Shah Rukh Khan once said, ‘I act to avoid depression’ in a heart-wrenching video: ‘My sister was in hospital when I was shooting for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ | Hindi Movie News

Shah Rukh Khan is known for spreading smiles and having fans all over the world who drool over his on-screen image of the most romantic guy. While he’s a superstar and has this sometimes arrogant side on the outside, all that is a facade. The actor had once admitted that he works and does everything to keep himself busy to avoid being broken and depressed like his sister. In an old video which has gone viral again, Shah Rukh spoke about his sister‘s condition after his parents passed away.
He said, “I remember my sister standing in front of my father’s dead body. She just looked, she didn’t cry, she didn’t say anything. She just fell and she hit her head on the ground. For two years after that, she didn’t cry, she didn’t speak, she just kept looking in space. It just changed her world.”
He added, “During the making of my film, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, she again was hospitalised and they said she will not survive. I took her to Switzerland, got her treated there while I was shooting Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam. But she hasn’t ever recovered from the loss of her father, the suddenness of him passing away. Then it got compounded because my mother also expired 10 years later. We are what they call in Muslims – Yateem and Yaseer which is fatherless and motherless.”
Shah Rukh said his sister Shehnaz is a very well educated lady. “She was highly qualified, she has done MA LLB, very intelligent like my parents wanted her to be. But she could not face the reality of losing her parents. And I, somehow, developed this sense of detachment, this sense of false bravado, which I show in public, a sense of humour. A lot of things which I do people think are flamboyant and very Bollywood-like to cover up the sadness affecting my life and me becoming like my sister.”
He added, “My sister is a much better person than I am, because she can be like this. My kids love her more than I do and we are very glad to have her in our lives. But I don’t have the guts to be so simple, so hurt, so disturbed. So a part of me, keeps on working round the clock, keeps on being happy despite things said about me, or I make a joke out of things I do. Because if I don’t do that, I would be in the same state of potassium deficiency and depression. So to avoid depression, I act. It’s much larger than just to earn money or be a big superstar. This is the God’s honest truth. This is the most honest I’ve been in my life.”