Gajraj Rao on Shah Rukh Khan: The film Maidan was released on 10 April and the lead actor in it was Ajay Devgan. Gajraj Rao has played the role of a journalist in the film, whose work was praised. Gajraj went to many places to give interviews during the promotion of this film. Gajraj started his acting career in the 90’s but his popularity increased after ‘Badhaai Ho’. Gajraj Rao is one of the talented actors of the industry and in a podcast he talked about his early days.
Gajraj Rao was also seen in the 1998 film Dil Se. Gajraj Rao was seen with Shahrukh Khan in that scene and remembering those days, he shared an anecdote. Gajraj praised Shahrukh by calling him a ‘charismatic person’.
What did Gajraj Rao say in praise of Shahrukh Khan?
Gajraj Rao recently appeared in a podcast of Bollywood Bubble. During this time, he narrated many of his stories, one of which we are telling you about here. When Gajraj Rao was asked that you have worked in ‘Dil Se’ and shared the screen with Shahrukh Khan. Today he is the Shahrukh Khan. Do you see any difference between that Shahrukh and this Shahrukh?
On this Gajraj Rao said, ‘I did only one film with him and that too, my work was small. After that we meet him at some party or event. He is a person with a charismatic personality. There is no difference between the then superstar Shahrukh and now superstar Shahrukh.
Gajraj Rao narrated an incident, this happened around the year 1997, when the shooting of the film Dil Se was going on. The actor told that in that scene Shahrukh was being taken in an ambulance. When people came to know that shooting was taking place and Shahrukh Khan was inside, at least 100-150 people followed the ambulance.
Gajraj Rao further said, ‘We walked for some distance, Mani Saheb said that it is difficult to shoot today. But Shahrukh suddenly stopped the ambulance. Everyone refused him but he did what he had decided. When the ambulance stopped, everyone stopped and started shouting Shahrukh, Shahrukh.
‘After this, Shahrukh opened the gate of the ambulance and stood a little higher and said very lovingly – ‘We are shooting a very important scene, if any accident happens then you will suffer loss which I would definitely not want. So I request you guys to go back, do you want any accident to happen to me or someone to get hurt?’ As soon as Shahrukh said this, 100-150 people dispersed.
The actor further said, ‘When everyone went back, Mani Saheb said wow, Shahrukh agreed. I was also surprised, what magic is there in this guy, within a minute he turned back the crowd that had followed him and that too with love… He has a charm, a charisma, a magic which is not there in everyone.
The film Dil Se was a hit.
In Mani Ratnam’s film Dil Se, released in 1998 Shahrukh KhanArtists like Manisha Koirala, Preeti Zinda, Zohra Sehgal and Sanjay Mishra were seen. There was Malaika Arora’s item number in it which was a superhit.
According to Sacnilk, the budget of the film Dil Se was around Rs 8 crore but the film collected Rs 24.45 crore at the box office. With this the film proved to be a hit.