MUMBAI:
Shah Rukh Khan enjoys a legion of fans in India and certainly knows how to floor the masses, but confesses that politics is simply not for him. One reason – he is not “selfless” enough.
“Oh, I love to do everything for the country in terms of the job that I do, as an entertainer. But you know, politics is a specialised field, and I don’t have that much knowledge of being part of politics,” said the Hindi film superstar, speaking exclusively to NDTV in Mumbai.
The 52-year-old candidly lists why he thinks he is unsuitable for the job.
“…you need to be an expert. Also I believe you need to be completely selfless, dedicated and working towards making the part of your people have a better life. So I don’t know if I am strongly selfless about it as yet or not. So, I don’t think, I doubt if I’d be part of politics.”
On a lighter note, he wonders, if he were to start a party, what would be his chinh (party symbol).
Any guesses? “Outstretched arms,” he grins, referring to his trademark pose on the silver screen.
“Okay no, no, jokes of politics apart, I don’t think I have it to be a politician, and it requires a lot more commitment than I have at this point of time to be honest.”
That said, SRK does see why others in his fraternity – like mega south stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan – would “take the plunge” into politics. For them, he says, it’s natural progression.
“Rajni sir I know feels for it, (and) Kamal sir. I have had chats with them over the years, and I genuinely feel – and even before they joined politics, I think both of them were in the public field of helping people socially. I think they were more aware of that aspect a lot earlier, than even now when there’s talk about them joining politics. So I think for them it seems like a natural progression, and they are loved by people and they want to do things for people. Not that I don’t want to, and not that I am not loved by people!”
True. Not that he doesn’t want to do his bit. SRK recently donated Rs. 21 lakh towards rehabilitation efforts in flood-wrecked Kerala.
“I think as public figures, I mean the monetary part of it is embarrassing, I think one should not even talk about it. I don’t, I don’t want to. But, having said that, anything that we are called upon to do, I think we should lend support.”
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