Shah Rukh Khan, The Ultimate Romantic Hero, Claims He's 'Shy' Around Women

New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan, the 'king of romance' to many, says he's actually 'shy' and 'conscious' when he's in female company. The 51-year-old actor is famous for his trademark hug-the-world pose and is the star of definitive Bollywood love story Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and other romantic hits. IRL, however, Shah Rukh Khan is awkward at photoshoots where he has to pose with his heroines. "I am conscious of posing with girls. I am shy of girls," SRK told news agency PTI. Oh dear. Magazine covers are especially difficult, apparently. "I did feel very awkward doing film magazine covers with heroines because I thought I was wasting their time. I can do a picture very nicely in character, like 'Raees', but I am very awkward posing in. like say a GQ (magazine)", Shah Rukh Khan told PTI.

SRK also said he doesn't recall having claimed in a Nineties interview that he disliked posing with his heroines because he feared a scandal. "I find that very odd. I still need to get over that. Most of the girls are my friends, so if we are standing and doing a picture I will be happy with that. I have no worry that people will mistake it for anything, some people may and that's alright, but I still get awkward posing with an actress, or a model. If it is not a film, I feel awkward because I don't know how to pose," SRK said to PTI.

This stated awkwardness is restricted to photoshoots only. SRK says he was absolutely comfortable with the cast of his new film Raees - Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mahira Khan and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. "Nawaz, Zeeshan, Mahira, they all come from very real world of acting. They have done cinema which is not as popular as I have done perhaps, and they will, God willing, but so far they haven't. So they come from a real zone, they do a scene, they talk about it, discuss it," SRK told PTI.

The casting of Raees was essential to keeping the film authentic. Shah Rukh Khan plays the titular Raees Alam, a 1980s boot-legger in Gujarat, who is opposed by a police officer, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. "Because I am not playing a hero type, it was very important that I am surrounded by people who approach the scene very realistically. That is one of the reasons why we wanted all new people with me, who haven't acted with me before," Shah Rukh Khan told PTI.

Raees is expected to be one of this year's biggest films. Directed by Rahul Dholakia, it opens on January 25.

(With inputs from PTI)