Contentment is overrated, you need to always question yourself: Shah Rukh Khan

New Delhi, August 12

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says creative people need to be “dissatisfied” in order to break new ground, advising the youth to not rest on past laurels.

Shah Rukh became the first Indian film personality to be honoured with the Pardo alla Carriera award-Locarno Tourism, or career leopard award, at the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

The actor, who returned to the big screen after a five-year hiatus with three back-to-back releases “Pathaan”, “Jawan” and “Dunki” last year, was speaking at a Q&A session at the film gala on Sunday.

“Contentment is overrated. You need to always be questioning yourself. It doesn’t mean you go and become anxious, but you need to always be dissatisfied as a creative person, so I don’t ever get satisfied. I don’t think I’ve achieved anything. I don’t think it’s over and done with, and I’m successful. I think it’s all irrelevant. What is relevant is, Can I do something new tomorrow?

“What I’ve done yesterday is over and done with. When my movie gets over, I take a two-hour bath. After that, I don’t think about the success of the failure. I’m on to the next one. If I can’t move on to the next one, I think I’ll rust and I’ll finish off, and I will say to all youngsters, please do not rest on your laurels,” Shah Rukh told festival’s artistic director Giona A Nazzaro at the session.

The 58-year-old said people often tell him to do “more meaningful cinema” that should stand for something, but he doesn’t want his films to be a statement.

“My cinema stands for everything for somebody, because it should have a little bit of happiness, colour. I don’t want my cinema to be a statement. I want it to be a testament of life in its beauty, good and bad. So sometimes it’s a testament about right things.

“Sometimes it’s about corruption, bad things, and love. It need not just be a statement. All these things confine you, compartmentalise you. I like to keep it open and believe what I’ve done today is the first day I’m doing it.”

Shah Rukh, who has worked with Tamil filmmakers like Mani Ratnam (“Dil Se..”) and Atlee (“Jawan”), said south cinema is “cinematically and technically” fantastic.