Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, known for his charming screen presence and for eschewing action and romantic roles over his three-decade career, speaks candidly about his motivations, his occasional lack of them, and what fuels his passion for cinema.
Speaking about what he called a “generational change” in Indian cinema, Khan said the excitement audiences feel in cinema now “is no longer an adrenaline rush, but an emotional rush. And that has to continue.”
The celebrated actor, who has starred in 65 films, was recently awarded the Career Achievement Award at the 77th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, and also delivered a lecture at the festival. Khan's signature roles – the villain in “Darr” (1993) and the hero in “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (1996), which catapulted him to stardom – were shot in Switzerland, so the award was a “full circle” moment for him.
In an exclusive interview with diverse In Locarno, Khan discusses his recent action films, his approach to choosing roles, and his views on the changing landscape of Indian cinema.
What does being honored by the Locarno Film Festival mean to you?
For me, it's a long journey. I started my journey as a romantic hero or a lover boy. So to come back to Switzerland and receive an award is amazing. It's like a full circle. I had heard about the festival, it's very famous and prestigious, but I never imagined that I would be here receiving an award. The idea is to be able to present not just my films, but Indian cinema from the North, South, East and West and say, 'This is the top filmmaking country in the world.'
As you mentioned, you are known as a romantic hero and have done action films in the past, but none as great as 'Pathaan' and 'Jawan'. They were among the biggest Indian hits of 2023 and on a much larger scale than anything you have done before. What did you do to reinvent yourself as a formidable action hero?
As much as I love it, I'm surprised by the term “romantic hero.” I've never thought of myself that way, to be honest. The other day, I was sitting with [director] Aditya Chopra, who kind of started this process with 'DDLJ' [“Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”]“If we count, I have done about five or six romantic films, which are classics and all-round romantic films – ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, maybe ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. I don’t think ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ is a romantic film. I think I agree with him, but one obviously categorises it as such.
I have a dream. I want to have a room full of pictures where — and this is not a narcissistic thing — if you look at my work, you should feel like every film is part of a genre that I grew up watching. I’m not tied to a genre as a viewer. I love watching action movies. Oddly enough, my least favorite movies are romance movies. I love science fiction movies, dystopian movies, and unconventional human drama movies. I love courtroom dramas. I love thrillers. I love horror movies sometimes. I just felt like in a couple of years when I wasn’t working, I didn’t do a full-fledged action movie. I love Tom Cruise movies. “Mission Impossible” — don’t really worry. You come away satisfied most of the time.
[“Pathaan” director] Siddharth Anand has had that title for the last 15-20 years, and I remember he said that if I do a film called 'Pathaan', it has to be with you sir. Otherwise I won't do it. So it took a long time. I think we signed it in 15 minutes. And 'Jawan' was a kind of South Indian film that I hadn't done. So those are two things that I think I haven't touched on, and I'm sure there are more and I'll discover them as I go along. For me, it's not a reinvention, it's a requirement of the role. I didn't reinvent myself to play a short guy in 'Zero', and I didn't reinvent myself to play 'Fan' as a slightly psychotic person. It's just commitment and honesty to the kind of film I'm doing.
I know the movies were a big hit, and people think I reinvented myself after a break and then came back. To be honest, it wasn’t that well thought out. Personally, if you ask me, I love action movies. I love “Bad Boys.” I’ve done action movies before, but to be in a completely honest action movie… I had the opportunity. Covid allowed me to build up my body. You sit at home and you work out. So, everything fell into place.
For the period before your films 'Pathaan', 'Jawan' and 'Dunki', some of your films could have done better at the box office and there was a self-inflicted gap of several years.
I try to make it as diverse as possible, keeping in mind the standards of commercial cinema. Yes, it should have its songs, dances, fights, emotions. But can we say something new? So, all the films I have made, whether it is Jab Harry Met Sejal or Zero or the ones that didn’t do well like Fan – I have found them interesting. I love that film. Some of the films I like the most are the ones that didn’t do well. And I have a reason for that. Cinema is a mass communication medium. It has to communicate, very simply, to a lot of people. It shouldn’t exploit the mind. It shouldn’t preach. I always say that it can’t preach. It has to be simple. Some of these films that didn’t do well were so personal that they weren’t simple enough, they were so personal that they were reduced too much.
It wasn’t because of the films. I always maintained that the day I didn’t feel like getting up in the morning and shooting, I didn’t want to work. It wasn’t because the films failed, to be honest. I was working on a film in January, and this was in December. That was very unprofessional on my part. I just woke up and said, “I don’t want to go and shoot this film.” I called the producer and said I don’t want to work for a year. He said, “That’s not possible. You can’t sit around without working even for a minute. If you don’t like the film, say no, don’t say you won’t work for a year.” And after a year and a half, he called me and said, “I’m really surprised that you’re not really working.” So I didn’t want to work. I didn’t want to act. I didn’t feel like acting. Because acting for me is very natural.
How did you keep yourself busy during that time?
I learned how to cook. I learned how to cook Italian. I think it’s great food. So I learned how to make the best pizza in the world. I hope to open a restaurant one day. I have so many aspects now that I can enjoy. I learned how to clean. I started cleaning the house, my room, from my handbag to my trolley bag to my laptop bag to different places in the house. I’m now the best cleaner in the house. I can vacuum, I can clean, I can mop. I can do everything. I exercised, because there was nothing else to do during Covid, because my downtime moved into Covid. Actually, the whole world went into downtime when I decided not to work. So, for me, I didn’t lose many years in terms of work, because no one was working. And I watched movies and I spent a lot of time with the kids.
Your daughter Suhana was one of the leads in Netflix’s “The Archies” last year, and your son Aryan is making his directorial debut in “Stardom.” Do you have any advice for your children on their career paths?
I don't think I'm someone who can give advice, because all our circumstances and situations and the things that happen to us as actors – especially in the Indian film industry – are very unique… It's not going to work. [for them] How did it turn out for me. So I think everyone's experience should be unique.
I find myself less informed than my children about the way the world now views art or entertainment. I’m very good at the acting part. So if they come to me one day and say, as my daughter does, “There’s a scene, can I just practice with you?” I don’t tell her how to say it, because I think her expression might be more relevant to how people express themselves now. I’m very fascinated by why people do it differently than I do, which is why I would never give them advice on how to do it. My son is making his debut as a series director or a story director. He comes in and asks me, “Would it work? Could it be shorter?” “No, I like it to be longer.” I feel like it’s important to say that. So, we have discussions, but I don’t know if I can put that as advice. They both need to act the way they feel. And hopefully, if I can work with them, maybe [I’ll give them advice] While working, I learn and teach a lot. That's what actors are supposed to do, give and take.
You have not directed a Hollywood movie yet, under what circumstances or conditions would you consider directing a Hollywood movie?
I think this is the biggest and most important film in the world in terms of reach and how people watch it. I don't think I am in a position to choose and set conditions, but yes, when the opportunity comes – I hope I can speak English well enough. I don't want to sound arrogant, but the role has to be worthy of the status that the Indian audience has given me. I shouldn't be disappointed.
I come across as brash and playful, but I respect and am very aware of how much I am admired and adored. People look at what I do with respect. They have given me an excessive amount of respect. They have given me and my family everything I have, people from India and all over the world, Indians and people from the subcontinent. And there is a respect that I have to maintain when I play a role in any film, whether it is a Hindi film, a South Indian film, a Marathi film, a French film or a Hollywood film. So I don’t think anyone has offered me that kind of role, as of now. I don’t have an agent there. I haven’t looked for an agent either, to be honest.
My dream is to be able to screen a single Indian film in front of the same audience as a big Hollywood film, whether I am part of it as an actor, actress, producer, writer or presenter. All I want is for an Indian story to be accepted worldwide, and I hope I can be a small part of it.
What are you working on next?
It's a movie called 'The King' directed by Sujoy Ghosh. [“Kahaani”] “It is creatively produced by Siddharth Anand, who made Pathaan. It is an action drama, it is an Indian film. It will be interesting. I have been wanting to do a film like this for some time, and I have really wanted to do a film like this for seven or eight years. We felt that Sujoy would be the right choice, because we wanted the film to be very emotionally correct. We are all coming together to make a great, popular film that is full of action and emotion.”
Looking back over your 35+ years in the industry, what do you think are the biggest changes that have occurred, especially given the impact of the pandemic?
What hasn’t changed is that most of us are sticking to it and seeing what works. What has remained constant is that the audience is very discerning and very clear, post-pandemic and pre-pandemic. We just like to enjoy ourselves, give ourselves something to enjoy. So when I watch a larger-than-life film and enjoy it, I’m actually enjoying it for its content. I think it’s wrong to say “a content-based film.” It’s the content that I enjoyed. Is “Joan” a content-based film, I don’t know. I call it a good film to watch, but it has content. A content-based film doesn’t just talk about a social issue or a problem in a region and take a stand. I’ve always said that films are not meant for messages or statements. They should be a testament to life itself and the good and bad in life itself.
What has really changed over the last 30 years is the fact that you need to tell stories that appeal to many people in the same room for different reasons. I think it’s very important to mix genres because humans don’t isolate emotions. Films have to be as complex as human emotions, and as easy to understand as human emotions. For example, one of my favorite films from India is “Sholay.” It has everything: action, friends, cop, romance, great comedy, and a lot of people love the bad guy.
I think what has changed is that the world is now moving towards masala films. I guess that's how I would describe it. Everyone in the world wants to make Bollywood films.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
