Veteran actor and writer MM Farooqi, popularly known as Lilliput, recently shared his candid thoughts on superstar Shah Rukh Khan. During a new interaction, Lilliput reflected on Shah Rukh Khan’s performance in Zero, questioned his script choices, and also explained why action-packed films like Jawan don’t appeal to him.
Veteran actor and writer MM Farooqi, popularly known as Lilliput, recently shared his candid thoughts on superstar Shah Rukh Khan. During a new interaction, Lilliput reflected on Shah Rukh Khan’s performance in Zero, questioned his script choices, and also explained why action-packed films like Jawan don’t appeal to him.
‘Shah Rukh I left no stone unturned at zero
Speaking about Shah Rukh Khan’s portrayal of Bawa Singh in Zero, Lilliput acknowledged the actor’s honesty and hard work, even though he felt the film itself did not work effectively.“He tried his best. Shah Rukh Khan did not leave any stone unturned. He worked with complete honesty and dedication. But if nothing works, what can the poor man do? It’s like saying someone is very handsome, but he doesn’t look good on screen,” Lilliput told Siddharth Kannan.The 2018 film, directed by Aanand L Rai, saw Shah Rukh Khan playing a vertically challenged man and was one of the most ambitious projects of his career, although it failed to perform as expected at the box office.
About predicting the fate of Zero
When asked if he had predicted the film would fail at the box office, Lilliput explained that he had never made such a bold claim.“I didn’t have that kind of courage, brother. What I said was that a lot of money was spent on the movie.
He explained that it is now up to the audience to decide what the film is really about.“I’m not a critic. I’m not educated enough to be able to analyze something deeply and pass judgment.”
He questions Shah Rukh Khan’s sense of the script
During the conversation, Lilliput also spoke about what he believes could be a gap in Shah Rukh Khan’s script choices, even while acknowledging the star’s sincerity.“Yes, definitely. I said so,” he said when asked if he had noticed earlier that SRK sometimes chooses weak scripts.“Because after watching Shah Rukh Khan’s films, it seems like he doesn’t have the same sense of scripts that Aamir Khan does.”He added that even the greatest personalities can have flaws.“When you become successful, it does not mean that you have become a god. You are still a human being. No matter how great a person is, he will have faults. Didn’t Mahatma Gandhi have faults? Didn’t Rabindranath Tagore have faults? Didn’t Maulana Abul Kalam Azad have faults?”He also stressed the need to deal with criticism constructively.“You may work with complete honesty, and Shahrukh certainly works with honesty. There’s no doubt about that. But a lot of people don’t have a sense of script. He probably doesn’t have it either. And that’s not a shameful or bad thing.”
Lilliput criticizes Shah Rukh Khan’s role in the movie Zero, and says: “It is not even worth the dust of Kamal Haasan.”
On stardom Shah Rukh Khan
Asked how Shah Rukh Khan became one of India’s biggest stars despite such criticism, Lilliput pointed to the banners and filmmakers he has collaborated with.“If you look at his films, most of them are films produced by outside banners, like Yash Raj Films and others,” he said.“By ‘outside’ I mean films that are not his home production where he is the producer himself. When he works as a producer, the writer and director sometimes compromise. They may say yes to things easily.”He stressed that no individual excels at everything, and that such criticism should not be taken negatively.
Why didn’t he enjoy Joan?
Lilliput also expressed his personal dislike for violent films while discussing Shah Rukh Khan’s hit film Jawan.He said: “I didn’t like it. Personally, I don’t like violent movies at all.”“These action-packed movies, in my opinion, are very harmful to society. Because I think society works through imitation. Since the beginning of civilization, humans have imitated what they see.”Explaining his point, he added that social practices are often spread through imitation, whether that is purchasing expensive goods, following trends, or even relationships.“Society runs on imitation. Someone buys a car, and I feel like I should have a car, too. Someone has a love marriage, and suddenly I also feel like I’m in love. That’s the truth. And anyone who denies that fact is a complete fool.”
