On the day when the late Lata Mangeshkar was bid adieu with full state honours in Mumbai, it was Shahrukh Khan who grabbed several headlines. Why? Because his simple act of performing a dua and phoonk beside his manager Pooja Dadlani who had her hands joined in pranaam won the hearts of many for its symbolism.
But there were also some who tried to malign him. However, social media was filled with messages of support and since then, Shahrukh Khan has been trending online. Amidst all this, an old video of the actor in an interview with Farida Jalal went viral. The video is from 1997 and in it, SRK speaks of politics, freedom, and power.
When Farida Jalal asked him about what he would do if he were given the power to rule India for a day, Shahrukh replied that he would get rid of all those for whom the peace of the country and its citizen suffers.
He then went on to add how he would turn political leaders into the common people of the country to show them the reality of the lives they lead.
He was then asked about his views on the political climate of the country. A friendly reminder, this was back in 1997. In response, SRK said that since his father fought for the freedom of the country, he was told to not take ‘freedom’ for granted.
“My family, especially my father, we all were very closely connected with the country’s politics of those times. Because my father himself was the youngest freedom fighter of this country,” he said.
SRK went on to clarify that earlier he used to think that ‘freedom’ meant freedom from foreign rule. But no, later he realised that ‘freedom’ meant freedom of press, of speech, from poverty, and from the inability to distinguish between the right and the wrong.
Have a look at the snippet from the interview here:
What do you think of this interview? Tell us!