Bumping into SRK, Sallu and MJ - in Dubai

What's it like to be a dead ringer for cultural icons? We catch up with impersonators of Bollywood stars Shah Rukh and Salman khan, and King of Pop Michael Jackson, and discover that life does imitate art in more ways than one

I'm sitting across from Shah Rukh Khan in a train compartment at Mumbai's Victoria Station, and I can scarcely believe my eyes. Mostly because I'm not really in Mumbai but in Dubai's Bollywood Park, the train is just a giant replica of an Indian Railways' model, and the man before me is not SRK - but a spitting image of the Bollywood Badshah himself. An impersonator by popular request, if you will.
Eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, hair slicked back just so, and dressed in a shiny black jacket, Ali Abbasi could well pass off for King Khan if he wanted to. And he does - he's been working with the real Shah Rukh as his body double in adverts and movies for the last 20 years, and no one's been any the wiser.
It's not just the striking natural resemblance. The 46-year-old lookalike has the superstar's mannerisms, voice and iconic poses down pat too. "I can't get the SRK out of me," he laughs, surprising me with an impromptu but flawless delivery of a dialogue from Don. "After doing this for so long, it's become so much a part of me that I slip unconsciously into talking like him."
Ali wasn't always part of show business; when he started out, it was in the air conditioning industry. "Back then, Shah Rukh bhai was not yet well known," he recalls. "He'd just come out with his film Deewana (1992). People would constantly tell me about the 'new guy on the block' and that I looked just like him. I used to feel super proud of that."
Residing in Mumbai at the time, with a lot of friends in the film industry, Ali decided a change of career tracks was in order. His first break came when they required a body double for SRK in an ad for Hyundai Santro, for the car's first foray into the Indian market. "The close-ups would be of SRK and the long shots would be of me," he explains. But Ali was worried that the Bollywood heavyweight would take offence at the idea of him playing his double - so he went to seek his blessings first. "When he looked up and saw me, he did a double take. I was dressed exactly like him! I greeted him and told him, 'Only if you think I'm good enough to be your body double will I go ahead with this.'"
With SRK's approval, Ali proceeded and happily tells of how much the star later praised his performance to the directors. Soon after, Ali worked with SRK for 22 days on Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000), co-starring Juhi Chawla - an outing that cemented his position as a reliable doppelgänger. "After that, any time they needed a body double for SRK, I was the first choice," he says.
Being SRK is no mean feat, he admits with a smile. "To be Shah Rukh bhai, I have to follow his lifestyle carefully: his workouts, his diet, his hairstyles etc. It's difficult because he has a lot of people and money to help him maintain his looks; I have neither." It's also a constantly evolving process. "SRK has no limit," says Ali. "He does something new every time, so I have to keep up to match his level. But the reason I've managed to keep my family well settled is all thanks to him and his name - so it's okay."
It's a truth that he's experienced both professionally and personally, and he tells of the time Shah Rukh personally wrote a letter of recommendation for Ali's son to help him gain admission at a school. "Outside of work, Shah Rukh bhai keeps to himself. He doesn't interact with too many people - but he's very helpful by nature, and does a lot for those close to him, if they're in need."
Both Ali's sons, aged 16 and 11, are SRK fans. "They love him because their father is his lookalike - it's something they're very proud of!" And his wife? "We dated for three years before getting married and, in the beginning, she actually agreed to go out with me because I looked like Shah Rukh Khan," he laughs.
The actor - who has starred in both Fan and recent release Raees, apart from several TV spoofs like Main Hoon Don and Kabhi Kranti Khabhi Jung - currently does multiple live shows at Bollywood Park every day, apart from meet-and-greets and other interactions. The fan base in Dubai is definitely crazier than the one in India, he declares. "India has an understandably large number of fans, but Dubai's level of fandom is different. Here, Arabs and other nationalities are equally obsessed with SRK, and I get accosted by girls and guys alike," he says. "But I love entertaining them and making them happy."
There was a point when Ali says he tried to make a name for himself, but it always came back around to being a lookalike, so he "let it be". Today, his life revolves around SRK and his personality. "People don't want to listen to me as Ali anymore; they want to hear me as SRK," he says. "And I've no issues with that. If bhai has no problem with it, why should I?" he asks, half-indignantly. "I want to be an SRK impersonator till I'm 90 years old!"

'I had no clue impersonation could be a full-time job'
The theme park is turf to another major star. Earlier that morning, when we first caught sight of 'Shah Rukh', he was waiting for us with none other than Salman Khan - or rather, 33-year-old Shan Ghosh, dressed to the nines as Inspector Chulbul Pandey from Dabangg. Like their real-life counterparts and their recently revived bromance (post a very bitter, much-publicised rivalry), this pair too shares great camaraderie and is more than happy to oblige delighted park visitors who beg for quick selfies.
Shan grew up listening to people regularly telling him he looked like the Sultan star. "I thought they were just being nice to me," he says. Greatly inspired by Salman's philanthropy, however, he began using his looks to promote charitable acts, such as attending birthday celebrations for special needs kids or organising collection drives for winter clothes to be distributed to the poor and elderly in the coldest parts of India. A portion of his earnings also went to charity.
Several event organisers would contact him routinely through Facebook to ask him to be part of their shows. But it was only in 2014, when he was asked to be part of a movie on the life of Salman called Being Bhaijaan, that he decided to pursue impersonation professionally. "I had no clue it could be a full-time job!" he says.
He has terms and conditions though: he will only take on roles that portray Salman Khan positively. "I've had many offers to do spoofs but if the script isn't right, I turn them down. Even if they give me Rs1 crore (1 crore = 10 million), I will never take up roles that portray him negatively, because he's my idol," says Shan, fervently. "Whatever I am today is because of him."
It doesn't take much for the lookalike from Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, to make like his hero; for him, the natural resemblance is a matter of great pride. "I hit the gym regularly and maintain my diet, but I don't need to do much else. If I grow a French beard, I look like him in Kick. If I take off my moustache, it's the everyday Salman look. If I grow out my hair, I'll look like he did in Tere Naam." Even learning his mannerisms, dialogues, dress sense and gait didn't take time for Shan, because "before I was his lookalike, I was his fan".
He does pay very close attention to detail just so he doesn't upset the fans. "Salman bhai has a set look," he explains. "If I forget the bracelet, people will actually ask me about it. He has a particular style of belts and footwear, so I have to keep those things in mind. If I'm representing Salman Khan, I need to do him justice."
A former real estate investor and designer for jewellery brand Nakshatra, Shan's devotion to the superstar is not just for the sake of the fans but for himself too. "I've tried all my life to get as close to him as possible," he says. "I even attended his final court case - the hit-and-run one - because the verdict could have been a life-changing one. You don't have to be a stalker to be a true fan: my admiration for him is unconditional."
His personal encounter with the star is one he cannot forget - right down to the very minute. "September 5, 2010, at 8.10pm in Nagpur - that's the first time I saw him in real life," says Shan. While undergoing a training programme at a hotel, it so happened that Salman was also at the same hotel that day. "He was surrounded by bodyguards but I managed to get past them. Salman bhai caught sight of me and gave me a thumbs-up, before heading for the lifts. It was such an unexpected encounter that I was a bit in shock!"
Dubai's love for Salman Khan is no less, he adds. "People flock to see live shows we do every day; it's always house-full. To be able to represent Salman Khan in Dubai is a feeling I cannot describe," he says, rubbing his forearm vigorously. "Goosebumps!" he laughs, by way of explanation.

'I'm paying MJ back for what he gave me'
Whatever answer I was expecting from Dubai-based Michael Jackson impersonator Anas Otry to the question "Where are you from?", I have to admit it wasn't Syria. Painting a very different picture of the country from the one we're familiar with today, he explains  that there's where his love for the King of Pop began. "Back in the mid-90s, when I was about eight years old, my dad brought home a VCR one day, together with a trial tape with a mix of music clips. One of them was Michael Jackson's Thriller. That song really got my attention. I was mesmerised by the dancing, choreography, red jacket. and the man."
Anas started imitating the pop star's songs - and moves - closeted in his mum's bedroom and using a hairbrush for a mike. The tipping point came when his best friend convinced him to enter a dance competition. "I stole his dad's fedora and cut my pants to make them short in order to show off the white socks, MJ-style. We didn't have access to costumes, so that was how we made do. I was the youngest participant. The music began and I felt like I was someone else. I danced like no one was watching and people actually stood up to clap for me." That day, Anas realised there was a world out there "bigger than [his] mom's bedroom and an audience better than her mirror". He was 13 and has been impersonating Michael Jackson ever since.
Anas regularly performed his tribute acts in Syria as part of a boy band that played in seven concerts. "About 1,200 people attended our shows. It was pretty shocking because we were fairly unknown. We also had a lot of street dancers who I would join and learn a lot from. Back in the 90s, you could feel the spirit of real art on the streets."
Over the years, the boy band disbanded but Mike Jack (Anas' stage name) became the 'man in the mirror'. He likes to consider himself more of a tribute artist than an impersonator. "Impersonation focuses more on the look than the performance. In a tribute, it's more about the music, the art - getting the look right comes last."
For the 31-year-old, the focus was Jackson's music and dancing - up until a few years ago, when he decided he couldn't ignore the 'look' anymore. "You reach a point when you want to perfect it," he says. Anas didn't resemble MJ in any way, so he learnt to use makeup to achieve the look. The entire process takes him about an hour and a half to get it right, while costumes are tailor-made or ordered from trusted websites online. The reward lies in the response, and he is full of anecdotes - including the time he did an impromptu dance for The Jacksons in Abu Dhabi in 2012, and the time he beat 1.5 million participants in a Pepsi contest to present MJ in Tokyo during their 25th anniversary celebrations of the album Bad.
The impersonation gigs are not a full-time occupation for Anas, who works as a dance instructor and manager at the Arthur Murray dance school in Abu Dhabi. "I had to stop performing as MJ for a couple of years to focus on my work, as I drive out to the capital every day. But I've been burning inside. I realised I cannot stay away from Michael, so I've started taking up offers again." (His most recent show was a 30-minute, non-stop performance at Atlantis that involved 12 costume changes.)
"It's not easy to be a different person - especially when that person is Michael Jackson," says Anas. "At the end of the day, you're trying to be someone else. It's a long process, trying to achieve that perfect look and act, but I'm just paying Michael back for what he gave me in my life so, for me, it's worth it."
The perfectionist trait is something Anas says he picked up from Michael - although the star's controversy-riddled life also taught him something else: don't trust too many people. It's Anas' goal to try and change the much-addled public perception of the music icon. "Michael was a very misunderstood person," he explains. "Even after his death, people still don't understand him. As a fan, it is very painful. So, as a tribute artist, I'm trying to change perceptions for those who haven't yet taken the time to understand the real MJ."
karen@khaleejtimes.com