Shah Rukh Khan at TED Talks in Vancouver. (Image courtesy: YouTube)
On many levels, Shah Rukh Khan was his boldest self at his recent TED Talks debut. The video, which released last Friday, is breaking the Internet, so to say. Apart from scoffing at
rumours of his littlest one, AbRam, being elder son Aryan's love child, the Bollywood superstar is seen discussing love at length.
Speaking to mid-day about why he chose such an unusual topic on a platform where innovators mostly talk about their success stories, Shah Rukh Khan says, "People who come on TED Talks are amazing - achievers, thinkers and innovators. Being an actor known for romance, I felt it was important for me to speak about love instead of just Indian films or Bollywood. It would have been easy talking about how an actor thinks, or the pressures of it.
I wanted it to be more universal in appeal, instead of what I do as an actor."
Shah Rukh Khan delivering TED Talk in Vancouver earlier this month. (Image courtesy: mid-day)
Tell him about the overwhelming response to his talk and he says he's "extremely glad" about it. "I was actually trying to put across something that I believe our country instills in us. The speech was a summation of my life in my country and all that I have learnt so far. I have been lucky to get so much love. I had to bring to the fore the personality of the Indian brethren, which is nothing short of overwhelming.
Logon ka dil jo hai hamaare desh mein pyaar se bhara hua hai. So, if one is able to translate it for the rest of the world, it will be phenomenal. We have amazing things happening around in terms of human achievements in all fields. If love and these developments go hand in hand, we can create a happy place to live. With the first speech, all I wanted was to give people this message."