Shah Rukh on becoming the first Indian movie star to deliver a TED Talk
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 29, 2017)

Serpentine queues outside theatres for a Shah Rukh Khan film are hardly a surprise, but trust the superstar to evoke the same response with a speech. Becoming the first Bollywood actor to deliver a TED Talk in Vancouver on Thursday, SRK was introduced to a young audience as ‘Renaissance Man’. As expected, his inspirational speech has gone viral.

Shah Rukh charmed the audience with an 18-minute talk on India’s contribution to his learning on Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED). The actor shared his life experiences at length, starting with losing his father when he was barely 14, his Bollywood journey and advances in the e-world, all peppered with witty one-liners.

Staying true to his ‘romance king’ image, he said India has taught him ‘how to love’ and that love should be the rendition of the ‘future you’. He got a standing ovation at the Ted 2017 – The Future You conference, which has earlier been graced by ex-US President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, astronaut Mae Jemison, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Speaking to mid-day post the talk, Shah Rukh said, “It was a great opportunity. [I am] very happy to be in Vancouver and it is completely a different platform than any I have ever been to.” This September, the star will host TED Talks India: Nayi Soch, which will mark his TV comeback after Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout in 2011.