King Khan Receives Honorary Doctorate, Gives Life Lessons And Does The Lungi Dance
Entertainment Oct 18, 2015
“Bollywood’s Baadshah” already boasts an impressive résumé, with over 80 flicks under his belt. He’s played characters ranging from a NASA scientist to an obsessively violent stalker.
You can just call him "Dr. King Khan" from now on.
This week, the 49-year-old superstar took on a new role — one that he’s been preparing for his entire career. Doctor Shah Rukh Khan.
Khan received an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland on October 15. He was presented with the degree from the University Chancellor, HRH The Princess Royal.
Photo Credit: www.cineforest.com
The Bollywood superstar said the opportunity to address one of the most esteemed educational institutions in the world was "a special moment."
Khan’s star power is renowned outside India’s borders. The Los Angeles Times has called him “one of the world’s biggest movie stars,” and Newsweek praises him as “one of the 50 most influential people in the world.”
Yet it was for his work away from the silver screen that he earned many of his academic accolades. Khan was being celebrated for his outstanding record of philanthropy, altruism, humanitarianism and global reach as an actor.
“When you’re honoured by a university, such a prestigious place, [it] kind of makes you look back upon what you’ve been doing, where you started from and just take a pause, a moment and say, this is not happening to me,” said Khan in an interview with the University of Edinburgh. “I never imagined myself to be conferred with an award or an honour like this. It’s extremely humbling.”
Khan’s larger-than-life charming cinematic persona often overshadows his social advocacy work. His efforts to improve children’s education and public healthcare in India don't get much fanfare. He has also reportedly adopted a dozen villages in part of the solar energy project Lighting a Billion Lives, aimed at providing electricity to residents in less fortunate regions. Even Khan’s most diehard fans aren't always familiar with his initiatives to improve living conditions for the underprivileged across India — or the foundation he’s built in his father’s name for female victims of burns and acid attacks.
SRK addressed an audience of scholars and adoring fans after receiving the honorary degree, taking the moment to share some pearls of wisdom (“There’s no such thing as ‘normal’ — that’s just another word for lifeless”), answer questions and quote some lines with his trademark cheeky sense of humour.
Apart from the life lessons, want to know the best highlight for us? When SRK joined a troop of Scottish-Indian fusion classical dancers in an impromptu performance of his own famous "Lungi Dance" from his movie Chennai Express. We expected no less.
Main Image Photo Credit: www.ibtimes.co.in
Abbas Somji
Author
Abbas Somji is a broadcast journalist and producer, and has worked for media outlets across the country, including the CBC and Omni Television. A Toronto native with a background in delivering the hard news, he enjoys covering stories on pop culture & entertainment. Twitter: @abbassomji
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