The first house Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri bought was beyond their means. So was Mannat, their beach-facing house at the Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai’s upscale locality of Bandra.
Khan pinned it to a long-lasting desire to own a house.
“For me, a home is where your story begins. I am a big believer in (the fact that) the home is where you start from,” he said onstage at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Wednesday in front of hordes of his fans.
“My parents died early,” began Khan, before quickly adding that “this is not a sob story”.
“My biggest yearning in life was to have a house,” the actor said, reflecting on his humble beginnings. “My children make fun of me. If I’m driving around in a city and I like it, they say, har jagah pe ghar thodi na le sakte hai (we can’t buy a house everywhere)’.”
He turned a tad philosophical while stressing the importance of owning a home. “We can have good or bad days in life, happy or sad days, but when we come back home, we regenerate, we refigure our life to face the harsh world again.”
Khan continued: “If you aspire to buy your dream house, Allah helps you, the Almighty helps you. Think big, believe big and trust in yourself that you will have the house of your dreams.”
Mannat may have once stretched the Khans’ finances, but today it’s a popular tourist spot, with fans and visitors alike teeming outside its gates for selfies. For many, a trip to Mumbai is incomplete without visiting the famed residence of Bandra.
Ever the entertainer
Moments earlier, as Khan strode on stage wearing a slick black jacket and trousers and lifting his sunglasses to express a mock shock, the crowd went delirious. He was in town for the launch of Shahrukhz Residences, Danube’s new waterfront tower named after Shah Rukh Khan.
Bollywood film producer and director Karan Johar, also a close associate of Khan chimed in, “There is no star like you, there never was, there will be. You truly deserve a tower of residences named after your glorious name.”
The star of countless Bollywood hits and cult classic over more than three decades admitted that lending his name to a residential tower felt humbling. “To know that people may choose my name as the address of their home, that’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before. It’s extremely humbling.”
Khan’s connection with Dubai, however, runs deep. He owns a beachfront villa in Palm Jumeirah. Further, his 2023 action thriller Pathaan, also starring Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, was filmed extensively around Downtown Dubai.
Khan later broke into a gig, from the recently released single Tu Mil Jaaye, in his upcoming tentpole King.
Ever the self-effacing personality, Khan said in advance, “Steps nahin aayenge (I might not get the steps properly)… we’ll just vibe to it,” and delivered a near-perfect dance.
As for the audience, they certainly had all they could ask for.
Source: Khaleej Times