“King Khan”: Bollywood Icon Shah Rukh Khan Rules Locarno as He Receives Lifetime Award!!
Shah Rukh Khan, a Bollywood legend, received a career achievement award on Saturday at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, adding yet another recognition to his already impressive resume. The celebrity, who is as well-known for his humor as for his on-screen persona, gave an acceptance speech that mixed his signature humor with poignant observations on the film industry.
Khan began his speech at the 8,000-strong Piazza Grande in Locarno by thanking everyone for their warm welcome. “I appreciate everyone’s warm welcome and their arms being wider than mine on screen,” he said, referring to his well-known open-armed stance.
The actor continued to praise the festive setting, using his affectionate name, SRK or King Khan, to his fans. “It’s a very beautiful, very cultural, very artistic and extremely warm city in Locarno,” he said with a smile. There were a lot of people gathered in a small square, and it was very hot. It feels just like home in India. On Saturday, temperatures in Locarno reached 95º F (35º C), and the Piazza Grande was humid.
On Saturday night, “King Khan” took full control of Piazza Grande, the famous large plaza located in the heart of the charming Swiss city of Locarno. At the 77th Locarno Film Festival, Bollywood great Shah Rukh Khan demonstrated his global star power when he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award known as Pardo alla Carriera, or Career Leopard.
The star of films such as Panthaan, Don 2 and Om Shanti Om received a standing ovation and deafening applause from the audience, which included people seated in the 8,000 seats on the square and in other nearby venues. Even the crowd erupted in cheers when he was first shown arriving on the red carpet and shaking hands with Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro on the big cinema screen in the square at 9:20 p.m. local time.
