Shah Rukh Khan has agreed to play the historical figure of emperor Asoka of 200 B.C., who spread Buddhism in the subcontinent.
Shah Rukh, who is currently recuperating at his home in central Mumbai after a multiple knee and ankle operation, says the film will be unlike other period films. Director-cinematographer Santosh Sivan, who directed the multiple award-winning feature film 'Terrorist' and also shot Shah Rukh's first home production 'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani', is going to direct the film for Dreamz Unlimited, the company jointly owned by Shah Rukh, Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza.
Says Shah Rukh, ""I know people will jump at the idea of Shah Rukh Khan in a period film. But we have something different in mind.""
Shah Rukh, who plans to stay at home until his second baby is born in June, has only one unfinished project, Shashilal Nair's 'One Two Ka Four', on hand.
Extremely annoyed, though by no means shaken, by various press reports linking him to the murdered business tycoon Ashraf Patel and comparisons with latest hearthrob Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh dismisses the matter as being of little consequence. ""With due respect to Hrithik, Salman, Aamir and all my colleagues, no one takes my place. There cannot be another Shah Rukh Khan,"" he says.
Laughs Shah Rukh, ""It's so stupid. Every year since I came into films someone or the other is said to be overtaking me. When I came I was a nobody. In some ways I'm still a nobody. So overtaking me is no big deal. The achievement is not in removing Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan, but in being Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan.""
Shah Rukh says comparing actors is a futile endeavour. ""Salman, Aamir Khan and I together cannot equal Amitabh Bachchan. At the same time all three of us have our own places. No one should try to take my place. To have another Shah Rukh Khan would be boring and repetitive,"" he says.
With prestigious assignments on the anvil with bright young directors like choreographer Farha Khan, cinematographer Sivan and old friends Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan is certainly not in a hurry to vacate the top slot in filmdom, which he has secured over the last nine years by being in the biggest box office bonanzas of the '90s including 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge', 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Baazigar', 'Karan Arjun' and 'Dil To Pagal Hai'."

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