'Stopped listening to crowds': Shah Rukh Khan on failure, making comeback after 4 years

When several of his movies tanked, Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan took a sabbatical from Hindi cinemas in 2018 to introspect. His comeback in 2023 set the box office on fire with three back-to-back hit films.

He shared that pizza had a role to play in his comeback. “During the time, I learnt how to make the best pizza in the world,” he said. “I learnt perseverance because it takes millions of square pizzas to learn to make it completely round.”

The 58-year-old actor was speaking on the third and final day of the World Governments Summit (WGS) 2024 in Dubai, where India is a guest of honour. The three-day conference brought together heads of countries and some of the brightest minds around the world to discuss various issues pertaining to governments.

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Listening to people

Shah Rukh Khan spoke extensively about everything he did during his four-year-long hiatus and said one of his biggest lessons was that he had forgotten to listen to people.

“I had stopped hearing the crowds,” he said. “I had become too innovative and I was looking for perfection. I started failing. I needed to be unique but I needed to look at what the audience wanted.”

He said this realisation helped him plan his comeback better. “People wanted to see me give them hope and happiness, so I decided let’s get back to that,” he said. “Whatever you do, you have to do for the people or the consumer or your audiences.

He said his family’s support was immense during this period and this helped propel him back to work. “Thankfully they did not say your pizzas are better than your movies so stop making movies,” he joked. “They were very encouraging.”

• High-profile World Governments Summit kicks off in Dubai on Monday