EXCLUSIVE: Priyamani on Shah Rukh Khan: I had hearts in my eyes when I saw him for the first time

The Family Man 2 will soon be launched digitally this week and while we caught up with the cast of the show, we spoke to Priyamani about someone she LOVES – Shah Rukh Khan! The chat wouldn’t have been complete if we didn’t speak about SRK. Here, in this candid chat, Priyamani opens up on how she bagged the song 1 2 3 4 from Chennai Express, why she had apprehensions about it initially and the reason behind her wanting to do it for free! Not just that, she also speaks at length about SRK and the side to him that’s often overlooked by people in the media. She shares incidents of bonding with Shah Rukh, how he took care of her during the shoot.

Priyamani is a huge fan of Shah Rukh. Luckily, she got a chance of working with him for a 1 2 3 4… Get on the Dance Floor song in Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express. So we asked the stunning actress has she never thought of doing a film with the superstar. “I absolutely adore Shah Rukh. I can do anything for Shah Rukh Khan. See it’s not up to me to come and say, ‘I want to do a film with Shah Rukh. If the makers feel that I am good enough in the movie I will be cast,” responded the Family Man 2 actress.

Speaking about her experience of working with SRK in Chennai Express,Priyamani recalled, “I had hearts in my eyes when I saw him. I went in a day before we shot the song. And they were very sweet enough to take me there and introduce me to everybody. So when I went to the set, I sat like for half an hour as they were shooting for a scene. So Sathyaraj sir came, who plays Deepika’s(Padukone) father, so we spoke a little as we know each other. Then Deepika came out. Then Rohit sir introducing me said, ‘This is Priya she is going to do a song’. Sp we greeted each other. And then our man came and my jaw dropped. I was literally star-struck for five minutes and then I saw him and he is such a sweetheart. He sat me down and said ‘Thank you so much for doing this number for us. Then we all actually stopped the shoot for like 10-15 mins and we heard the song on the speakers on the set. All of us were so pumped up. And more than me Shah Rukh was a little nervous because obviously, we had the choreographer Raju Master from the south. SRK was a little scared because he didn’t know how the choreography is going to be as South ka style is completely different. It’s like all heavy steps. One thing I must say not as a fan but as an audience, he is one of the biggest stars in the country. And after every day’s shoot, we shot it over five nights, and every time you shoot till 2 or 5 am in the morning, the first thing you hear the magic word ‘It’s a wrap’ you want to just leave the set and go and sleep. But this man even after pack up he used to wait for half an hour. He used to get the assistants and Master to stay back, rehearse the steps whatever needed to be done the next day and only then he used to leave. I mean a man of his stature needn’t do that. He is such a big star, he could just say, ‘Haan main kal karta hoon ya aane ke baad karta hoon’ but no he didn’t. In between shots also when there was time he used to rehearse for steps and things like that.”

You can check out the entire conversation below:

She went on to add, “So I am just saying that look at this man’s dedication to learning the steps so that nobody wastes time and it should be perfect as much as possible. I mean. he just his heart out for the song. And I just became a bigger fan of his after that. During the shoot, we did play Kaun Banega Crorepati on his Ipad. And I won Rs. 300. He gave me that money and I still have that with me. When SRK gives you the money you might as well keep it no why would you spend it (laughs).”

The lovely actress went on to share how SRK also wrote a sweet message for her father. “And another thing I must say my parents are on cloud 25 or 100 I think after hearing I was going to dance with Shah Rukh. And my father especially told me to tell SRK that he is his big fan and everything. So I did tell Shah Rukh and he was really sweet. He got an uncut DVD version of Jab Tak Hai Jaan and he wrote a very sweet message for my father. I think the message went something like, ‘Thank you for allowing your daughter to dance in the film and I will definitely see you in the premiere of Chennai Express. And we both will dance on 1 2 3 4 song together.’ An actor of his stature needn’t do that. He could just have said ‘Thank you so much’. But he went out of his way and that speaks a lot about his humility and character. He is such a humble guy, so down to earth and sweet. He makes you feel at home. There was not even one moment where he acted like a superstar. He was just himself when we were shooting. He kept asking ‘Are you okay?’ Because at that point of time when we shot it was pretty cold where we were shooting. He takes care of you so well that,” she gushed.

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: When Priyamani called up Samantha Akkineni to praise her for one scene in The Family Man 2