But only a few actually know the man behind the actor. And fewer know about his life before he became a star.

Mushtaq Shiekh caught a glimpse of the man when he penned his book, Still Reading Khan. Here, in an excerpt, he shares some of that with rediff.com.

The twilight has just broken over Mannat, and I sit on the edge of my seat. In the darkening gloom I eye the recorder nervously, can't even see if the damn thing is moving? Is it picking up Shah Rukh's rapid-fire reminiscences of his early years as an actor? Of the first time he earned money by acting, when he was about nine?

So animated is Shah Rukh that I can almost visualise the scene. He's talking about the first house he remembers, the one in Rajinder Nagar. On the verandah, a chaadar (sheet) suddenly makes an appearance; it seems to have a life of its own as it billows around, finally to rest on a wire drawn across the length of the verandah. As the apparition settles down, five pairs of grubby hands grab it from the top, pull it down just enough for the boys to peep out. They then step out to view their work. It looked good.

The verandah was the stage, and the chaadar, sneaked out of his mother's trunk and draped over the wire, was the makeshift curtain. This was Shah Rukh's first staged performance.

It seems prophetic today that these first scripts in Shah Rukh's childhood came from lurid, two-penny Hindi masala (thriller) novels, often picked up because of their 'interesting' titles. The plots had the hero, Inspector Vikram, solving the most intrepid problems in books like Khooni Panja (The Bloody Paw) and Raat Ke Andhere Main Cheekh (A Scream in the Dark Night).

The scripts were then written and performed by the gang -- Praveen, Teeny, Shah Rukh, Kitti and Bittu. The audience consisted of boys from the mohalla, who would pay a rupee to watch the play. Shah Rukh was even then the 'popular' entertainer, but his films have not quite matched up to the kitsch titles of his early productions. But at that time, Shah Rukh had never thought of acting, professionally that is.

Excerpted from Still Reading Khan by Mushtaq Shiekh, published by Om Books, with the author's permission, Rs 2,995.

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