Shahrukh conferred with Doctorate by UK university

H S Rao

London, July 10 (PTI) Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan
was Friday conferred the honorary Doctorate in Arts and
Culture by a leading British university for his "exceptional
achievement" in the field of entertainment and media.

At a glittering investiture ceremony held at Washington
Mayfare, a hotel owned by Non-Resident Indian (NRI)
entrepreneur Joginder Singh Sangar, the Bollywood heartthrob
was conferred the Doctorate by Professor Les Ebdon, Vice
Chancellor of the Bedfordshire University.

Receiving the honour, Shahrukh said, "today I feel that I
am a part of the illustrious alumni of this prestigious
university. I look forward to doing my bit in providing
necessary assistance to the deserving children for higher
education in my university".

Shahrukh, who got quite emotional at the function, said
"while this honour is bestowed on me, I wonder, if the
deserving but poor and under privileged children from India
can also pursue their higher education in such university and
may earn a doctorate as well".

The citation read in the University "confer the honorary
Doctorate of Art to Shahrukh Khan in recognition of his
exceptional achievement as the film actor and producer".

Khan who has a huge fan base across the globe started his
career in the late 1980s with television serials. "He made his
film debut in the commercially successful 'Diwana' in 1992 and
since then has gone on to play a variety of critically
acclaimed roles, the citation read.

The citation lauded Shahrukh's acting in several
Bollywood movies such as 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'(1995),
'Kuch-Kuch Hota Hai'(1998), 'Chak De India' (2007), 'Om Shanti
Om'(2007) and 'Rab Ne Bana di Jodi'(2008).

"Film such as 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham', 'Veer Zara',
'Kabhi Alwida Na Kehna' and 'Devdas' have been hits overseas
as well making Khan one of the most successful actors of Hindi
cinema," it said.

The citation also noted that in April 2007 a life-size
wax statue of Shahrukh was unveiled at Madame Tussauds museum
in London. During the same year, he was accorded the Ordre des
Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Art and Literature) award by
French government "for his exceptional career".

Besides Lord Navnit Dholakia, Lord Bagri, Baroness Verma,
Baroness Flather and Lady Paul were among those who attended
the function.

'Routes 2 Routes', an India-based NGO, had nominated
Shahrukh Khan for the honour to the university.

Rakesh Gupta, Secretary, Routes 2 Routes, said, "we
nominated Shahrukh Khan for this honour as he is not only an
entertainer and the King of the Indian film industry but he is
also a philanthropist who has been silently working for the
betterment of the under privileged at large.

"We discovered that he has adopted few villages in India
for electrification using alternate source of energy. He has
been so active whenever the need came for raising fund during
natural calamities," Gupta said. PTI HSR
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