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Success just happens: Shah Rukh Khan at AIMA convention

 
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan Photo: Reuters
"Successful people are never able to pinpoint what made them successful," summed up Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan at the 40th National Management Convention organised by the All India Management Association (AIMA) in New Delhi. Khan was speaking on 'The Role of Courage in Success'.

A candid Khan confessed that he wasn't good at giving a discourse on success. "What can I say about success that all of you already don't know," he said. "We don't acquire wisdom from success and that's why it can't be passed on to others. Success just happens."

Indeed, talking about success, Khan asserted, is a waste of time. "Let me tell you honestly that I happened to become what I did because I am very scared. I don't want to succeed as much as I do not want to fail."

The actor kept the audience spellbound by sharing his personal experiences. He came from a lower middle-class family and had seen a lot of hardship, said Khan. " At a young age after my parents died, I equated poverty to failure. I just did not want to be poor. When I got a chance to act in films, it was not out of desire. It was purely out of fear of failure and poverty."   

Khan, the master showman, kept his audience entertained. His hour-long session was peppered with songs, dialogues and dance sequences from some of his popular movies.
 
But Khan also had plenty of advice for everyone. The 'Baadshah' of Bollywood stressed on the need to learn from failures. "Success is not a direct result of action. All of us should experience failure in some measure. If you don't fail you will never succeed. Failure is an amazing teacher."

Failure also helps you find your real friends, said Khan. Hinting at the rivalry between him and other Bollywood stars, Khan said that while he had made no new friends after the success of his latest movie Chennai Express, he had certainly made a few enemies!

On being asked whether he will join politics, Khan replied in the negative. "It's like asking me if I can become an astronaut. No, I can't. I know many south Indian movie stars become politicians but that is because those people understand local politics. It's not a profession that I can turn to at the age of 47."​


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