I've known Shah Rukh for 11 years now. He's a close friend.

My friendship with him started as a journalist in G mazagine. I had gone to interview him for a feature called Khan festival. At that time, a lot of Khans were entering Bollywood -- Shabaaz, Arbaaz... One of them was Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh made my job very easy. He was very articulate, and quite a quote-machine. He liked me too. And it meant so much that a star on the rise chooses you. If anyone from my magazine had to contact Shah Rukh, he wanted to speak to only me. It gave me this edge.

Our bond moved to friendship, and we would keep bouncing off ideas with each other. One of the ideas that took shape was the book I wrote on the making of Asoka. By then, I had left journalism. That was my first book.

How did Shah Rukh react when you told him that you wanted to write a book on him?

He did not take me seriously at first. He thought it was just one of those ideas.

But I was very clear about one thing. I would not harrow him when I started writing the book, ask him for numbers and names of his nani ki chachi ka naam. I respect space. These people live the life of dementia. The constant attention they get, the fans, the love, the work... I didn't want to add stress on his platter.

Why the title Still Reading Khan?

Still Reading Khan stands for SRK. The word 'still' also gave one the feeling that he was sitting for a portrait, and I was doing the reading. And it also sounded like I'm reading him, and I'm going to still continue. So you can expect sequels!

Buy Still Reading Khan right here!

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