Actor Makarand Deshpande, who had worked with Shah Rukh Khan in the TV show Circus, witnessed the actor’s rise to superstardom and reunited with him 13 years later in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades. In a recent interaction, Makarand heaped praise on Shah Rukh’s generosity and recalled how the superstar had kept track of his work and knew about many of the projects he had done over the years, even though they hadn’t met in over a decade.
Speaking to Cyrus Broacha about the same, he said, “13 years before we worked together in Swades, we starred in the television series called Circus. Me, Shah Rukh and Ashutosh Gowariker starred in the show. The first time that I met him was at a producer’s office for the show. I was playing cricket in the compound of the building and I threw the ball so hard that Shah Rukh Khan thought ‘ye pagal aadmi hai (He is mad).’ Shah Rukh used to carry a camera and I realised he clicked so many of my photos. We developed a camaraderie during those days.”
Makarand met Shah Rukh 13 years later during the making of Swades. By then, Shah Rukh had become the biggest star in Bollywood, but Makarand said his humility and kindness remained unchanged. “But the point was after 13 years Swades happened and I wasn’t in touch with him. By that time Shah Rukh had already become the Badshah of Bollywood and Ashutosh Gowariker had directed the iconic film Lagaan, but ‘where is this Makarand Deshpande coming from?’ I came from theatre, I did a lot in theatre for those 13 years. And it was like three people coming from three different worlds.”
Makarand recalled Ashutosh taking him to Shah Rukh’s vanity van and was surprised by how much the superstar knew about his body of work. “The best thing that Shah Rukh said was, ‘You had made a film Danav na?’ I had made that one film and I was so pleasantly happy because he knew a lot about what I had done in those 13 years, so it didn’t matter that we didn’t meet for so many years.”
Makarand also recalled another instance of Shah Rukh’s generosity. He shared how he needed a close-up shot of the superstar for his small film Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu, and Shah Rukh readily agreed—without charging anything. Makarand remembered their conversation and said, “He told me, ‘You don’t need to spend money, just send your camera man and I will get unit. Then we also used his car.”
He also recalled the Swades cameo where he featured in ‘Yu Hi Chala Chal’ with Shah Rukh. Makarand recalled that Shah Rukh did all the heavy lifting in the song — from driving the trailer to coordinating with the director. “Saari mehnat uski thi, he had to drive the caravan, talking on walkie-talkie, coordination… I told him you will do everything. I liked that despite being the big star… he (did everything). I would ask for buttermilk from the village, I offered it to him and usne bina kis jhijak ke pee liya (he drank without any hesitation),” he recalled.
