Crowds waiting impatiently at Mannat, a heritage bungalow that is residence to the King Khan is not an unusual sight. November 2, a Sunday, was no different. Only it was the superstar’s 43rd birthday and the excitement is thick, almost like a physical presence. An army of mediapersons is swarming around his lawn, awaiting the superstar’s arrival. When he finally comes, a collective sigh of excitement and relief goes up. A bevy of pretty television reporters quickly check out their make-up in the window of a car parked in the premise. Well, that’s the effect SRK has most times when he turns on the charm.

While he is always in the news, it is on occasions such as these – his birthday (he received over 500 text messages, countless cakes and of course the flowers), followed by the release of his film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi that the Fourth Estate gets a taste of his personal charm, up close and personal. Seated in his study at Mannat Annexe, his streaked hair unkempt, he flashes his trademark impish grin before talking business matters.

“I hate combing my hair,” he says by way of explanation.

That’s certainly a dispensable indulgence when you own an IPL team, are working on developing sports academies to hone sporting talent at all levels, acting in movies and producing them too, endorsing brands and being the perfect father to your children and then some more. His book collection is impressive—he loves Douglas Adams and doesn’t much care for non-fiction, has his coffee black and is not too much of a car enthusiast. With so much interesting stuff and the famous charm it’s easy to digress from matters of showbiz. But we get back to talking shop.

It is true, he admits, that a superhero film is in the pipeline. The film, Ra.One, is to be directed by Anubhav Sinha and will star SRK. “ I want to do the film so that my kids get to see me play superhero; they should see their father wear tights; it will give the VFX team something to be excited about and my six-packs can come in use,” he says, the mischievous grin firmly in place. He is also quick to add that if Mani Ratnam’s next titled is Ravana, he might just reconsider changing the title. His company, Red Chillies Entertainment, in fact, has covered impressive ground in the last few years. The company, Khan explains, has expanded into five divisions—Red Chillies VFX, Advertising, Idiot Box (television), Equipment and International (for shows abroad).

With so much going on, it is no surprise that Khan’s energies are focussed on projects under his own banner. There is Billoo Barber coming up for release early next year wherein Khan plays a superstar to Irrfan Khan’s ordinary man and Farah Khan’s next which he avers could be Happy New Year or a smaller film. “The thing is that with the smaller film, I am required for 50-60 days, which is not the case with Happy New Year,” explains Khan adding that if it is Happy New Year that they decide to produce first, then work would start from mid- to late 2009. A film with John Abraham and Bipasha Basu is also in the pipeline.

The only projects outside of his banner that he is a part of are Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi , a Yash Raj film and Dharma Productions’ My Name Is Khan directed by Karan Johar. However, not all films under the Red Chillies banner will feature SRK. “Now that we are a well-stablished and reputed company, I don’t need to act in all the films,” quips Khan.

Even as he acknowledges that the film industry is likely to be hit hard in times to come, expansion continues with fervour. Red Chillies already has an office in UK and is soon going to set up shop in London for marketing of movies and ad film production. there is also a likelihood of the same at Dubai’s SRK Boulevard. “I set up office before I start work,” he says. However, he is all for greater caution when it comes to bsuiness practices. The corporates, he feels have not spoilt that stars. “Yes, they have brought in the sun and actors are making hay while the sun shines. The best part, however, would be that they have created a platform to spot new talent though the pool of talented skilled people is very small, which is why it comes at high price.”

Khan describes himself as a classic filmmaker who works on a film at a time, while corporates, to hedge their risks, spread their finances across several projects. As for the fancy prices being bandied about, he does a quick cost break-up to explain why they are just too fantastic to be real. “I would make money but to me, a film, if it doesn’t make profits for the exhibitors and distributors, does not qualify as a profit-earning venture. In any case the next time they would think before putting their money on you, or otherwise expect a price-cut.” And since he differs with corporate practices as they are, he is scribbling notes about corporate practices as they should be for movies in general and for Indian movies in particular, which he intends putting in place with his IPL team being headed by John Buchnan.

In addition to money, SRK is also betting on talent. There are around 120 people under his employment —a lot of them youngsters who are allowed to work on ad films, VFX and even films. “This is like training on the job because there are very few institutes of repute to train youngsters.” And what’s his criteria for selecting those he wants to work with?

“They have to be good human beings. If you are a good human being, you will make a good movie.”