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King for a reason: Bollywood filmmaker still gushes over Shah Rukh Khan's kindness during Chak De, ‘He got it for me'

King for a reason: Bollywood filmmaker still gushes over Shah Rukh Khan's kindness during Chak De, ‘He got it for me'

Mint18 hours ago
Director Ashima Chibber worked closely with Shah Rukh Khan during Chak De! India. She was an assistant director for the sports drama. The filmmaker recalled a touching memory from the Australia shoot. She was at the airport while the team waited for the players' flight.
To pass the time, the then-budding filmmaker browsed books at a store and found an astronaut book she loved. But, it cost ₹ 6,000, so she put it back.
For the contest, the book cost ₹ 6,000 in 2007. If we account for an average inflation rate of about 6% annually, the same book would cost more than ₹ 17,000 now.
The next day, during the 'man-to-man marking' scene from the movie, King Khan called her.
'He was like, 'Look, what's lying here'. It was the book. He had obviously seen me reading it. He knew that I really liked that book. He knew that it was too expensive for me to afford at that time. He went there and got it for me,' an excited Chibber told Zoom.
'I still have that book. It's on my, like, you know, one of my prized possessions,' she added.
The Bollywood filmmaker also recalled a dinner in Australia. During the shoot, Don was released. The entire team went to watch the film and then had dinner.
With a massive group of cast and crew, the dinner bill was huge. Unsure how to handle it, Ashima nervously asked one of her colleagues.
'Please, not me. I don't even have that much in my account,' the colleague told her.
'Then, Shah Rukh sir said, 'Give it to me.' He took it from me. And, I was like, 'Sir, we'll go Dutch',' Ashima said during an interaction with Zoom.
'He looked at me. I think nobody had ever told him, 'Let's split the bill'. So, he was like, 'No. I am paying the bill.' And, I said, 'Okay, sir.',' Chibber said while laughing at the incident.
Ashima Chibber is basking in the glory of Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway. After all, it earned Rani Mukerji her first National Award. SRK also got his first this year for Jawan.
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