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Though Indian cinema has seen many superstars, it’s doubtful whether anyone else has managed to emulate Shah Rukh Khan’s unparalleled fame and fandom; it also seems equally unlikely that anyone will in the future either. One of the world’s biggest superstars and the wealthiest among Indian film actors, Shah Rukh Khan has dominated Bollywood — the world’s second-largest film industry — for over three decades and continues to do so. However, the actor recently reflected on the isolating nature of success, emphasising the importance of occasional reality checks.
“Success somehow leads to failure as well because you get very isolated, not just physically… you get isolation of ideas, because you are so driven by the success,” Shah Rukh said at the Global Freight Summit in Dubai. He also suggested this might have been a contributing factor to the challenges his career faced in the pre-Covid period, which ended with the success of director Siddharth Anand’s Pathaan (2023). “I’m a hardworking person and I don’t take it for granted. (At that time) I was just getting up in the morning, saying, ‘Okay I’m successful; I need to keep doing this; I need to keep working hard and I need to make this film, I want do this visual effects; I want to fly.’ But I didn’t realise that the world around me was changing. So I think success can isolate you and this can lead to failure. While you’re successful, you need to be aware that the world is changing around you and you need to look around. You can’t be just with blinkers on.”
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He added, “The worst part is, you don’t realise that you’re getting isolated because everything seems nice. You have to change according to the consumers, as per what they like and dislike. That understanding is humbling and I think it’s the best thing to mitigate or at least avoid failure.” Mentioning that one won’t be able to avoid failure totally, he continued, “You just need to evolve and say, ‘Okay, I failed. I need to get on with it.’ There also was a time I decided to turn into an Italian chef. I even started making pizzas and some stuff. But my pizzas were not half as good looking as I am or taste as good as me.”
When asked what advice he would give his younger self, the 59-year-old actor, with over three decades of experience, quipped, “My early career was so many years ago. I realised I need to have more oxygen because I am losing memory.” On a more serious note, SRK admitted he wouldn’t give his younger self any advice, as it might alter his journey and the person he is today — something he wouldn’t want to change.
“I have a son who’s 27, a daughter who’s 23 and another son who’s 11. When I speak with them, I realise that the many decisions I took then, when I was 25-26, I would not take them now if I saw them (the instances) through the lens of my experience. If I didn’t take them then, I would not have reached where I have. So, I don’t want to give my younger self any advice… I want him to be brash, overconfident, bordering on arrogant and being extremely stupid and silly, but being extremely gutsy also.”
Adding his trademark humour, SRK said he wished his younger self had a better sense of style. “In the ’90s, my suits sucked. I think mine (fashion sense) didn’t develop too fast; it was more of a failing process. My suits were so big. I did this movie titled Ram Jaane (1995) — very few people saw it — my suits in it were all over the place.” Directed by Rajiv Mehra, Ram Jaane featured Shah Rukh Khan as an anti-hero and the movie also starred Juhi Chawla, Vivek Mushran, Pankaj Kapur and Puneet Issar in key roles.
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