In a recent interview, singer Palash Sen spoke highly of his former schoolmate, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Palash and Shah Rukh both attended St Columba’s School in New Delhi, and Palash revealed that he was actually one year senior to the actor in school.
Despite this, Palash had nothing but praise for Shah Rukh’s exceptional talent, calling him “among the most exceptionally intelligent men” he had ever met. Palash even went so far as to say that Shah Rukh would have excelled in any field he chose to pursue, given his natural abilities.
“I really thought he would do something bigger than films. He’s an extremely intelligent man. We used to see the kind of results he got in school. He was very good at cricket, he was very good at hockey, he was good at dramatics, debating, he was a good orator. So, for someone who was good at so many things to do Hindi films was a little surprising for us. We belonged to the generation that looked down on Hindi films,” he stated.
Palash revealed that he used to sing for Shah Rukh in school plays, and that even back then, the actor had a clear sense of his ambitions. Shah Rukh had joked with Palash that one day, he would sing for him in Hindi films – a prediction that Palash did not take seriously at the time.
Palash admitted that he had been surprised when Shah Rukh chose to pursue acting in Hindi films, given that the two belonged to a generation that “looked down” on Bollywood movies. However, Palash acknowledged that Shah Rukh had done a great deal to legitimise film acting as a profession in India, and that his self-belief had been a key factor in his success.
Indeed, Shah Rukh remains one of the biggest film stars to emerge out of India, with his recent spy thriller “Pathaan” becoming the highest-grossing movie of his career. Palash’s comments serve as a testament to Shah Rukh’s incredible talent and his impact on the Indian film industry.
