‘Yash Chopra created my career’

Actor Shah Rukh Khan, who’s often tagged as the king of romance, credits legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra for pushing him to do love stories.

“I started working with Yash Chopraji with Darr (1993) in which I was a bad guy. I remember Yashji telling me that till the time I don’t play a lover boy nothing will happen or change for me professionally,” he said after receiving the National Yash Chopra Memorial Award for the forth time.

The 51-year-old actor said he was initially skeptical about playing a lover boy on-screen. “I felt I was not good looking enough. I don’t think I was good enough to play a lover boy,” he explains. “So even though if I don’t look like a romantic hero or don’t act like one, I just had to go by his beliefs and I did it and it paid the dividend,” he added. “Yash Chopra single-handedly created my career. I am what I am because of what Yash Chopra made me do. I thank him for that,” he said.

I feel honoured to be receiving the award. I am what I am because of what Yash Chopra made me do SHAH RUKH KHAN, ACTOR

PHOTO: RAAJESSH KASHYAP/HT