Shah Rukh Khan is a Bollywood superstar, with over 80 films and hundreds of millions of fans. On Thursday, he gave a talk at the 2017 TED conference that touched on everything from his reputation as the “Badshah of Romance” to the ways that the world has changed since the introduction of the internet.
Of course he nailed it. Those who go beyond tinsel town and celluloid would know that before and beyond Bollywood, this most celebrated of movie stars was part of a Delhi theater group. It showed in the ease of delivery — sans prompter and cues — on arguably the world’s toughest stage, in front of a highly intellectual audience: the annual TED conference of nerdy geeks.
Shah Rukh Khan is one of the funniest people I've seen speak. #TED2017 pic.twitter.com/y6fyhv3oJC
— Davey Alba (@daveyalba) April 28, 2017
"You can use your energy to spread the darkness of destruction or you can use it to spread the joy of light to millions." @iamsrk #TED2017 pic.twitter.com/SOIytaFhiE
— TED Talks (@TEDTalks) April 28, 2017
"We had expected an expansion of ideas and dreams; we had not bargained for the enclosure of judgment." @iamsrk on the Internet #TED2017
— TED Talks (@TEDTalks) April 28, 2017
It was a wide ranging conversation, as it seemed to be going both ways talk. And while he wasn’t as tightly focused as some others throughout the event, Khan turned out to be the funniest speaker of TED 2017 thus far(and that is saying a lot). The talk will undoubtedly have a huge audience when it hits the internet, and we can expect this to go viral. Some of his choice (and very quotable) quotes:
- “Humanity is a lot like me. It’s an aging movie star, grappling with all the newness, wondering whether she got it right.”
- On the internet: “We had expected an expansion of ideas and dreams; we had not bargained for the enclosure of judgment.”
- “You can use your energy to spread the darkness of destruction or you can use it to spread the joy of light to millions.”
- “I looked at my face and realized I am starting to look more and more like my wax statue at Madame Tussauds.”
It wasn’t just the audience inside the Vancouver Convention Center that enjoyed Khan’s talk. His 24 million Twitter fans started a trending hashtag on the site (#SRKLiveAtTEDTalks). Khan’s local Canadian fans also showed up outside the convention center where the talk was being held.
There was an ulterior motive for getting Khan on the TED stage. Later in 2017, he’ll host a TV version of TED talks in India, called Nayi Soch (New Thinking), and this will serve as an introduction to both him and his fans to the TED experience and format. We will certainly look forward to the TV program, where we expect more gems of one-liners from SRK.
