Bigg Boss is not my cup of tea: Shah Rukh Khan

The first TV star to have truly made it big in Bollywood, SRK stands as a towering inspiration for TV actors looking to make the jump. Two and half decades later, he reminisces about the "good old TV days" as he readies to host &TV's new quiz show - India Poochega Sabse Shaana Kaun!
It's 2 am and he has just wrapped a shoot. Ever energetic he keenly talks about his new stint with IPSSK, explaining why he won't ever do a Bigg Boss or turn a judge on a reality show...

You're one of few actors to successfully make the transition from TV star to Bollywood star...
If that's the case, I'm also the only guy who came from films to television and hasn't succeeded again. So I need to succeed at TV because that's where it all started. With all due respect to KBC and Paanchvi Paas and Wipeout, I don't think I have been able to recreate the magic of Fauji or Dil Dariya or Ummeed or Wagle Ki Duniya or Circus again.

From Fauji to India Poochega Sabse Shanaa Kaun, Indian TV today has undergone a complete paradigm shift. Are you aware of it?
Obviously. Unfortunately or fortunately, though, I am bound by the fact that I like to do a certain kind of television. It may be fiction, which I don't know if that will ever happen. If that's non-fiction, I like the question-answer type. I am not very turned on by the other reality shows. The shows are really wonderful, but I am not turned on by the idea of hosting it. Somewhere down the line I need to understand. I have a team- the &TV team that tells me - 'Look, we need to do it like this'. Now that is not my forte - knowing what the market is like. So I try my best knowing it from the people I work with. But I hope that someday, I can re-create the magic of Fauji one day, Inshallah!

You love the Q&A format of the game, but it has not worked for you previously. India Poochega has a novel concept. Do you think it will help you redeem yourself on television?
I don't do any work for redemption. Having said that, if you keep doing something long enough and are good enough with the passion that you have and the hard work that you put in, it will work one day. It cannot go wrong. This is what my experiences have made me believe. So I have worked for 25 years and when I made films, I went wrong. When I became a producer, I went wrong. It might sound arrogant but it's absolutely not that way. But then I went on to make few of the biggest films made in Bollywood after having made some films that did not do well. You cannot have instant success. Success can only happen instantly when you are new. The biggest problem of success is that you lose the ability to surprise people. You lose the freedom to go wrong. So yes, we have to keep doing it again and again. With the talent, hard work and the team that we have presently on India Poochega, we want to bring something to the table that is new and different. So if you go wrong once, you try again. You go wrong again but you cannot stop trying and striving for the better. You keep on trying till you get it right and shifting, changing and evolving with the team you work with. So hopefully, with the &TV team and India Poochega Sabse Shaana Kaun?, I will be able to create something that will be new on television and entertain people. I don't know how big or small it will be but that won't stop me from trying it out.

Does the initial criticism bog you down or hurt you?
It hurts me, but I don't get bogged down. I am a different kind of a person. The more you tell me I am wrong, I w ill try and do it again and again to prove it to you that it's right in the long run. I have no other reason to be doing what I can- to be able to entertain. If I have done it for 25 years, now it's my duty. It's like a responsibility on me. I don't want to sound pompous but I have been doing this for so long that now I am like, 'Can I do something new?' I think people who are at the top of their game should try doing new stuff every time. (Smiles) I get really impressed by people who are different and they try something new and then I'm like 'They have nothing to lose'. If the person who has the most to lose does not try something new, then there's something wrong for sure. I have played the game long enough now to know that if I go wrong once, twice, thrice whatever number of times- be it with VFX, Ra.One, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, KKR or other TV shows, it won't pull me down. You have to believe that new things do get understood by some people. As an artist, it's our duty to explain that what we are doing may not have adhered to your sensibilities right now but this may be the thing you like later on.

There have been so many offers which might have come to you after KBC or after Wipeout. Why choose India Poochega?
There have not been many offers! (Laughs) I think after Wipeout, I got busy and there were only one or two offers which came my way but they were already on television. But I need to do something that I feel happy doing. I wake up in the morning and work 20 hours a day. So if I don't feel happy, I won't be able to pass on that happiness. It's not at all for money. But unfortunately, I like the Q&A format a lot more. I do it all the time with my kids. They like it and I enjoy it. I like to be the host of a quiz show because in spite of what others might think about me, I feel I am an intelligent person. So I need to do this. I like people winning money and the other things that I have been offered has never interested me. Love and work - if it does not turn you on, don't do it!

Will we never see you turn judge for a reality show?
I have been a judge on reality shows, when we go for film promotions. I am the worst at judging people. I like everyone and I want to give everyone a 10 on 10. I don't like judging anyone. When I was judging Miss India and the other one- Grasim Mr India, both times I faced difficulties judging the people. One time, I was sitting in the parking lot and I told Maureen that I cannot select one person. I asked her tell me who she likes and who the best is, I will just come and announce it. Same happened during Miss India. That time, Waheeda ji, Juhi and Azharuddin were there on the panel so I asked them to select unko jo bhi achche laage. That's one stuff I cannot do at all.

No Bigg Boss as well?
With all due respect to all the other shows, I don't think I am fit for anything other than the shows I have associated with. As for Bigg Boss, no it's not my cup of tea. In terms of how the contestants lead their lives and all, it's a beautiful show. And I think Salman does it really well and Farah's done it really well too. I see snippets of it. People in my house see it. I have never been intrigued to host it. But yes watching it as an audience, I am open to seeing Bigg Boss. As a host, I don't think I will be very good at it.

There's an amicable synergy building between the mediums of films and TV...
I am not exploring. I started here. The other people who are doing it and exploring the medium are all fantastic. Salman, I believe is fabulously watchable as a host. Even Dus Ka Dum was very cool and now he's doing Bigg Boss. I am sorry but I can't speak like this about Salman or Aamir, but generically, I don't think actors think like that. They think of it the other way - that this is the show which has attracted me so what can I add to the show? People enjoy themselves on the small screen and that's why Salman or Aamir does it. Aamir really loves the social service stuff that he does and is very pertinent of his ideas. He's happy doing it. For me, I am a television star hoping to be a film star. So when I become a film star, I will try to be a TV star again. I am still struggling, but these guys are good at their job.

You have also said that you are more interested in Western sitcoms than an Indian soap or serial. Why?
I can't understand Indian TV and I 'll be honest about it. I am sorry Zee TV, &TV, Sony TV, Star or Colors, but I don't understand television stuff here at all. I am too urban for it. Maybe I am too uneducated or unemotional. I sell all that myself in my films but I don't understand that on TV. I don't know who devranis and jethanis are. I come from a different kind of family, so I don't understand all that. I understand good story-telling. Even the Indian 24 was beautiful. I like Prison Break. Actually, let me very honest, when television started early on, there were shows like Hum Log, Fauji, Buniyaad, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Wagle Ki Duniya, Nukkad. They had more essence and were funny, entertaining yet edgy and different. There was a TV series with another fantastic serial which Kitu Gidwani was a part of and was based on Moonlight. Even Hum Paanch and Indradhanush were interesting. It's not a comment on what people are making today because at the end of it, it's a business and people want to make sure it works. Maybe the choices were less back then which is why these shows got more attraction. Today, the choice is a lot in terms of the number of channels that we have today. The choice and content is very narrow. Nobody wants to take a chance and go wrong. The channels should try and take more risks now because sometimes you need to create an audience. People say, 'Log dekhte nahi hai'. Par aapne dikhaya kya hai? Failing one time does not mean it was rejected. It simply means that they were not ready for it. So we need to do it again If you give the audience enough choices, they will make some interesting choices too.

Do you ever see yourself doing a fictional show on TV?
If they can afford me! But I doubt television can afford me.

What if the makers create a special character for you?
They still won't be able to afford me. I am very spoiled (smiles). I would love to do if its something really amazing as a character. Sometimes, I sit down with my friends and discuss it each time we meet. So I tell them, 'Lets do it, let's do it'. But eventually, I understand that they want me to do things that work, not the stuff that's risky but I can make it work. I kind of get out the room quietly without telling them. I am a little bound when it comes to films but on television, I would like to sacrifice everything to be a part of a really nice show. I was joking about the price and all. You allow me to come on television because it reaches homes without a huge amount of charge. I have said it even when I was not a big star that a door knob can be a star on television. It all depends on how you film your story. When I talk to the channel heads, they are initially very excited about the idea I have. But eventually the novelty of the idea gets lost. They will tell me, 'aisa karna padega. We have to make 52 episodes and we have to make these changes' and it becomes really difficult to teach them the process. So I just take myself out of it.