An old episode of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ featuring Shah Rukh Khan is once again making the rounds online, drawing attention to a deeply personal story the actor shared about his connection to Kashmir. Speaking with host Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh opened up about his family’s roots in the region and the emotional reason he avoided it for years.
Shah Rukh Khan recalls his father’s wish
According to Shah Rukh, his father had once encouraged him to visit three specific places in his lifetime — but Kashmir came with a special condition attached. “It’s a very emotional story, Amitji. My father’s mother was Kashmiri. He had told me in my life, to look at three places in life, whether I live or not. He said, look at Istanbul, look at Italy, Rome, and look at Kashmir. But look at the other two places without me, but don’t look at Kashmir without me. So he died very early, and I’ve been all over the world, but I never went to Kashmir,” he shared. Despite travelling extensively across the globe, Kashmir remained the one place he consciously kept off his itinerary.
Why Kashmir stayed off his travel list
Shah Rukh revealed that he had received multiple opportunities to visit Kashmir over the years, including invitations from friends and trips taken by his own family but he chose to hold back each time. “And I got many opportunities, many friends invited me, and my family went on vacation. But I never went to Kashmir, because my father had told me, ‘Don’t visit Kashmir without me, I’ll show you’. And then, suddenly this happened, and Yash Chopra told me, ‘We’ll shoot in Kashmir’. And normally I have refused, not for any other reason, not for any political, geographical, or any other reason, but because there was an emotion, that I’ll look at Kashmir with my father. But I just felt that’s not the case. So the best would be actually, to go with Yashji,” he explained.
How Yash Chopra changed that
The turning point came when filmmaker Yash Chopra decided to shoot his next film, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, in Kashmir, with Shah Rukh in the lead role. For the actor, this wasn’t just another shoot it carried deep personal weight given his father’s long-standing wish. Choosing to make the journey alongside Yash Chopra allowed him to finally visit the Valley in a way that felt emotionally meaningful rather than compromising the promise he’d made to himself.
‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’: Yash Chopra’s final film
Jab Tak Hai Jaan went on to become a significant milestone in Yash Chopra’s illustrious career, marking his final directorial venture. The romantic drama starred Shah Rukh Khan alongside Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, with several portions shot amid Kashmir’s scenic landscapes. Yash Chopra passed away in October 2012, making the film both his final directorial release and his last collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan.
Shah Rukh Khan’s work front
Shah Rukh continues to remain one of Hindi cinema’s biggest stars, having most recently starred in Dunki, which released in theatres on December 21, 2023. He is now gearing up for his upcoming film King, a project that has generated significant anticipation among fans and is expected to mark his next major theatrical outing.