King Khan on Newsweek

Newsweek interviews Shah Rukh in its latest issue:

Even your serious films feature songs, a la Bollywood.

You can't have Hindi films without songs—it's like having American films without special effects. You need to have songs, you need to have dances. There has to be escapism. You can't tell [audiences] about the drudgery of everyday life, you need to tell them about fantastic things. And one of the simple fantasies of Indians is that we can sing and dance when we feel like it.

Bollywood has become increasingly popular outside of India in recent years. Is it ready for center stage?

In Europe, I could say that. In Germany, Poland, Russia, England. In America we have only just begun to make inroads.

As Bollywood becomes globalized, will the formula change at all?

The crux of the films won't change, but we will have to make them a bit shorter. I think that songs and dances will remain an inherent quality. [But] I think the brevity of expression will have to be learned from the West.