MUMBAI: Star Shah Rukh Khan acknowledged on Sunday that late filmmaker and frequent collaborator Yash Chopra was responsible for bringing him to the 77th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where he was honored with the gala's prestigious Pardo alla Carriera award-Locarno Tourism award.
The 58-year-old had a question-and-answer session with Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro one day after he became the Indian film celebrity to be awarded for his contributions to the film industry. Shah Rukh claimed that the first person who took him to a movie theatre to watch a film was his late mother.
"In school, Hindi (language) was not my strongest point. My mom said, 'I'll take you to a movie hall to watch a film if you get 10 on 10 in Hindi dictation'. I think I copied one answer from a friend, but I did get 10 on 10, and then my mother took me to watch a film in a theatre for the first time," he said.
Coincidentally, the film was Chopra's 1973 thriller "Joshila", added the actor. "It was called 'Joshila', which was of the director with whom I did maximum number for my films later on in my life. So life is connected. Mr. Yash Chopra, it was his film. I'm sitting here in Locarno, Switzerland because of him, because of that movie I saw."
Shah Rukh starred under the direction of veteran director Chopra in the films Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer-Zaara, and his swan song Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Switzerland was the location for Chopra's superhit filming of 'Chandni' and 'Darr.' In the stunning setting of the European nation, his son Aditya Chopra also filmed 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,' his directorial debut, which starred Shah Rukh and Kajol.
The Swiss government honored Chopra in 2016 with the placing of a bronze statue near the Congress Centre in Interlaken, a popular tourist attraction. Shah Rukh was most recently featured in the 2023 film 'Dunki' said he wished to move from his native of New Delhi to Mumbai after his parents passed away.
"I thought, I'll get some roles. Then I thought I'd work in front of television, then I came into films, so I got little bits and pieces roles. And then one thing led to the other. I came to Mumbai for a year in 1990 and I said, 'I'll work for a year, earn Rs 1 lakh, buy myself a house, and then go back and become a scientist or a mass communication journalist. And, I haven't gone back yet," he added.
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Credit- Deccan Hearld
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