Shah Rukh Khan’s Friend Makes Shocking Claim, Says He Never Struggled In Bollywood: 'He Lived In Cuffe Parade'

Shah Rukh Khan’s 60th birthday brought a wave of nostalgia, fan celebrations and excitement around his next film King. But it also opened up a very honest conversation from the man who once gave SRK a home in Mumbai – actor-producer Viveck Vaswani. Vaswani, who has always been vocal about his love and respect for SRK, shared how he felt after watching Aryan Khan’s debut series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*. The show’s dark take on the film industry left him with a heavy heart.

Speaking to Radio Nasha Official, he said he simply could not understand where this idea of Bollywood being a “bad place” came from. “When Shah Rukh came into the industry, the amount of love and respect that Aziz Mirza and Nirmala gave him, and that me and my mother gave him, and Saeed

Mirza gave him… everyone treated him with so much affection. So when did he come to the conclusion that Bollywood is a gutter and everyone in it is bad people? He is the one person who was treated with kid gloves as a rank outsider.”

Vaswani said SRK never faced a rough start like many outsiders do today. “Not once did he struggle from the road. He was living in Cuffe Parade. After he got married, when he couldn’t stay in my house, Aziz gave him a house in Bandra. Haroon treated him like a brother, Aziz’s son. Raheela treated him like a brother, Aziz’s daughter. I treated him like a brother. Everyone treated him so well, so warmly, without a single rift.”

He admitted that the show made him question himself. “I just thought, did I do something wrong? Am I to blame? Did I hurt him enough for him to think Bollywood is such a bad place? Because when a boy has been given VIP treatment by the industry, being a non–nepo kid, everyone gave him work and respect. He didn’t let them down either. He worked hard. But why such a portrayal? This is my industry. If India is my janam-bhoomi, then Bollywood is my karam-bhoomi. But then it is Shah Rukh’s karam-bhoomi as well.”

While he believes his view may be different from others, his emotion is real. “To show your karam-bhoomi in that way, I thought that was a little sad. Everyone has loved the show. Nobody will agree with my point of view. Shah Rukh will not agree with my point of view. But you asked me for the truth. And I felt a little sad.”

However, he praised Aryan’s project for its performances. “I binge-watched it. I enjoyed the show. The cameos were fabulous. Emraan Hashmi was absolutely superb. And I was very pleasantly surprised by Bobby Deol’s performance.”

SRK’s next big move

The superstar is teaming up with Siddharth Anand for the action drama King, and his first-look reveal on his birthday already has fans buzzing.