Fenil and Bollywood

BOOKWORMS: Professor Arindam Chaudhuri and Shah Rukh Khan

JYOTHI PRABHAKAR Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; December 10, 2009)

The crowd was waiting for a motivational speech from Shah Rukh Khan, something on the lines of ‘My success mantra’ or ‘Discover the talent in you.’ After all, that was what Professor Arindam Chaudhuri had just spoken about for 20 odd minutes – and quite an impassioned talk it was too… About the people who’d influenced his life and motivated him – those like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, and Amitabh Bachchan. “My book, Discover The Diamond In You, is an attempt to share with everyone the powerful principles of success that I’ve grown to passionately believe in,” he said, “This book is for everybody who wants to increase his or her productivity in life and work, everybody who wants to be better.”

But trust Shah Rukh to do the unconventional. He took to the stage and said, “I was inspired by Rocky too. I wanted to be a porn star! (You see, Sylvester Stallone was one early on in his career). The witty-as-ever SRK went on, “I’m going to work very hard, positively, and with clarity, to be a porn star.” He did later speak about hard work and honesty and things that motivate people to succeed, but SRK, who’d come from Mumbai to release Discover The Diamond In You, a motivating, self-discovery book by Arindam, asked everyone to read it, and said, “Main bhi padhoonga. Next time you hear about me, I’ll be the world’s biggest porn star.”

But Shah Rukh has not been quite so witty in the foreword to the book, where he’s said, “I believe success is a wonderful experience, but not always one from which we acquire wisdom or knowledge… which is why success, whether deserving or not, can be enjoyed, but not passed on.” He goes on to say, in the foreword that “Success is never final, just like failure is never fatal!” And this, coming from someone like as successful a man as him, must be rich advice!