When Shah Rukh Khan admitted he restrains himself from talking about issues in public, feels like venting ‘bhadaas’

An excerpt from Shah Rukh Khan’s appearance on a podcast hosted by the now-defunct comedy collective AIB is being shared online. Many of his fans are viewing the arrest of his son, Aryan Khan, as being retaliation for something that he did. 

Aryan was detained by the Narcotics Control Bureau on a Goa-bound cruise ship last week. He has since been in the custody of the authorities, and his bail hearing has been deferred to Wednesday.

In the podcast, Shah Rukh said that he sometimes wishes he is able to scream his true feelings about current affairs issues from the rooftops, but has learned to gag himself to avoid trouble.

Co-host Tanmay Bhat asked Shah Rukh how he feels when he becomes ‘the news of the day’ for something he hasn’t even done or commented on. Shah Rukh replied, “So I’ll tell you, I wake up like this in the morning. So last night, there was some news about the honourable president Donald Trump, he’d done something in America, I don’t know what it was, but something was happening. I don’t want to mention any ethnic or religious groups, but something was happening. So I’m lying down, and I wake up in the morning, and my first thought… I have nothing to do with that world, I don’t even think I have a valid visa, and I may never get it after this… I pick up my phone, and I used to be very fast – King of Bollywood – but now I wake up and think, ‘Kaunsa king, kaunsa Bollywood?’ And then my hand goes automatically to my phone. And prayers are happening inside, in every language. I pray to every God, ‘I have nothing to do with what has happened in America today, I hope not’.”

Shah Rukh continued humorously, making sure to note just how cautious he has to be in the public. He said that just recently, some filmmakers spoke about someone who had been ‘violated’ in the ‘north’, and even though he hadn’t commented on the matter publicly, he realised that he was a trending topic on social media. The annotation at the bottom of the video noted that Shah Rukh was making a reference to the attack on director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, while he was shooting Padmaavat.

“I made no comment, I made my personal love known to the person who was involved in this activity that may have happened up north somewhere due to whatever, and I genuinely went and checked. And it was about me suddenly, about me sending some gangster and some bad guy, and I’m like, ‘Why, why, why?’”

Asked by Tanmay if he feels like venting frustrating, Shah Rukh said that ‘there are some days’ when he ‘genuinely’ feels like screaming to the world, “Haan! Haan, maine kiya hai! Haan, maine yeh bhi bola tha! Haan, aur main yeh bhi bol raha hoon, aur haan main Shah Rukh hoon! (Yes! Yes, I did it! And yes, I said that, too! And I’m also saying this! And yes, I’m Shah Rukh!)”

Also read: Shah Rukh Khan has always been there for those who needed help: Bollywood stands up for Aryan Khan

Several of his industry colleagues have voiced their support for him. Hrithik Roshan wrote an open letter addressed to Aryan, his ex-wife Sussanne Khan took on columnist Shobhaa De, Pooja Bhatt, Hansal Mehta, Vishal Dadlani and many others have also posted messages on social media, in solidarity with Shah Rukh and his family. Director Sanjay Gupta on Sunday tweeted, “I am a father. My son is 10yrs old. God forbid he has to pay the the price for my beliefs. So not f****n fair!”