Shah Rukh Khan on clocking 30 years in the industry: Never thought I'll be known by the name of a character

Looks like it's been a double treat for all Shah Rukh Khan fans this Saturday. First, Shah Rukh shared the motion poster of his much-awaited actioner with Yash Raj Films titled Pathaan. Incidentally, it also happens to be the day when he completes 30 glorious years in the film industry and there couldn't be a better way to mark the occasion than interacting with his fans. Normally, Shah Rukh hosts a live #AskSRK session on Twitter where he responds to his fan's questions, but trust him to surprise his fans in the sweetest way possible. In what appears to be rare (especially, when it comes to SRK), Shah Rukh hosted his #AskSRK session LIVE on his Instagram page this time. 

During the session, the Pathaan actor answered a lot of questions and shared his thoughts on his journey so far, the kind of characters that he's played, the directors he's loved to work with, his equation with Salman Khan and even joked about the apprehension of having the same hairstyle as Deepika Padukone in Pathaan (since he will be seen sporting a long mane in the film), among other things. 

One of the fans asked Shah Rukh Khan if he missed playing his popular characters like Rahul. The actor responded by saying that he doesn't want to sound strange but he doesn't know the last film in which he played a character named Rahul. "I only remember, ‘Rahul, naam toh suna hoga’ or Raj (from DDLJ). I don’t miss any roles. I am a professional actor so I get a lot of roles and characters. I just try to develop as much as I can and enjoy the best that I do," he said. The actor also added that he had a wonderful time working in Zero, which he feels was quite different from what he has done in the past. 

Watch the full live session here:

Shah Rukh, who has possibly set the highest standard of romance in Bollywood films, feels that he's too old to do romantic films now. During the live session, he mentioned that he finds it awkward at times and shared an anecdote from some years back when he was working on a film with a younger leading lady. He said that it was awkward to do a romantic scene with the actress and that he felt a little shy. But then, since he's an actor, he has to act. SRK added that maybe characters or roles like Rahul and Raj are for the younger people to do now. 

Shah Rukh also expressed his gratitude and thanked his good friends Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra for creating such phenomenal characters. The actor said that he'd never thought he'd be known by the name of his characters and considered it to be the greatest gift an actor can get. "When I joined films I never thought I will be known by the name of a character, which I think is the greatest gift an actor can get. You walk on the roads and people start calling you by those names."

After being away from the silver screens for about four years, Shah Rukh Khan is all set to be back with his next, Pathaan, which is slated to hit the theatres on January 25th, 2023. The actor will also be seen in Atlee's next titled Jawaan and Rajkummar Hirani's Dunki.