After a blockbuster year with three record Bollywood box office smashes under his belt, Indian star Shah Rukh Khan says his burning ambition to break into mainstream cinema is as strong as ever.
At the World Governments Summit in Dubai – a city he calls a second home – the actor and producer known as SRK took a swipe at Hollywood for failing to offer him any notable roles in his 33-year career.
But, since passing up the opportunity to play the quiz show host in Danny Boyle’s 2008 hit Slumdog Millionaire, Khan said he had received few offers of work in US or UK cinema.
I want to end my career by making that film which is loved by the whole world - then nobody will ask why I haven't I crossed over into Hollywood
Shah Rukh Khan
While one of the biggest roles of all – the next James Bond – may be out of his reach, he might be suitable for more villainous character, he said.
“I really wanted to [be the next James Bond], but I think I'm too short,” said Khan, who is 1.69 metres tall.
“But of course, as a baddie – I’m brown enough.
After a series of cinematic flops and a four-year break from the industry, SRK enjoyed a resurgent 2023.
Releasing three films in 12 months – Pathaan, Jawan and Dunki – that accumulated $330 million at the box office, he was catapulted back into mainstream focus.
“I've said this honestly, but nobody believes it – nobody’s ever offered me any crossover work of substance,” said Khan.
“I had conversations with people from the English and American film industries, but nobody's offered me any good work.
“I've never been offered [a role] in Hollywood or in England.
“Yes, Slumdog was there and I spent a lot of time with Mr Boyle. He's very sweet. But I was doing, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on television successfully at that time.
“I just felt, in the [Slumdog] story that was being told, the guy who was hosting was very mean, he was cheating and dishonest. I found that strange, so I explained to Mr Boyle that I wouldn't like to do it.”
Determination
Khan has not let those disappointments stop him, and puts his drive down to some tough early life lessons.
“Perseverance happens to some people, you don't have any option. I lost my parents very early and then you realise there's no rewinding or coming back from death. You have to continue to make the most of what you have.
“I was a youngish orphan and had to work my way through. It could be the nature of the beast that with dogged determination you keep on working.”
Such is SRK's gravitas, this week his office had to deny rumours of his involvement in negotiations to release former Indian Navy personnel held in Qatar on espionage charges.
As a result, SRK was trending on X for much of Monday, as the eight veterans were freed after intervention from Indian authorities.
Khan believes technology could offer an alternative path into mainstream cinema as AI becomes more widely used.
“When I started off, I just wanted to survive to be able to get a week's work or a month's work or a year's work and say my films should do well,” he said, speaking in Dubai.
“As the years have gone past, my whole job has become more motivated towards bringing new technology into the Indian film industry,"
Now he is looking to continue working for three more decades.
"I have another good 35 years to go, but I want to end my career by making that film which is loved by the whole world.
“Then nobody will ask why I haven't I crossed over into Hollywood.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
