I am shy of girls, can't pose with heroines: Shah Rukh

Fans swoon every time he spreads his arms and gives his trademark dimpled smile but Shah Rukh Khan says he finds it absolutely awkward to pose with his heroines on magazine covers.

In his career spanning more than 25 years, Shah Rukh has featured in innumerable magazine covers and if there is one thing which still hasn't changed is his awkwardness. "I am conscious of posing with girls. I am shy of girls," the actor says. "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 said in an interview here.

When asked that he had apparently said in an interview in the '90s that he does not look to pose with women because it will become a scandal, the 51-year-old actor said he does not recall saying that. "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."

Shah Rukh, however, was absolutely comfortable with his co-stars in "Raees" and is all praise for Mahira Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. Directed by Rahul Dholakia, "Raees" is set in 1980s Gujarat. It tells the story of bootlegger Raees Khan (Shah Rukh) whose business is challenged and eventually thwarted by a police officer played by Nawazuddin.

"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." Shah Rukh says since they approach the scene very differently, "their realism hopefully reflected in my performance." "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." The crime-thriller is scheduled to release on January 25.