Filmfare Power Award – Amitabh Bachchan & Shah Rukh Khan
I really don't know how and why power has been attributed to me. This is a poll conducted by Filmfare and voted for by the industry. I am very happy to still be in the memory of filmmakers, journalists and the public. I feel very honoured.
But I don't think any of it has anything to do with power. We actors have no power, the filmmakers, financiers and distributors are the men who wield it. They keep the industry going. If the financiers don't raise capital, the filmmakers don't make films and the distributors don't buy those films, we would be out of a job. They control the product and reap the rewards.
Just because I do 10 films in a year doesn't make me very powerful. Look at the history of character actors in the film industry, they've always had multiple releases. I play a role in most of the films I do, that's why the number of films I do is so large compared to leading actors, who are more selective because they have to put more time into a film.
Although I am truly and honestly honored that people associate me with power, I don't see myself as powerful at all. Such epithets really embarrass me.
I like the golden statuette. And to be mentioned in the same breath as Mr. Amitabh Bachchan is a great honour. As I said on stage that day, I can go home and tell my son, 'I stood opposite Amitabh Bachchan!'
However, I think there are many people in the industry who are more powerful than me. I guess those who voted for me were leaning in favor of popularity. And the fact that I deliver on my promises at the box office.
That's what gives me the power to make people listen to me, to influence them. Although power has too much negative connotation in our country, I consider my power to be the ability to make people feel good about life through my films.
Power also meant to me that if I am in a position to make a choice, I should make the choice that will serve as many people as possible.
Because I think that real power is about kindness, which should be distributed sparingly and used kindly. It should not be obvious, it should be subtle. It should be used in the way that Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi or Buddha did. They were all very powerful people who showed by example a better future, who were able to change people's will.
That is true power.