July 20, 2017
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan
feels earlier his family used to feel awkward by the paparazzi culture,
but now they consider it a part of their lives. He says his family has
sold their souls for photographs.
"(Being photographed is) the part of stardom that we all have
accepted...I think everybody in this day and age is fair game. We've
sold our souls for selfies," Shah Rukh told CNN-News18.
Shah Rukh, who is married to Gauri Khan, has three children -- Aryan,
Suhana and AbRam.
In a video gone viral last month, Suhana, 17, looked helpless and
uncomfortable as she tried to hide her face and turns around to escape
shutterbugs while she waited for the doors of an elevator to open at a
theatre's basement.
"I think the kids started feeling awkward with all the paraphernalia.
Every time I go out in a public place, I don't take them with me. My
wife doesn't come, my children don't come. I go to functions alone or
post they have gone," Shah Rukh said.
To avoid such occasions, Shah Rukh said he made few adjustments for his
family.
"Some adjustments have to be made…one of them was that I sent them
abroad to study. Not because of the scrutiny, but because they were
feeling a little awkward with all the attention they have," Shah Rukh
said.
"I'm happy they've gone. Where they're studying, to a large extent
people don't know me. (But) I'm Okay with them being photographed.
"I understand photographs (need) to be taken, I've explained it to my
kids also that listen, if photographers come, stand, do the picture and
say it, ‘Please can I go now?' And they'll listen to you. I've known
them for 25 years," he added.
Shah Rukh says his children feel that being "photographed doesn't make
you important."
"More often than not they'll tell me how to behave with the paparazzi.
They'll say, ‘Papa, now don't lose your temper. There will be too many
people.' I think they're quite mature about it," he said.