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The latent and underlying negative vibes between Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan have reached a new high with Aamir Khan expressing his doubts on Shahrukh Khan's twin USPs: stardom and humor. Aamir Khan, in an interview to Times of India had this to say about Shahrukh Khan: "Now that his films are not doing well, SRK has lost his sense of humor as well".
It all started when Aamir Khan wrote a lousy post on his blog about Shahrukh Khan being his dog, which even Aamir's fans didn't take too kindly. Though Shahrukh Khan maintained a dignified silence at that, Aamir's comment on SRK being bad at marketing, ruffled Shahrukh Khan's feathers. Now, it will be interesting to know what Shahrukh Khan has to say about the new salvo that Aamir Khan has launched against him.
Here are the excerpts from various interviews which Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan have given to different sections of media in reaction to each other's statements:
Shahrukh Khan's reaction to the blog post of Aamir Khan where he labelled SRK as a dog:
"Hum log hum umar hai — main, Salman, Aamir. Aur hum jab milte hain toh is se bhi ajeeb batein karte hai. (All three of us — Salman, Aamir and me are the same age and when we meet, we talk stranger stuff than this.) I have to take it with a sense of humour and I do have a sense of humour. If i can do it with others, then I should accept it."
Shahrukh Khan's reaction to Aamir Khan making the theater staff sport the Ghajini cut in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi's screening:
Shahrukh Khan: I think it is a good strategy. You take the biggest brand in the country that is SRK and then use that platform to publicise yourself. I think Aamir rocks. The problem is that I cannot use any another brand because there is no one bigger than me".
Aamir Khan on Shahrukh Khan's marketing skills, or the lack of it:
“Shah Rukh is excellent in PR. I am not sure about his marketing. You don’t have to be there for marketing your movie. Someone like Himesh Reshammiya…you see a cap and you think about him. That’s marketing. You go to a theatre and you see a Ghajini look. That’s marketing. I don’t have to be there. I think the thing in which Shah Rukh excels is PR. He has that quality and does that very well.”
Shahrukh Khan's reply to Aamir Khan who expressed doubts about his marketing skills:
" Why is there an assumption that I would listen to what Aamir Khan thinks about me? In his mind, a lot of things he has done are right for him. But obviously, it’s not the universal truth. So with due respect to his wonderful mind, I don’t accept it. I do what’s right for my film. I think every film has its own breathing space, it’s own way of working and I think Billu only has this much space in that I’ve done what was needed for it. "
"I think the case with Aamir is woh kehte hain na, naya-naya musalman hota hai? Toh woh naya-naya producer bana hai. Aamir, the producer, has a lot to do. There is a certain public awareness you need to create for a film, depending on the film itself. It can’t be ke mein Billu Barber hoon toh logon ke baal katna shuru karoon ya chadd jaoon unke sir pe. I think Ghajini was marketed very well. He’s produced one film (Lagaan) and a couple others that too in partnerships with people. We’ve been producing for a long time and we have discovered what is right and what is wrong.Actually, as much as Aamir knows the difference between marketing and PR, I don’t know the difference. I am still the old-fashioned guy who thinks PR is a dirty word, and maybe so does Aamir, that’s why he said it. But the fact that I speak to people I have known over the years is because of a personal relationship rather than a professional need, which makes people like me a little more."
Shahrukh Khan on Aamir's statement that SRK has only been talking about himself in the past 20 years:
"Mein shehar mein toh tha nahin, toh jab sher jungle se baahar jaata hain to bahut log bahut kuch bolte aur karte hain. Sometimes I feel thoda zyada bol diya usne, but I don’t hold it against him. I really don’t live my life analysing anyone else’s motives or remarks or decisions. I’ve always said am like a horse with blinkers on. You can market a film very well but it may tank, it happened with Asoka. I think Paheli was beautifully done. I went to the Oscars and did my thing, no one else has done this apparently; and I am taking the word of publicists there. I don’t analyse Aamir at all. I don’t have the time for it. I think I prey on his mind, but then I prey on everybody’s mind, it’s okay."
Shahrukh Khan stating why he does not clarify things with Aamir Khan:
"No, I don’t call him up. In fact, I don’t call up anyone. He didn’t call me up to say this, did he? It doesn’t affect me. But I told him when he spoke about the dog reference that my children didn’t like it. So he came home and said sort of a sorry to my kids. He very sweetly told them, “I love your dad, he’s my friend and I didn’t realise it…” But he didn’t convince my kids. They really liked him, now they don’t. Though I keep telling them, ‘usko bhi pasand karlo yaar, koi baat nahin.’ When I meet him I’ll tell him those are two fans he has lost for sure. I had a lot of jokes about the dog bit, but my wife told me not to tell them. My wife has told me for the last 24 years, ‘nobody understands your sense of humour. So just shut up, keep it to yourself."
Aamir Khan on what SRK said about how Aamir's dog reference have made his kids turn away from being his(Aamir's) fans:
"Let me say one thing clearly, no matter what Shah Rukh tells his children, I will tell my kids to always love and respect him. What he teaches his children is entirely up to him. I can understand that he is bitter as his films have not done well. I have only have warm regards for him and wish him all the very best. I do understand that Shah Rukh works very hard and gives a number of interviews, which I think is a wonderful quality. I think he is upset as his films have not done as well as he expected them to but I wish him all the success he deserves."
Aamir Khan on why SRK uses his name publicly
"I have been working in the industry for over two decades and I have never made any comments about anybody. However, over the years I noticed that Shah Rukh has been repeatedly talking about me publicly. In all fairness, I too decided not to remain quiet and respond to him publicly."
Aamir Khan's latest salvo on Shahrukh Khan's king khan status and his firebrand humor:
"I am least interested in dethroning him. He can be very happy with all the thrones and all the crowns. I am not interested in any of them. He has never hesitated in making fun of me. Even in his films he has made fun of Manoj Kumar and Dev Anand. It shows that he has a great sense of humour but where does it all go when I say humorous things about him? I remember him saying in one of his interviews that he was joking about calling himself No.1. I find it very funny as I have never seen anyone proclaiming, 'I am No.1'. Neither did Sachin Tendulkar ever say that he is No 1 nor did Lata Mangeshkar. Take any field for that matter, Vishwanathan Anand never says that he is the best and I don't think Dilip Kumar or Raj Kapoor ever said that. I am saying all this in a lighter vein so he too should take my comments lightly. I think that his sense of humour suddenly disappears when it comes to me. As far as I am concerned, my favourite star is Amitabh Bachchan and for me he is the number one."
Bollywood Trends comment on the war of words between Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan going the SRK-Salman Khan way:
Both Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan have proved beyond doubt that like other stars, they have fragile egos. It will be interesting to know how Shahrukh khan reacts to Aamir's salvo. Watch this space for more.
Incidentally, this is what Shahrukh khan had to say on his stand-off with Salman Khan:
“I don’t like talking things private to me. I’m talked about because I’m emotionally not available to everyone and that disturbs them. They have the right to talk and I have no issues,” he said. “I think like a father would whereas Salman thinks like a son. That’s okay. We are two different kind of people. We had nothing in common. We think differently.Salman and I had some really good times together. Strangely, these memories are fading away. So I’m sure even the bad memories will fade.We are both happy in our own worlds. If a reconciliation happens — good; if it doesn’t happen, — very good. Not being friends doesn’t mean Salman and I are great enemies.”
