Global icon Shah Rukh Khan was feted at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival, as he has been bestowed with the Pardo Alla Carriera award for his monumental contribution to world cinema. The event was done on the Piazza Grande with a crowd of 8,000 strong, all waiting with bated breath for the legendary actor to take it and give his acceptance speech.

Shah Rukh Khan, dapper in an all-black costume, strode on stage looking every inch the true charmer. The very receptive audience, welcoming him with open hearts and jocularly referring to his open arms—the signature pose that seems tailor-made for him—SRK quipped, “Thank you all for welcoming me with such wide arms—wider than the ones I do on screen.”.

He waxed lyrical about the Locarno atmosphere. “It’s a very beautiful, very cultural, very artistic, and extremely vibrant city,” he told a beaming audience. “So many people crammed into a little square. It’s just like being home in India.”.

Shah Rukh Khan’s illustrious journey in cinema depicts unparalleled success and versatility, right from his first roles in films like Darr and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to his recent hits. Khan has basically reshaped storytelling in Bollywood. His recognition at Locarno underlines his global appeal and impact on cinema where he has always blurred the lines between commercial success and artistic excellence.

He didn’t miss a beat as the Bollywood superstar turned into levity at that very moment of his speech, saying the weight of the award was probably killing him, “This award here, which for the life of me, I’ve been trying… I can’t pronounce, the Leopard award for being the most awesome in the world, in the history of humility and kindness and goodness,” he quipped.

He has also more deeply praised cinema, referring to it as the “most profound and influential artistic medium of our age.” He went on to clarify: “Art is the act of affirming life above all. It leaps beyond every man-made boundary into a space of liberation. It doesn’t need to be political, polemical, or even moralizing. All that art and cinema need to do is express their truth from the heart.”.

Shah Rukh Khan said that in his three-and-a-half-decade-long career, he has been everything in his filmography, “from villain to champ to superhero to zero, a rejected fan, and a very resilient lover”.

Just when the crowd erupted into applause, a loud declaration of love from a fan saw SRK respond in rapid fire. “I love you too. All dramatics continue to post the serious speech,” he said with a grin and brought the moment full circle with his trademark wit.

Not in the least, Khan shared a bit about his day in Locarno, personalizing it thus: “My day’s been wonderful; the food’s nice; my Italian is coming on; so’s my cooking.” He translated in Italian, “I can cook pasta and pizza also. I’m learning here in Locarno.”.

As he came to the end of his emotive speech, SRK thanked the audience with the words, “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and India. Namaskaar and dhanyawaad. God bless you all.”

The event was full of energy; the images shot during this festival—an elated Khan, an enthused crowd, and a breathtaking Locarno backdrop—add to the narrative of that night, which is going to stay with cinephiles for years. It was another grand celebration of world cinema, replete in history and tradition, once more succeeding in making the place of the protagonist—Shah Rukh Khan—very apt at the Locarno Film Festival.