Zayed Khan recalls the time spent with Shah Rukh Khan during Main Hoon Na shoot: ‘He hated that I used to beat him in FIFA 2000’

Zayed Khan, who co-starred with Shah Rukh Khan in his second film ‘Main Hoon Na’, recently reminisced about his pleasant experiences working with the ‘Pathaan’ actor. Zayed sees SRK as an ‘ocean of insight’ and as someone who is constantly ‘well-prepared’. The 44-year-old actor also discussed how SRK assisted him in getting ready for a lengthy monologue he had to record for the 2004 movie in a recent interview.


During a conversation with Rohit Roy for RiteBite Maz Protein TV, Zayed talked about his collaboration with SRK and shared, “Shah Rukh Khan is well-prepared. He is an ocean of insight. When you are with him, you don’t feel that he is pressurising you to perform as well as he is. What he is doing is, he is always observing and he is giving you his best back.”


He further added that there was a delightful moment when the actor was performing a scene that required delivering a lengthy monologue, with Shah Rukh Khan's character entering the scene as a father figure while the actor's character lacked a fatherly presence. This marked the actor's first time sharing a scene with Kirron Kher and Shah Rukh Khan. The film was directed by Farah, with Manikandan in charge of the camera work. Despite making mistakes three times, the actor felt the energy in the room diminish each time a line or scene was flubbed as if the team's hope and confidence in the actor was losing.


Zayed further revealed how the superstar helped him rehearse the line and recalled, “I remember, Shah Rukh Khan came to me very sweetly. He said, ‘You want to do the lines and rehearse with me?’ I said, ‘Yeah man, I would really like that.’ And, we went to a room and so sweetly, he rehearsed with me and I came out there. He said, ‘Just do it your way, don’t do it the filmy way. And I went out there, I started to gain goosebumps and I went for it. I remember after the shot got cut, everyone went quiet and then they started clapping.”


Zayed Khan recounted in the same interview that Shah Rukh Khan wouldn't allow him to go to sleep until he defeated him at the video game FIFA. He shared, “We used to play video games. He is a full on game geek. He used to hate the fact that I used to beat him in FIFA 2000. At night, after pack up, we used to play the whole time. He would make me play until he won.”


Zayed also revealed what he learnt from the superstar and stated that he had imparted a valuable life lesson to him. As actors, there is often a strong sense of competition among us. This healthy competition revolves around dialogues, directors, camera work, and lighting. Through his interactions with Shah Rukh Khan, he learned the importance of thorough preparation both on and off the screen. Zayed revealed SRK advised against adopting a competitive mindset, suggesting instead to anticipate others' reactions and have multiple responses prepared in advance. This approach, it was explained, would help eliminate competitiveness and ensure readiness in various situations.

Directed by Farah Khan, ‘Main Hoon Na’ is a 2004 Bollywood drama film. The film, which marks Farah Khan's directorial debut, stars Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Suniel Shetty, Amrita Rao, and Zayed Khan, alongside Kirron Kher, Murali Sharma, Kabir Bedi, Boman Irani, and Naseeruddin Shah.




While Zayed Khan is preparing for a come back, Shah Rukh Khan is all set to share the frame with his daughter. The actor will be seen alongside Suhana Khan in Sujoy Ghosh's next, reportedly titled King.
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