When Shah Rukh Khan Revealed The REAL Reason He Works With 'Girls Half His Age’: ‘They're The Only Ones…’

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s cinematic collaborations have often been shown immense love by fans. Recently, the duo romanced one another in two back-to-back films, Pathaan and Jawan. Both films proved to be mega successes at the box office. However, some netizens often bring up the almost 20-year age gap between the actors. An old video has resurfaced on Reddit in which Shah Rukh spoke about working with younger actresses.

Talking to comedians Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba and Rohan Joshi for their podcast, Shah Rukh spoke about why he often worked with actresses who were younger than him. He said, “(People said) he’s over, he’s done with, he’s old, he’s working with… I’m the only hero, whenever I’m working with a young girl, it’s because only young girls were working then.”

“I’m really sorry, I mean I can’t go and tell them to grow up. If Alia asks me ‘Can I do a film?’, I can’t say, ‘No, first grow up.’ You can’t be that kind of person. I don’t say that to people. So they say, ‘Oh, he’s working with girls half his age.’ But they are the only ones working, so I can’t send them home, break their hearts, or tell the director to cast them on the basis of age and ignore their talent. That can’t happen, I have to work with whatever is offered to me,” he said.

Shah Rukh then added, “Because I play a lover, am I not supposed to age? How am I supposed to be? I keep a beard also, I have done everything.”

For the unversed, Deepika Padukone is 37 years old while Shah Rukh Khan will turn 58 years old this year. The actress made her debut opposite Shah Rukh in the 2007 film Om Shanti Om. Deepika was 21 years old back then and Shah Rukh was 42 years old.

Netizens on Reddit gave a mixed reaction to Shah Rukh’s statement. One person said, “Rani and Tabu are still working na? Why is no one offering them love stories where they have to play college-going students? The fact remains that cinema by extrapolation represents the society.” Another person said, “He is so powerful, can he not ask film producers to cast Raveena, Sushmita, Vidya, or Tabu opposite him?”

However, one person said, “It makes sense to avoid romanticizing such an age gap where one is a minor or looks like a teenager but I don’t think it’s my business to dictate what two independent consenting grown-ups can and can’t do.”

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan’s latest film, Jawan was released in theatres on Thursday. The film features a stellar star cast including Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi and Sanya Malhotra among others. Deepika Padukone has an extended appearance in the Atlee directorial.