Shah Rukh Khan charmed a TED Conference crowd on Thursday, sharing his life and playfully portraying himself as an aging movie star grappling with the changes around him.
Khan’s talk on the TED stage came just months before a version of the big-idea-sharing event makes a television debut in India, where he will play the role of curator Chris Anderson.
In a rare display, scores of fans staked out the convention centre where TED was taking place, some of them pressing against windows to watch Khan’s appearance being streamed to television screens.
Video-: #ShahRukhKhan dancing #LungiDance on the stage of #TED2017 .. #TEDtalks @iamsrk #TEDtalksWithSRK @TEDTalks pic.twitter.com/pCDa8bwzc8
— SRK♡ (@SRKs_rule) April 28, 2017
“For years, I’ve been a huge fan of TED Talks,” Khan said, referring to the conference’s freely shared videos in which brilliant and accomplished people dive concisely into captivating concepts.
Video-1: #ShahRukhKhan in the Hous! @iamsrk 's entire at #TED2017. The audience applauds him happily. #TEDtalks (via #ted on Instagram) pic.twitter.com/EORPO77C2k
— ♡ SRK RUSSIAN FC ♡ (@SRKFC_Russia) April 28, 2017
“There are so many people in India who would like to come out with their ideas and thoughts, and speak them in Hindi.”
TED curator Anderson described TED Talks India as the organisation’s most ambitious television project to date, and expected it to reach tens of millions of people when episodes begin airing later this year.
.@iamsrk announces new @TEDTalks India show he'll be hosting in Hindi. His talk was a big hit at #TED2017 pic.twitter.com/gNrFri7gmq
— Dena Takruri (@Dena) April 28, 2017
TED collaborated with media giant Star India on the project.
“The country is teeming with imagination and innovation,” Anderson said in a blog post.
“We believe this series will tap into that spirit and bring insight and inspiration to many new minds.”
"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
In a TED video likely to go viral when it is released online, 51-year-old Khan reminisced about growing up in a time when the word ‘apple’ brought to mind fruit, not a world-changing company co-founded by the late Steve Jobs.
He spoke of his career rocketing and the arrival of an internet age where social media was so rampant that he felt “humanity, like me, was becoming an over-exposed prima donna.”
Video: Shah Rukh Khan giving interviews backstage after his talk at #TED2017 #SRKLiveAtTEDTalks pic.twitter.com/mtk2I8Z52T
— SRK Universe (@SRKUniverse) April 28, 2017
“I sell dreams and I peddle love to millions of people back home in India who assume that I am the best lover in the world,” Khan said as he opened his talk.
“It has to be you who creates a world that is its own best lover, that should be the future you,” he said in closing, referring to the conference theme.
.@iamsrk doing a quick bit of the Lungi Dance at @TEDTalks. I'VE DONE THE LUNGI DANCE WITH SHAH RUKH KHAN. #TED2017 pic.twitter.com/h7oSV0DnNg
— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) April 28, 2017
"Humanity is a lot like me. It's an aging movie star, grappling with all the newness, wondering whether she got it right." @iamsrk #TED2017
— 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
Thank u @TEDTalks @TEDchris @julietrblake for a wonderful time. All who came to lov me in Vancouver…my lov 2 u. pic.twitter.com/FJD3yWgxsQ
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 28, 2017
#SnapShot-1: #ShahRukhKhan @iamsrk with a lucky fan in #vancouver ... #TED2017 #TEDtalks #TedTalk #TEDTalkswithSRK https://t.co/idVjsQUP3q pic.twitter.com/HKWtAM1tlq
— ✍❤ THE KINGs CLUB ❤ (@SRKFC1) April 27, 2017
One more pic from Vancouver/Canada - where Shah Rukh Khan @iamsrk is, goes and stands, there are always fans around him 😍 pic.twitter.com/EYuOo1VD1p
— SRK Universe Austria (@SRKAustria) April 27, 2017
https://t.co/JtevNI5ocv With @iamsrk #Vancouver #TED2017 #ShahRukhKhan #TEDTalks pic.twitter.com/yHo99CswtN
— for the love of SRK (@fortheloveofsrk) April 27, 2017