Get fewer choices due to my superstar status: SRK

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says filmmakers do not offer him variety of roles as they have a perception about him, thanks to his stardom.

"Stardom hasn't restricted me but it is sometimes awkward to say that being in this position, the choices are fewer," Shah Rukh said at the launch of his biography, "SRK: 25 Years Of a life", here last night.

"I sit with different directors and they say, 'We will make a big film!' so, even before I start working, the film becomes big and I say, 'Let's just make a film!' and it goes out of hands sometimes and everybody wants the film to be big," he said.

When asked if being a superstar restricts him, the 51-year-old actor admitted that commerce is something that stars cannot remain untouched from but he, on his part, has always tried to not change his approach towards work.

"It is a good excuse to make. If not excuse, then a good reason because people say that stardom takes things out of you as an actor, and yes somewhere it happens that when you become a star you have little issues (about) Rs 100 crore, 200 crore. Howsoever, we remain untouched from this; it does come to our mind. You are in a business and hence, business remains in your head.

"But I would still like to believe that whenever I have got an opportunity, like a 'Fan' or a 'Chak De! India', I have never questioned it. I have never designed a film for myself. Limitations also come from the people who you work with."

The actor said that people prefer making an out-and-out commercial film with him and though he does not blame them, he does feel this approach puts limitations on him.

"A lot of people will offer me a film saying, 'Why should we make an off-beat film with you, let's make a commercial movie.' I am not blaming them; it is a good thought because if I sell, then selling me is but natural.

"I can't be two-faced about it because even I sell many things. It's a business finally. Having said that, I have tried to maintain some kind of balance. Earlier, I had nothing to lose, so, I did a lot of things and didn't question them but now may be I don't, but people around me question, 'Will this work? Should you do another love story?' I don't listen to them," he said.

Shah Rukh's biography has been penned by former journalist Samar Khan and it contains interviews of the directors Shah Rukh has worked with in the 25 years of his career, from Aditya Chopra to Abbas-Mustan.

At the launch, Samar pointed out that something which all the filmmakers mentioned about Shah Rukh was the fact that he never questioned their vision and believed in them, despite his own knowledge of the craft and position in the industry.

To which, Shah Rukh said, "There are two things —- belief in the filmmaker because film is a director's medium, we see the movie through his eyes and the second part is the belief in yourself that whatever the director gives me, I will do it to the best of my abilities.

"I find it very wrong when actors turn around and say, 'My character won't say these lines.' That's your character, you are the maker of it. I can do anything. If my director asks me to do a somersault during an emotional scene, I will do that. I will make it believable because I am an actor."

SRK further said that for someone to retain purity as an actor throughout his or her career, it is important to understand that the art is bigger than the artists.

"My mother was a very social person and whosoever she met, she used to be like him or her. She would talk to a worker like a worker and an army officer in his way. That's how actors should be. Whosoever they sit with, they should become like them.

"There's a Manoj Kumar song, which I hold dearly as an actor — 'Paani re paani tera rang kaisa, jismei milado us jaisa'. So, an actor is just like water. I believe the art is important, the artist is not. In the end, what remain will be Rahul, Raj (his on screen characters), I won't," he said.