‘I wanted to succeed in life to avoid fear of failure’

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Top CEOs and business magnates ditched their boardroom rules and decorum. Many of them were spotted hooting, constantly flashing their cellphone cameras while their female counterparts professed their love for him. All the frenzy and madness befitted the speaker, who was none other than the Badshah of Bollywood.
SRK was in the capital to talk about the ‘role of courage in success’ at the 40th All India Management Convention (AIMA). He sprinkled his session with ample doses of filmi dialogues from Don and Jab Tak Hai Jaan, sang Tujhe dekha to ye jaana sanam for female fans and danced to the tunes of Lungi Dance.
“I was listening to a few of the discussions at the conference and was so scared to listen to all the corporate jargon. I almost panicked that I won’t be able to speak a word. And the irony is, I have to talk about the role of courage,” said SRK in his trademark humour, sporting a black tuxedo. Curiously enough, he sported silver streaks in his hair, which attracted a lot of attention. On being asked about it, he responded, “This is a part of my look in the upcoming film Happy New Year being directed by Farah Khan, for which I am shooting. I play a very interesting character in it.”
Talking about his early life, the 46-year-old actor put forth, “I come from a middle class family. I lost my father early in life. We were not very well-placed financially and were on the verge of being impoverished. All this scared me immensely. I wanted to succeed in life to avoid the fear of failure.”
So how did he enter Bollywood? “Films were a means for me to escape failure and poverty. Not many know that most of my roles in the earliest films were never even meant for me. They were declined by others and then directors approached me. Darr was rejected by Aamir Khan and Baazigar was meant for Salman,” he revealed.
But the actor believes that failure is a step to success. A person should experience some amount of failure in life to know what success means. “I remember reading somewhere that a very popular president of a top bank was once asked about why he thought he was successful and he responded that it was due to right decisions in life. And on being further prodded, he said he took right decisions owing to his experience, which came from getting over wrong decisions,” cited SRK. He said that whenever failure struck him, he chose to move over them, think about the alternatives and took a pragmatic approach.
Success and failure are important means of gauging who are true friends and who are not, feels Shah Rukh Khan. “Just like after Ra.One, I lost many friends and post Chennai Express, I don’t know about friends but I have many new enemies,” joked the witty star. “On a serious note, success and failure are a great way to know who will stand with you in your troubles and who will not,” he added.
On being asked about his zeal for working hard and striving for success even after reaching the pinnacle, the actor responded, “Right from my first serial Fauji to my last film Chennai Express, I always act in projects thinking that this might be my last. So I try to give my best. I hate resting on my laurels. I don’t even like taking long breaks and am anxious to resume working.” For him, hard work is directly proportional to luck, as the latter remains quite unattainable.
Shah Rukh has done a large number of films with Yash Chopra and considers him one of his mentors. Talking about the lessons learnt from the director, who had an astute business sense as well as a golden heart, on his birthday, King Khan said, “Yash sir taught me to work on every project with my complete heart and soul. If it is successful then great, if it is not, then at least you will know it was an honest effort.”
SRK has always been popular with the masses and is known for his inherent talent to keep the audience entertained and spell-bound. Would he ever take up politics, just like stars down South? “Acting is the only job I can do. I feel politics requires sound knowledge of the system, which I do not possess. Politicians have to do a selfless job. I am not that selfless in life,” he quipped. The multi-faceted star is clear about his priorities in life and politics is clearly not one of them.
The story of SRK’s journey from a middle-class boy to a superstar has been inspirational for the youth. What tips would he like to give them? “Always try and learn from people who are better than you in your field. There is no harm in telling them ‘please teach me how to be at par with you’ and accept failure humbly,” he advised.