Shah Rukh Khan may have once declared himself “the last of the stars,” but actor Vijay Deverakonda doesn’t quite agree. In an older 2022 interview with GQ India that’s resurfacing now, Vijay confidently responded to SRK’s claim, saying he found it both inspiring and motivating—but ultimately disagreed with the notion.
Vijay said that Shah Rukh’s rise to superstardom gave him hope as an outsider trying to break into the film industry. “I can’t tell you how much Shah Rukh Khan’s success drove me,” he said. “It showed me in clear terms: if he could do it, why couldn’t I?”
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He revealed that even when he was just starting out, he turned down several offers because he believed he was destined for bigger things. “People said, ‘You will never get an opportunity like this,’ but I had higher expectations of myself.”
The Liger actor went on to directly address Shah Rukh’s iconic line from The Anupam Kher Show, where SRK confidently told the host, “I am the last of the stars.” Reacting to that, Vijay had said, “When I saw his interview, I remember wanting to say, ‘Shah Rukh, you’re wrong. You’re not the last. I’m coming.’”
On the work front, Vijay is gearing up for the release of his Telugu spy thriller Kingdom, directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri and also starring Satyadev. The first of a planned two-part series, the film will hit theatres on May 30.
Shah Rukh, who delivered back-to-back blockbusters in 2023 with Pathaan and Jawan, will next be seen in King, an action-packed project helmed by Siddharth Anand. The film is expected to feature a star-studded cast including Suhana Khan, Rani Mukerji, Anil Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan. It is set to begin filming later this year.