Two loved and celebrated personalities from Indian cinema –Actor Shah Rukh Khan and Director SS Rajamouli– each grabbed a spot in Time magazine’s 2023 list of 100 influential people in the world. While Shah Rukh Khan was listed in the ‘Icons’ category, Rajamouli of RRR fame was featured in the ‘Pioneers’ category.
Booker prize-winning Indian-born British-American novelist Salman Rushdie was also featured in the Icons category. Rushie recently survived a brutal attack in August 2022, when he was stabbed more than 10 times, damaging the optic nerve, and resulting in loss of sight in the right eye. In his interview with Time, speaking about his health, the author said, “...The eye is lost. The hand which was badly damaged is recovering quite well with a lot of therapy. And the other wounds are getting better. There’s a lot of therapy that’s needed. Obviously, there was quite a lot of PTSD. But I’m getting better.”
The others listed in the Icons category were actors Ku Huay Quan, who won the Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, Pedro Pascal, Jennifer Coolidge, Sara Mardini and Yusra Mardini, Shah Rukh Khan, Brittney Griner, King Charles, RowVaughn Wells, Tracie D. Hall, Peng Lifa, Shannon Watts, Haluk Levent, Imara Jones, and Yvon Chouinard.
In the ‘Pioneers’ category, alongside Rajamouli were Doja Cat, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bella Hadid, Sam Altman, Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh, Mohammadi, Thom Browne, MrBeast, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Britney Schmidt and Peter Davis, Sam Rivera, Robin Zeng, Edward Reynolds, and Margaret Mitchell.
Writing about Shah Rukh Khan for Time, actor Deepika Padukone said, “Shah Rukh Khan will forever be known as one of the greatest actors of all time. But what truly sets him apart is his mind, his chivalry, his generosity. The list goes on…”
“For someone who has known him intimately and cares for him deeply, 150 words will never do justice to the phenomenon that is Shah Rukh Khan.”
Deepika and Shah Rukh Khan had recently worked together in Pathaan, which was widely successful and broke several box-office collection records.
Actor Alia Bhatt who wrote about Rajamouli for Time recalled her experience working in RRR, and said it was “like going to school all over again.”
“He knows the audience he’s serving. He knows what beats to hit, and what turns to take. I call him the master storyteller because he genuinely loves the flair and abandon of stories. And he brings us together. India is a massive country with diverse demographics, tastes, and cultures. But he gets that—and he unites us through his movies.”