COURTESY BBC
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has received an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh.
Mr Khan received the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University Chancellor HRH The Princess Royal in Edinburgh.
The actor – who has appeared in more than 80 films – was presented with the degree in recognition of his outstanding record of philanthropy, altruism and humanitarianism and his global reach as an actor.
Talking to BBC, the actor said he was “extremely grateful and extremely humbled” by the recognition, saying it inspired him to work harder so that he deserved it “at least in retrospect”.
The acceptance speech
The actor had earlier tweeted that his acceptance speech was going to be about life lessons:
After receiving the honour, SRK spoke to the audience about life lessons quoting examples from the plots of his movies.
“So here is my first life lesson, inspired by the movie title Deewana: Madness (of the particularly nice/romantic kind) is an absolute prerequisite to a happy and successful life. Don’t ever treat your little insanities as if they are aberrations that ought to be hidden from the rest of the world.
“All the most beautiful people in the world, the most creative, the ones who led revolutions, who discovered and invented things, did so because they embraced their own idiosyncrasies. There’s no such thing as ‘normal’. That’s just another word for lifeless.”
“Being brave means being damn scared all the way to the party but getting there and doing the ‘Funky Chicken’ in front of all your teenage kid’s friends anyway. Don’t let your fears become boxes that enclose you. Open them out, feel them and turn them into the greatest courage you are capable of.”
And then he did the famous ‘lungi dance’. Right after his emotional speech, the actor immediately changed the audience’s mood by dancing to his hit number from Chennai Express