Tigmanshu Dhulia praises Shah Rukh Khan: ‘He would sleep on the bus' floor during Dil Se'

Actor-director Tigmanshu Dhulia, who has collaborated with Shah Rukh Khan on movies like ‘Dil Se’ and ‘Zero’, praised the superstar and said that he has remained humble despite being one of the biggest stars in India for almost 30 years. Dhulia recounted during the shoot of ‘Dil Se’, Shah Rukh would sleep on the floor of a bus because there weren't any vanity vans. Tigmanshu wrote the dialogue for the movie.


During an interview with Mashable India, Dhulia shared his experience of working with Shah Rukh in ‘Dil Se’. He stated, “He is such a humble person. I can’t even tell you. I could see even during Dil Se and he was already a big star at that time.” He revealed that there were no vanity vehicles used during the film's Ladakh shoot, and Shah Rukh would take his lunch break by napping on the bus' floor without ever asking someone to get off the bus.


He recalled that during the shooting in Ladakh, with Mani sir, the crew would travel along the roads, where he would determine the shooting locations. During lunch breaks, there were no vanity vans available; instead, the bus used for transportation served as the resting area. Shah Rukh would take a 30-minute nap in the aisle of the bus during these breaks.


He further added, “But we (crew members) had things in the bus so we would keep going in and out. Sometimes, we would go over him to get to a jacket or something but he never objected to anything. He never said no one can enter the bus when I am sleeping. He could have done that. He is the star of the film. If he wants to sleep for 30 minutes, he should get that time undisturbed but that never happened.”


Later, Tigmanshu collaborated with the actor in his home production ‘Zero’. In this instance, Tigmanshu worked as an actor and portrayed Shah Rukh's father. According to Tigmanshu, Shah Rukh would get chairs for everyone and inquire as to if they had eaten lunch. He shared, “During Zero, it was his home production and there were many other actors there. Shah Rukh was so respectful towards everyone. He would pick chairs for everyone. Ask them if they had had lunch. Yeh sanskar hain uske.”


He continued by saying that no one would care if a celebrity of his caliber did not engage in such behavior, but he does it anyway. “It’s his manners that make him great,” he said.


On the work front, Shah Rukh will next be seen in Sujoy Ghosh’s film ‘King’ along with his daughter Suhana Khan.





Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”