Lillete Dubey, who has acted in films such as Gadar, Monsoon Wedding, Kal Ho Naa Ho, and Baghban, recently revealed that she performed in theatre with Shah Rukh Khan when he was young and was in his early days as an actor. The actress revealed that she had established a theatre company in Delhi and that Shah Rukh, who was only 18-19 years old at the time, was “delightful” and had the enthusiasm of “a man on 50 Red Bulls.”
Lillete recounted in a podcast with Cyrus Broacha that she worked with him on a project akin to Sesame Street during that time, which also starred veteran actor Raghubir Yadav. “Shah Rukh was just delightful even when he was young. He was always on 50 Red Bulls, like that kind of energy,” she recalled and added, “He had a lot of charisma. Of course, he was talented and had a super amount of energy.”
Lillete then shared a story from her childhood that has stuck with her even after three and a half decades. She revealed that she once spoke with Shah Rukh about the art of being an actor. What surprised Dubey was the fact that even at that age, Shah Rukh was certain that he would become a star. “I’ll never forget what he told me at the time. ‘I don’t want to be an actor; I want to be a star, a rock star,’ he declared. With his dimples and everything, he meant it. He had that kind of determination that he was going to be what he wanted to be,” she explained.
Shah Rukh and Lillete have collaborated on films such as Chalte Chalte and Kal Ho Naa Ho. She stated that he has always been “affectionate” to her throughout their many collaborations. “I must remark that Shah Rukh is usually really kind. When he meets me, he is kind, affectionate, warm, and loving,” she admitted.
She also remembered Shah Rukh wanting to make an action picture even at the height of his romantic hero era, so when she eventually saw him in Pathaan, she believed he did extremely well. “Once he told me, this romantic hero thing is nice, but I’d love to do an action movie. So when I saw him in Pathaan, I told him that’s exactly what he wanted to do,” she said, “I thought he did an excellent job.”