'Short-tempered': Journalist recalls SRK's angry reaction to negative article
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who made his Hindi film debut in 1992, was once a "short-tempered" young actor. This revelation comes from veteran journalist Pooja Samant, who recently appeared on Zahra Jani's podcast. She shared an incident where Khan reacted negatively to her magazine's critique of him during his early career days.
Khan's displeasure with negative media coverage
Samant recounted how Khan was not the calm and composed person he is today. "Shah Rukh is a very darling human being who is also very charming, as we all know. But during his early days, he was actually very short-tempered," she said. "He was never able to digest the fact that some media outlet was writing against him."
'His whole Delhi style, and about some of his films...'
Samant further elaborated, "The editor of our magazine wrote about Shah Rukh's aggressive way of talking, his whole Delhi style, and about some of his films which did not do very well." This negative portrayal did not sit well with the actor, leading to an angry confrontation when Samant approached him for an interview during the filming of Baazigar (1993).
'He didn't want to give an interview to someone...'
Samant recalled, "I had gone to the Baazigar set at Filmistaan to get an interview. They were shooting the song Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein." "As soon as I told him the name of the magazine I used to work for, he got annoyed." "He didn't want to give an interview to someone who worked for a magazine that wrote such negative things about him."
Khan's demand for a meeting with the editor
Samant revealed, "He said that if I wanted an interview, I'd have to get my editor to come and meet him." "I called the office, and my editor agreed to come. Upon seeing him, Shah Rukh jumped at him, but my editor stayed calm." Despite this initial confrontation, Samant later had a positive experience with the star years later.
Khan's warm gesture years later
Samant fondly remembered her visit to Khan's Red Chillies office years later. "I remember that many years later I went to Red Chillies's office. Shah Rukh was sitting in a room above when he saw me." "He came down, hugged me, and asked me how I was doing. He was lovely," she said, showing that the actor had indeed moved past his initial anger. Meanwhile, Khan is currently preparing for his upcoming movie King.