Shah Rukh Khan Asked “Who Are You?” Fans Raged
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan Met Gala debut caused a stir after American reporters asked him to introduce himself, sparking outrage on social media.
In a moment that could only be described as the cultural equivalent of offering tea without biscuits, the Yanks at the Met Gala red carpet found themselves in hot water this Tuesday, after a video emerged showing reporters asking none other than Shah Rukh Khan to introduce himself. Yes, you heard that right. The King of Bollywood, the Baadshah of Romance, the man who’s had more hits than a rogue cricket ball on a Sunday league field, was met with the journalistic equivalent of “Sorry, mate, and you are…?”
The video – now spreading faster than halley’s comet – shows a rather gracious Shah Rukh politely spelling out who he is, and while he was at it, throwing in a quick introduction for designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee too. One might say, if class were a person, it just strutted down the Met Gala carpet in black silk and a walking stick.
Naturally, the internet wasn’t having any of it. Fans were positively gobsmacked. “Saw the SRK red carpet interview – the girlies had no idea who they were talking to,” posted one user on X (formerly Twitter, currently confused). Another chimed in, “What do you mean Shah Rukh Khan went to the Met Gala and people don’t know who he is?” – a sentiment shared with the energy of someone being told their gran’s shepherd’s pie recipe has been replaced by quinoa.
One particularly miffed fan shared a clip of SRK being asked to step aside and wrote, “Showing only 5 seconds of SRK at the Met Gala live is just disrespectful. He’s a king, he’s Shah Rukh Khan and Americans don’t deserve him.” Bold words. One half expects them to demand the Statue of Liberty be renamed after him next.
To be fair, the red carpet correspondents probably missed a trick – not every day do you get a global superstar known from Mumbai to Manchester, whose films have made more people cry in train stations than Indian Rail delays.
Amidst the brouhaha, Shah Rukh’s Met Gala look was praised to the hilt – and rightly so. Dressed in an all-black Sabyasachi number that included a floor-length coat, silk shirt, wool trousers, satin kamarbandh (that’s a posh waistband, darling), and accessories that would make the Crown Jewels blush, SRK looked every bit the royal he’s often called.
Director Karan Johar summed it up with a simple “The King” on his Instagram story – no caption needed, no questions asked.
While the Americans were busy figuring out how to pronounce his name, others were whispering excitedly about Shah Rukh possibly joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Imagine Iron Man turning round and saying, “I love you 3000,” and Shah Rukh just replying, “Aur paas, aur paas…” (Come closer, come closer…). Absolute scenes.
As for what’s next for the 59-year-old megastar, he’ll be gracing the silver screen in Siddharth Anand’s upcoming film King. Whether or not Hollywood learns its lesson before then remains to be seen.
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