Renu Chopra, late filmmaker Ravi Chopra’s wife recently shared how Shah Rukh Khan has always been there to support her family. Sharing their warm equation, she revealed that SRK backed her son’s directorial debut ‘Ittefaq’ without even reading the script. She added the actor refused to charge any interest on the money he invested in the film. The 2017 thriller starred Akshaye Khanna, Sidharth Malhotra, and Sonakshi Sinha.
In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Renu Chopra said that Shah Rukh Khan always stood by her family. “Now, Shah Rukh had only done guest appearances for us. When we had to make Ittefaq… Shah Rukh’s office and our office – we share a wall. And we just decided to do it with him. I asked him, ‘Main aa jaaoon?’. He said, ‘Nahi nahi. Aap nahi aaoge Renu ji, main aata hoon. That respect, ki aap badi hain! Maine kaha, ‘ Shah Rukh, aate aate 3 hafte ho gaye hain, ab main hi aa jati hoon’. (I asked him, ‘Should I come?’ He said, ‘No, no. You won’t come, Renu ji, I will come.’ Out of respect, since you are senior! I said, ‘Shah Rukh, it’s been three weeks since you said that, now I will come myself’). Because he is such a busy man!”
Continuing, she added that the ‘Jawan’ star gave her a very warm welcome when she visited him. “He called me and made me sit and asked what do I want. I said I do not have money to invest, and he said he will do it.” Moreover, she added, “I told him baaki mere bacche poori tarah se dil laga ke picture banayenge. (I told him my children would put their hearts into making the movie). It was my younger son’s debut film Ittefaq. SRK said okay without reading the script. His funda was, ‘I’ll never back the horse, I’ll back the jockey’. He said if your son is backing it, I’ll back it.”
Praising Bollywood’s Badshah, she revealed that SRK refused to charge interest on his investment. “And when the picture wrapped up, like all other finances, there’s an interest rate. He said, ‘Nahi, ye haraam hai mere liye. Main nahi lunga.’ (No, I won’t take it). That is the kind of people I’ve met.”
Meanwhile, on the work front, SRK’s last was ‘Dunki.’ Moving ahead, the actor is currently busy working on Sidharth Anand’s ‘King.’ The film will also star Abhishek Bachchan and Suhana Khan.