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It’s no secret that Shah Rukh Khan was a bright student throughout his academic journey. In fact, he even cleared the entrance exam for the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), a feat that speaks volumes about his intellectual capabilities. Yet, despite pursuing a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from the renowned AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia Millia Islamia, SRK never received the formal qualification. The reason? He never sat for his final examinations, a regret he has voiced multiple times over the years.
In a candid interview with NDTV during the promotions of Don 2, Shah Rukh Khan recalled that he has already started filming for his first television show called Fauji, and was facing some problems in college due to his lack of attendance. Just a couple of days before his written exams, he was studying in the library when the principal of the college walked in and spoke to him. “Yeh bachpane ki himakat hai, badtameezi aur ghatiyanpan tha mera (Call it my youthful arrogance, rudeness and cheapness),” he said and recalled how he misbehaved with his principal. “I was sitting in the library studying for an exam scheduled on Monday when he walked in and said, ‘If it were up to me, I wouldn’t let you take this exam.’ And in my youthful arrogance, I replied, ‘Then I don’t want to take the exam either,’ and I just walked out.”
What followed was a scene straight out of a movie. Shah Rukh Khan shared how his mother, visibly upset, took him to his principal’s house to apologise. “She held me by the ear and made me say sorry. I did apologise. He smiled and said, ‘I was just saying it, you didn’t have to take it so egoistically.’ But by then it was too late, the exam was the next day, and I hadn’t studied. I told my mother, ‘I won’t study here any longer, but one day I’ll come back to teach here.’
Looking back, the superstar said that the turning point in his life was his education in filmmaking, and urged the students to not leave their education midway, even though he did the same. “I think the turning point of my life was I was taught by some of the most wonderful professors at Jamia. I had completed the entire course and passed all my practicals. I just didn’t give my written exams,” he said and described his behaviour as “stupid, youhful nonsense”.
“I wish I had the degree. I really miss it. I would tell everyone that please do not leave your studies ever because if I had studied, believe me, I would be such a big superstar,” he shared.
Shah Rukh Khan was among the early batches at Jamia’s Mass Communication program. Interestingly, he was a senior to filmmaker Kabir Khan, who has often mentioned that he used to study from Shah Rukh’s notes.
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