Shah Rukh Khan recently graced the Locarno Film Festival, and let’s just say, it was a masterclass in charm, wit, and a dash of cinematic wisdom. Honored with the prestigious Pardo Alla Carriera award, SRK didn’t just collect accolades—he also collected hearts as he chatted with Giona A. Nazzaro, the artistic director of the festival, and treated fans to some delightful insights and anecdotes about his career, family, and, of course, his love affair with cinema.
In classic SRK style, he effortlessly turned what could have been a dry Q&A into a lively interaction, sprinkling in his signature humor with a side of deep cinematic thought. When the conversation turned to the diverse landscape of Indian cinema, Shah Rukh didn’t miss a beat. “Honestly, to regionalize Indian cinema is wrong.
India is so vast that we don’t just have different dialects, we have entirely different languages,” he said, casually name-dropping a few for good measure—Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Odia, Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati. “It’s all Indian cinema,” he declared. Shah Rukh, always the keen observer, went on to sing the praises of South Indian cinema, which he believes has been serving up some of the best stories and superstar performances for years.
“Some of the best storytelling comes from the South of India. Some of the greatest superstars of Indian cinema are from Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, etc..
. Of course, we know of them in India, but with films like Jawan, Baahubali, and RRR, everybody is noticing it." he said.
For those wondering how Jawan came to be, SRK revealed that his collaboration with Tamil director Atlee was born out of his deep respect for the grandeur of South Indian storytelling. “South has this larger-than-life approach. It’s very robust, with a lot of music, and their heroes—they love them to be larger-than-life.
I really enjoyed acting in such a film,” he said, painting a picture of vibrant sets and even more vibrant action scenes. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing—there was the small matter of the language barrier. “After a point, Atlee and I just started gesticulating,” Shah Rukh joked.
“He’s a wonderful guy, though, and was kind enough to name his son after my dad. Whenever I asked him if a take was okay, he’d just say ‘Mass’. I figured out that meant ‘good’.
It was a lot of shaking hands, eating idly, dosa, and chilli chicken,” he added, making it sound like a South Indian culinary adventure as much as a cinematic one. Wrapping up his ode to South cinema, SRK couldn’t resist boasting a bit about the talent in Jawan. “We had Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara ji, editing by Ruben.
It was the first true fusion of Hindi and South Indian cinema that really transcended boundaries. People loved it, and it did big business. Jawan was such a great experience,” he beamed, as if recounting a particularly good holiday.
On the topic of what’s next, Shah Rukh confirmed that he’s gearing up for Sujoy Ghosh’s King, an “age-centric actioner” that’s got him hitting the gym harder than ever. And here’s the kicker—his daughter, Suhana Khan, is reportedly joining him on screen, marking their first on-screen collaboration. It seems the King of Bollywood is ready to pass the crown—or at least share it for a while.
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