An old interview clip is doing the rounds again, and it shows a version of Shah Rukh Khan that existed long before the carefully managed superstar image: a newly married actor who landed in jail in the early 1990s, and was bailed out, as he tells it, by Nana Patekar.
The clip has resurfaced after Nana Patekar’s death, as fans rediscover stories that connect the late actor with his colleagues. It comes from Shah Rukh’s appearance at Tehelka’s Think 2012 event, where he was unusually frank about his early years in Mumbai.
How the arrest unfolded
Shah Rukh recalled that a magazine had hinted at an affair between him and a co-star, which upset Gauri Khan. He decided to confront the journalist and showed up at her house with a ceremonial sword that his father-in-law, an Army officer, had given him at the wedding.
In the clip, he did not defend the choice. “I behaved very badly. I was jailed,” he said, adding that he had told himself the sword was “a good weapon, sanctioned by the Indian Army.” He said he threatened people at the journalist’s house and injured a young man’s legs.
The events, as Shah Rukh described them, moved quickly:
- A magazine hinted at an affair between Shah Rukh and a co-star.
- He went to the journalist’s house carrying a ceremonial sword.
- Police took him into custody while he was shooting Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.
- Since it was past 6 pm, bail could not be arranged immediately.
What Nana Patekar did
That delay is where Nana Patekar enters the story. “Nana Patekar got me out of jail, finally, and he was very sweet,” Shah Rukh said in the clip. He described an evening court on a weekend where bail could be handled, and credited Nana with making it happen.
The two had shared screen space in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman in 1992, an early break for Shah Rukh that is now remembered as part of his rise. In the years since, Shah Rukh has often framed his first decade in Mumbai as a mix of mistakes and people who looked out for him. This story fits squarely in that lane.
The friendship, from both sides
Nana Patekar spoke about Shah Rukh with similar warmth in a 2024 interview with The Lallantop. “He meets me with a lot of love till date. People forget but he hasn’t forgotten me,” he said, adding that he was fond of him.
After Nana’s death, Shah Rukh shared a personal note remembering him. The resurfaced clip adds a spoken memory to that tribute, and it is the kind of story only the two of them could tell.
The moment is a reminder that the clip is not really about the arrest; it is about how an established actor helped a younger one at a low point, and how that favour was remembered decades later.
Source: Hindustan Times
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