His remark on “intolerance” in India propelled many political parties and social media users to speak against him. Calling it an “obscurantist issue”, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan says it’s not good to question his nationality as he feels there is “no patriot greater than me” in the country.
Khan said at an event in November last year that there was “nothing worse than religious intolerance and that it would take India to the Dark Ages.”
After his remarks, while some tagged him as an “anti-national,” others called it a political statement.
But Khan has a whole different story to tell.
“Sometimes I feel very sad, I even feel like crying, that I should be made to say that I belong to this country, I am a patriot. I will tell all young people to be tolerant, be happy, work hard and take this nation forward,” Khan said on TV show Aap Ki Adalat, aired on India TV.
“We should just move forward with positivity as we live in the greatest country in the world. We are one of the safest and most beautiful nations of the world. We should not tie up ourselves in petty obscurantist issues,” he said.
“I want to say for the last time, I will not repeat it again, that there is no patriot greater than me in this country.”
Khan said he considers himself “the most proud Indian in the world.”
“May be in politics, people might have made comments (on intolerance), but we are not politicians, we are entertainers. In a certain way, we are someone whom children look up to and think they’d like to be successful as I am. So I’ll never like to talk things which will not be in our nation’s interest,” the actor added.
Clarifying his remark, the actor said that through his thoughts, he had only “advised the young not to be intolerant in matters relating to regionalism, religion, caste, colour and creed.”
“My father was one of the youngest freedom fighters. How can I think this country has not been fair to any of us? A man like me, who has got everything from this great country, I’ll be last one to complain,” Khan said.
“My family itself is a mini-India. My wife (Gauri Khan) is Hindu, I am a Muslim by birth, and my three children (Aryan, Suhana and AbRam) follow three religions. So how can I think of my country like this?”
Khan’s remarks were even considered by many to be against Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, the actor clarified that even he supports the central government.
“I would like to state here very clearly, when we chose a leader of our country, whoever may be, as great as (Narendra) Modi, all we have to do is to support him. Our nation has chosen him with a majority, so we have to support our leader and take the country forward and not be negative.”
Asked whether there was a perception that he had friends in the Congress who wanted to fix Modi, Khan said: “How dare I think I can fix anybody. You know me over the years; I am apolitical, though I have friends everywhere.”
Khan also revealed on the show that he “never takes money for acting in films.”
“I only charge fees for endorsements, for events and live shows. I only tell producers to pay me whatever they wish, if the films do well (at the box office). I don’t take acting in films as business. This is my greatest thing that I can do to act in films,” he said.
“My biggest hope in my life is that more and more people watch my films and be happy, and one day I will make a film in India... I’m a big nationalist in such matters... which people of the world can watch and say that this film was made in India. So I want to be a part of that,” he added.
Asked by host Rajat Sharma about his claim 22 years ago that he was a better actor than megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Khan said: “That was my overconfidence as a youth.”
“Twenty-two years later I have now realised that I had then no idea what makes a great actor; that was because of lack of education. My arrogance was sheer childishness. Even now at the age of 50, I sometimes appear to be childish.”
Khan: ‘my family itself is a mini-India’
