Late filmmaker Ravi Chopra’s wife Renu Chopra, recently in an interview, spoke about her warm relationship with Shah Rukh Khan, how the superstar produced her son’s directorial debut but refused to take interest on the money invested in the film and how he once visited her home unannounced to check up on her husband who was suffering from cancer.
In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Renu said that she has approached SRK to back her younger son Abhay Chopra’s directorial debut, Ittefaq (2017), which starred Sonakshi Sinha, Akshaye Khanna, and Sidharth Malhotra in lead roles. She added that Shah Rukh agreed to produce the film immediately. “I said I do not have money to invest, and he said he will do it. I told him baaki mere bacche poori tarah se dil laga ke picture banayenge (I told him my children will put their hearts into making the movie). It was my younger son Abhay’s debut film. Unhone kahani bhi shayad padi nahi (SRK didn’t even read the story). His funda was, ‘I never back the horse; I back the jockey.’ He said, ‘If your son is backing it, I’ll back it,” she said.
She also explained that while producers usually charge interest on the money they invest in a film, SRK refused to do so, calling it ‘haraam’. “And to date… the money was always 50-50 down the line. And when the movie finished, like all other finances, normally there’s an interest rate. He said, ‘Nahi, ye haraam hai mere liye. Main nahi lunga (No, this is forbidden. I won’t take it),’” she said.
Renu also recounted the time when Shah Rukh showed up at her house to check up on her husband Ravi when he was unwell. “He was so nice; he said, ‘I know what it is to have an ailing father.’ Shah Rukh’s father had cancer,” she recalled.
She also revealed how SRK had shared his late father’s words of wisdom with her, which helped her navigate the difficult period after her husband’s passing. “Shah Rukh’s father told him, ‘Tum wahi karo jo tumhara dil chahe and agar dil nahi chahe toh kuch mat karna kyunki jo kuch nahi karte woh kamaal karte hain (You do only what your heart feels like, and if you don’t feel like it, then don’t do anything because those who do nothing do wonders).’”
Ravi Chopra is known for directing films like Baghban (2003). He also produced Bhoothnath (2008), which featured SRK in a guest appearance.