Bestowed with The ‘Indian of the Year’ Award; SRK Says He’s The Indian for All Ages
Securing another accolade in his extensive collection of achievements, Shah Rukh Khan was honored with the 'Indian of the Year' award by CNN News 18 on January 10.
Adding yet another trophy to his long list of accomplishments, Shah Rukh Khan was awarded the CNN News 18 ‘Indian of the Year' award on January 10.
The 13th edition of India's premiere television award recognizes contributions of individuals across seven categories Business, Entertainment, Sports, Youth Icon, Rising Sports Star, Social Change, and Climate Warriors.
The actor prepared an elaborate speech for the occasion during which he touched upon various topics such as the struggles he faced and how he overcame them in the past year.
In his winning speech, SRK described himself as a hopeful guy who loves to tell happy stories.
He said, “I am a guy who is hopeful and tells happy stories. The heroes I play do good things - they give hope and happiness. If I play a bad guy, I make sure he suffers a lot.”
The actor acknowledged that the past year had been bothersome and unpleasant in many ways. He explained that in these situations one needs to be the hopeful, happy and honest storyteller and believe that every situation concludes on a good note just like in films.
The 'Dunki' actor further said, “I don't just feel like the Indian of the year. I feel I have been the Indian of all the years gone by, and I will be the Indian for all the years to come. I am actually, ladies and gentleman, the Indian for all ages.”
This year’s event was judged partly by a panel of experts and partly by public voting.
Other members who were nominated for the ‘Indian of the Year’ category were entertainment stars such as Deepika Padukone, Mani Ratnam, sports stars such as Neeraj Chopra, Shubman Gill, rising sports stars such as R Praggnanandhaa, Shafali Verma, business tycoons such as Dinesh Kumar Khara, environmental champions like Arun Krishnamurthy, and social change catalysts such as Dr R Ravi Kannan, Menaka Guruswamy & Arundhati Katju.
On the work front, SRK was last seen in Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘Dunki’, which is still running successfully at the box office.