mid-day exclusive: Shah Rukh Khan picks the top filmi things to do in Mumbai

Mumbai and Bollywood are integral to each other. In the penultimate chat with Shah Rukh Khan on his favourite things in and around Mumbai, he picks the must-do filmy things in the city

mid-day exclusive: Shah Rukh Khan picks the top filmi things to do in Mumbai

Shah Rukh Khan

Mumbai and Bollywood are integral to each other. In the penultimate chat with Shah Rukh Khan on his favourite things in and around Mumbai, he picks the must-do filmy things in the city.

Three things to do if you love Bollywood
Stand outside my house [laughs]. I have heard that there is a 1 o'clock train from Mumbai Central to Delhi where people come and watch Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and run to catch a train right before the film ends. It's extremely cool. You should see the Queen's Necklace from the top. The only image I had of Mumbai when I was growing up was of that spectacle. When I shot there for Deewana, I had to jump from the Princess Street flyover for a scene in the song Koi Na Koi Chahiye. It was such a high to see it. And everyone should go and wave out to Amitji [Bachchan] on a Sunday [smiles].

A sculpture of filmmaker Yash Chopra at Bandstand. pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi

First film in a cinema hall
The earliest memory I have of watching a film in Mumbai is Lamhe with Vivek Vaswani. It was either at Minerva, Metro or Maratha Mandir. Normally, I don't watch films. So, Vivek used to take me to watch and learn. While watching Lamhe, my manager came by to tell me that Yash Chopra was on the line, and that he wants to cast me in a film. It's how I landed a role in Darr. It was quite memorable.

Khan suggests waving out to Amitabh Bachchan outside his Juhu home on Sundays

Favourite film locations in Mumbai
I like it opposite my house [Bandstand promenade]; it's convenient! I have shot countless scenes around there; it's special for me. I used to enjoy shooting at the houses in Madh Island. We never stayed back but it was like going out of town and still being in town. There was also a quaint villa on Yari Road. I shot the Ganpati song from Don there.

The Queen's Necklace is quintessential Mumbai for Khan. Pic/Shadab Khan

Favourite film on Mumbai
Barry John got us to train the kids for Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay. Haadsa by Akbar Khan — the famous title song, and the way he covered Mumbai was very interesting for an outsider. Bluffmaster was fantastically shot. I kept asking Rohan [Sippy] where he had shot it; especially the rooftop shots of Abhishek [Bachchan].

Films and Mumbai. Your thoughts.
It is the life of Mumbai. For an outsider who has come and built his life in films in Mumbai, it stands for everything that my life is.