SRK to receive career achievement award at Locarno Film Festival

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be feted with the career achievement honour at the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, the organisers announced on Tuesday.

He is also the first Indian personality to be honoured with the 'Pardo alla Carriere Ascona-Locarno Tourism'.

Italian filmmaker Francesco Rosi, American singer-actor Harry Belafonte, and Malaysian director Tsai Ming-Liang are the previous recipients.

The 58-year-old actor will receive the award on August 10 at the Piazza Grande, located in Locarno, Switzerland.

His 2002 film Devdas, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, will also be screened during the gala, set to commence on August 7.

Shah Rukh, who completed 32 years in cinema last week, will also appear at the Forum @Spazio Cinema for a conversation open to the public on August 11.

"At the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, Indian superstar and global icon, Shah Rukh Khan will be awarded with the Festival’s career achievement award, the prestigious Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism.

"The award will pay tribute to his remarkable career in Indian cinema consisting of more than 100 films in a breathtaking multitude of genres," the organisers said in a statement.

Shah Rukh returned to the big screen after a five-year gap in 2023 with "Pathaan". He followed up the blockbuster actioner with back-to-back two releases: another action hit "Jawan", and "Dunki", a social drama.

Giona A Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival, said it is a dream come true for the gala to welcome the "living legend".

"The wealth and breadth of his contribution to Indian cinema is unprecedented. Khan is a king who has never lost touch with the audience that crowned him.

"This brave and daring artist has always been willing to challenge himself while remaining true to what his fans all over the world eagerly expect from his films. A true ‘people’s hero’, sophisticated and down to earth, Shah Rukh Khan is a legend of our times,” Nazzaro said in a statement.

According to the festival's website, the Pardo alla Carriera Ascona-Locarno Tourism pays tribute to one or more personalities whose artistic contributions have redefined cinema and the collective imagination. In addition to the awards ceremony on the Piazza Grande, the tribute also comprises a conversation with the audience and a small retrospective.

A Padma Shri recipient, Shah Rukh has appeared in over 100 feature films and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Légion d’honneur conferred by the Government of France.

The Locarno Film Festival will conclude on August 17.