I must have done something right, says Shahrukh Khan

Shahrukh Khan is a superhit. On screen and in life. No matter which scene he is enacting, he determinedly gives his best shot. His smile touches your heart not because it is of a man who has it all, but because it is of a man who smiles despite all. It is no wonder that Indians have crowned him king of happiness in the Complete Wellbeing-Synovate Survey on Health and Happiness…

In an all-India survey conducted on behalf of Complete Wellbeing, people have chosen you as their role model of happiness from the media and entertainment industry. How does it feel?

It is a compliment. Many people are rated for their good health or their bodies. Being rated the highest for being the happiest person feels much better. I must have done something right.

Why do you think people have chosen you?

Maybe because I have not forgotten how to enjoy the small and silly things in life. When you forget to do that, you start taking yourself too seriously. I am cocky, I am confident, but I enjoy the real small things. I’d wear a red Superman costume and do something silly even at the age of 42 and it’s perfectly okay. And that probably shows on my face.

Who is a genuinely happy person? Are you one?

Someone who lives life on his or her own terms and takes responsibility for it; someone who knows how to get up and start all over again, even if he or she fails the first time around. I am ready to fail. I know I am not invincible.

What advice would you like to give readers of Complete Wellbeing for lasting happiness?

Someone sent me a lovely line recently, “When you decide to lead the orchestra, you have to learn to turn your back to the crowds.” I totally believe in that.

If you can face criticism and yet continue doing what you believe in and what you want, success will be yours for the taking.

Also, I would like to tell them that it is easy to lay the blame on someone else’s door for things gone wrong. But until you accept responsibility for your failures, you are never going to succeed. Play the game only if you can be graceful in your victory and gracious in your defeat.

Constant change is a part of life and you have to accept it. Whatever happens is for the best. My parents’ premature death had left me shattered, but this is life, such things teach you how to survive. Besides, I don’t think you can change everything you want to. I had a back injury, I had to quit sports and become an actor. I didn’t like it, I cried for two years. I wanted to be a soccer player or a cricketer, but I became a movie star. And that’s fine too. I am 42 and romancing a girl who is 18 in my next film.