In this first time ever exclusive interview with senior most journalist Bharathi S Pradhan for Lehren Retro, Sheeba Agarwal & Akashdeep Sabir elaborate upon their deep bond with Shah Rukh & Gauri Khan since 1990's in turn going back to Dubai Days. During the candid conversation, Akashdeep also reveals an unknown fact that the film title 'Dunki' was given to Shah Rukh Khan by him on SRK's humble request... Decode this unheard Dunki Tale by the dynamic couple as they talk about Donkey Route, Shah Rukh Khan & Rajkumar Hirani with Lehren! #sheeba #akashdeepsabir #shahrukhkhan #srk #dunki #donkeyroute #rajkumarhirani
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00:00What is this Dubai connection you have, because you always talk about Dubai.
00:10I was born and brought up there. I did all my schooling there. My parents had their business
00:14there. So that's where I lived. That was my home.
00:16Okay. And I have also heard that Shah Rukh and Gauri stayed at your house.
00:21Yes. You were there that time. I was directing a cricket match. Bollywood
00:26stars and the bomb blast happened. So this was the 1993 Bombay blast. So it became an
00:35issue and we were scheduled to have this match and we were expecting a full house because
00:41we had every leading actor from Dilip Saab to Shah Rukh Khan and name them, Saif. Everybody
00:49was there playing the match, heroines. And because of this issue, I believe in Dubai
00:55there was an announcement that nobody will go for the match. So Dilip Saab tried to make
01:03requests to people, you know, general appeals to people, Raj Babbar, Mithun. But unfortunately
01:09nobody came and we still had to have the match and it got the promoter into such diastrates
01:18that you know, next day morning he said, guys, time to vacate. Take your, you know, get earlier
01:28flights and leave because I have lost everything. I'm bleeding. I can't keep anyone for an extra
01:35day. Normally promoters don't do this. So the Venus family, Shah Rukh, Gauri, they were
01:44there and you know, Is Dauran Baazigar lagi thi. It had not yet like become what it is
01:52today, a cult movie. Probably Shah Rukh hadn't realized he's become such a big star and he
02:01said main ek do din rehna chahata hoon. Early days for him also. So Sheeva said I have a
02:06lovely apartment across the lake. You can come and stay there. So he was more than sweet
02:11and she had a big massive four bedroom, five bedroom house. So it is bad that I had to
02:19stay in a hotel. We weren't married. You got married in 96. And this is 93. So I can't
02:29We weren't dating each other then. No, we weren't. We were not in Dubai. Oh, at the
02:34end of the trip, me and Himalaya came and I gave you one first gift from there to set
02:39things rolling. Yeah. So we weren't dating. So he stayed there. So I said both of them
02:45come and stay home. So they stayed at home. So what was it like as guests? Lovely. Absolutely
02:50lovely. We were all so much more chilled out in the night. You know, we're all friends
02:56and we used to hang out together. Till today, Bharti. Gentleman to the core. Intelligent
03:03to the core. Such a brilliant person. He deserves every bit of this. I believe he asked
03:10you for the title. Dunkey. See, I, during COVID, I spent the first one and a half years
03:20when I'm when I met somebody who said, you know, I have a friend who's just been thrown
03:26out of America trying to illegally enter America. So I asked him how he was going to America.
03:32He said, I didn't even know this. It's a donkey route. You go from Punjab to Istanbul,
03:38you get a fake passport from there, and from there you are dropped off in Panama. Then
03:43there is no guarantee you'll make it. There's only a 2% survival rate. But you go from Panama,
03:48Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and then you try to jump the wall anytime in the
03:54next one, two, three years. Otherwise, you're living in a gutter below Mexico. And on the
04:01way, you can die of a bee attack, of an alligator attack, when you're passing lakes, or you're
04:07drinking contaminated water, you'll die of diarrhea, you'll die of bee bite, malaria.
04:12But still people used to go. I'm saying there are 5000 Indians going every month and there
04:18is no body and there is no road. You're just going. Let me tell you that you carry water
04:24biscuits with you because it's like three months of walk. There comes a time when you
04:28run out of water and biscuits. And there is no lake or pond coming nearby. You start
04:35staring, when will somebody feel like peeing? And I collect the pee and I drink it. I'll
04:40die of thirst otherwise. These are facts. And you will, when you, and then I collected
04:45about 1000 videos, it's all available on the net. Like I said the skeletons are sitting
04:50on a tree. Somebody must have taken a break, I'm dying or I'm tired. The rule of the donkey
04:56route passage is that if someone falls ill, you have to leave them. Because if you're
05:01going in a group of 15 people, if one falls ill, 14 people won't stop. There is border
05:06patrol, there are drug traffickers, there is a lot. It was the same in the film Goat Life.
05:12So I spent the best of Covid instead of being frustrated that I can't go out of the house.
05:17We called a writer and I had an AD and the three of us sat down and wrote season 1,
05:23season 2, season 3, season 4. On the donkey? The donkey route. About 15 people from different
05:29states who get together and from Delhi they go to Istanbul and then what happened? And
05:33everyone's backstory. Why would you burn your bridge and go and take this path where
05:38there is only a 2% survival rate and you're still going? So what happened? It didn't
05:42happen? No, Netflix approved it. Now it's gone for reappraisal because after Covid everything
05:46got delayed. So it's like they've signed Seal, we signed Ritesh Shah. I'm doing it
05:51with Bani J. I mean I was supposed to do it, it has to start soon, if it doesn't it's
05:56a different idea. So will you direct it yourself? No, you've got to have a director with his
06:02boots on. You can't do it now? No, I signed, why am I forgetting his name? I loved his
06:10films. Osama, Man with the Striped Pyjamas. Abhishek? No, the Iranian filmmaker. Even
06:20Majid Majidi assisted him when he used to be free. I called him. He had made opium
06:26fields and all that for Afghanistan. For Iranians? Siddique Barma. He's taken shelter
06:36in Paris. After he did opium fields, they issued a fatwa. So I wrote Donkey Root, got
06:46an approval on Netflix. It's right now in the cold storage despite them having given
06:51enough money for reasons best known to Bani J. who are my partners in handling. Anyway
06:57that point was, so then we said Donkey Root, the road to death. Then the one who came to
07:04tell me what happened to him in Punjab, he was a Punjabi, so he would say donkey.
07:09I got to know he was getting a donkey, so I went for it. I said it's interesting,
07:14let's register a donkey too. Coincidentally, Rajkumar Hirani thought on the same lines
07:21then Shah Rukh said, what's the title? He said Donkey. So Shah Rukh said, apply for
07:27it. It's an oddball title, no one will have it. I said no, there's a cine-tech Akash
07:33in his name, don't talk to him. So this is also an incident.
07:40So Shah Rukh called you and asked?
07:42No, I'll tell you that incident. So I was in my office editing room, I have an editing
07:47room at home. If I want to make a presentation, so I was making it at 9 at night with my
07:54editor. The phone rang, unknown number. The number came, but unknown. So I picked it up
07:59and said hello, this is Motez Shah Rukh speaking.
08:04Who's playing a prank with me at 9? I mean, I have done 3 world tours with Shah Rukh.
08:09I was there with Vivek Vaswani to receive him when he came to Bombay for the first time.
08:13We stopped to have breakfast at Jaya Pradha's house and all that. So I knew him from then
08:16on and off and on. But in between, I got a call, Shah Rukh, I hung up.
08:22Then again the phone rang, as polite as he always is. Listen, I think I've caught you
08:27at a wrong time, you're busy. Save my number, I'm not on WhatsApp, I'm on, what is that
08:32called? Message. So when you'll be free, I'll call you. Wait a minute, wait a minute.
08:37By then I understood. Then I came out and all. I said, no, sorry, I just thought somebody
08:41is playing the prank with me. So he said, you still like me? You like to sleep at 5
08:45in the morning? I said, yeah, I never sleep. Work or no work, I don't sleep before 4-5.
08:49Come over tonight, we'll have dinner together. Then tell me why.
08:52He loves to talk, he's so well-informed.
08:57Absolutely.
09:00I asked him, how is Sheeba? What are the kids doing? I said, one has gone to the US,
09:04one to London. He said, my kids have gone too.
09:08He said, we'll have dinner at the second meeting. I said, do you have a title for
09:12Donkey? I said, yes, I'm doing a web series for Netflix, Donkey Root.
09:16I even registered a donkey for that. I said, I want a donkey.
09:20He said, sure, take it.
09:24I said, but let's do one thing. You're free for a couple of days.
09:28I said, yes, what's the problem with COVID?
09:32I said, I'll call Rajkumar Hirani tonight.
09:36Joshi, another lady writer has gone. I said, I'll call her.
09:40Let's do one thing, you listen to me and I'll listen to you.
09:44So that we don't have the same elements.
09:48I think these people made me wait till 3 in the morning.
09:52I need an audience. I picked up the pen after a long time.
09:56So I screenplayed a dialogue of 8 episodes.
10:0032 episodes were ready. I'm still saying, anybody go and shoot it.
10:04It'll be the biggest show on earth.
10:08There is a reason for every backstory. Why did he come to Bangladeshi?
10:12Why did he leave his home and come here?
10:16One brother is caught and the other brother goes to find him.
10:20Somebody is going to just make it because you've just narrated the whole story.
10:24So you narrated your story.
10:28He narrated his story.
10:32Then his office said, sir, money.
10:36I said, one title that I know I'm not using.
10:40I'm using Donkey Root. The caption is The Road to Death.
10:44I said, I won't take money from Shah Rukh Khan.
10:48So that happened between Shah Rukh and you.
10:52He was so touched. I said, don't be silly.
10:56But that's again.
11:00When we hear these stories, we know it's very possible.
11:04I joked with him one day.
11:08I think the public perception of these actors is worse than they actually are.
11:12I always tell people
11:16that they are different from three people.
11:20But one on one, they are fabulous people.