SRK reflects on changing nature of stardom

Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) celebrated his 52 birthday in style with a bash at his farm in Alibaug. Joined by industry insiders like Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Karan Johar, Deepika Padukone, Siddharth Malhotra as well as family members, Khan had a rollicking time and the Internet went into overdrive as images from the bash, taken by stars like Johar, emerged online.

From Pakistan, Mahira Khan, who co-starred with Khan in Raees, took to Twitter to send a heartfelt birthday message to the star. Khan, who has been a part of the Hindi film industry for over 25 years, also participated in a cake-cutting ceremony as is his ritual every year and interacted with the media on the occasion.

Speaking about the changing nature of stardom, he told the media, “Honestly, I think the longevity of stardom will be less in future, unlike our time, because of the simple logic of faster reach to the audience. I think the concept of superstardom will change. In fact, it has started changing. Earlier, it used to take three months for a film to get released all over India. Now it takes three seconds for a film to reach our mobile phone. For me, from when I made a debut to becoming a star, it took 10 years because people took some time to know me, then slowly they became fans... Now, for a young actor, it just takes a year to gain popularity. So, the longevity of 30 years will go down a bit. Things are going to come and go faster.”

As fans gathered outside the actor’s home in Mumbai, the actor told the press in attendance that digital stardom is upon us. “Like they have in the West... like Chris Martin... Because music is getting celebrated beyond films, goes independent on digital platforms. There will be a digital superstar. The concept of stardom will change with time.”