Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone addressed the insider-outsider debate at the WAVES summit, emphasizing determination and embracing opportunities. SRK dismissed self-pity, while Deepika highlighted the industry’s supportive environment during her early career.

Ambition, hunger, pain, problems – those are just lofty words. We just need to be determined – yehi meri duniya hai, aur mujhe yahan pe kaam karna hai,” said Shah Rukh Khan, brushing aside the insider-outsider debate. The industry, he said, welcomed him “like a new sun on Marine Drive.” The thought was shared by his co-panelist Deepika Padukone, who recalling her early days, said that when Om Shanti Om happened, she was simply allowed to thrive, to make mistakes, to learn – and was never made to feel like a newcomer, let alone

an outsider.

At the WAVES summit, both the stars admitted that parties still make them feel like misfits. “We are just two awkward people,” Deepika said. “(At parties), I feel like an outsider,” Shah Rukh said, adding, “She is so tall, so I just hide behind her”

As the two stars spoke at the session The Journey: From Outsider to Ruler on the inaugural day of the WAVES summit in Mumbai, they both recalled their beginning in the industry. While SRK spoke about the power of resolve and the importance of never letting failure define you – what matters, he said, is remaining true to oneself – Deepika spoke about her journey into motherhood. Excerpts from the session. The Pathaan co-stars, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, in a session moderated by Karan Johar, spoke at length about the insider-outsider debate in showbiz.

Emphasising the need for economical cinema tickets, SRK said, “I still believe the call of the day is a lot more theaters, small theaters in small towns, cheaper theaters so that we can show more films to people in every corner of the country”

‘This world does not give a damn about you. You’re insignificant’
SRK called out the romanticised notion of struggle and said, “Ambition, hunger, pain, problems – they’re just lofty words. It’s wonderful to describe yourself as ‘Haan main bahut bhooka tha aur maine bahut mehnat ki’… but these are lofty words. I don’t believe in them.” Dismissing the outsider-insider debate, he added, “I have a problem with the distinction between the outsider and the insider. I think it’s not important ki aap kis jagah se aaye ho aur kis world mein basna chahte ho. What is important is jo bhi world aap choose karo – business, films, politics – aap usmein apni jagah kaise banana chahte ho.”
Too often, he argued, people convince themselves that a lack of legacy or connection is a barrier to entry. “What happens is that most people start thinking, ‘Oh! I’m from the outside world; only the privileged will get a chance. I don’t have such a distinguished background.’ If you start falling into self-pity and start thinking these things, you will never give your full energy to make a space for yourself in the world that you want to be in. This world does not give a damn about you. You’re insignificant. Unko koi farq nahi padta Deepika kahan se aayi, Shah Rukh kahan se aaya, Karan kahan se aaya. Jab main yahan par aaya tha, I never thought I cannot be part of this world because I’m an outsider. I believed – yehi meri duniya hai, aur mujhe yehi karna hai. From day one, everybody in the film industry embraced me like the new sun on Marine Drive.”
‘I feel failures twice as much because I feel I let down lots of people’
When Karan Johar asked if Shah Rukh Khan had ever considered stepping back, the conversation turned towards handling failure. “Whenever I fail, I always feel the failure twice as much – ki meri film flop ho gayi, mera kaam kharab ho gaya. I feel that I let down lots of people. I know in 35 years, bahut saare log dil mein chaah rakh kar meri film dekhne aate hain. Jab main gandi picture banata hoon toh main bahut zyada personally leta hoon. It really bogs me down,” he said.
SRK added that he refuses to “feel defeated”. “I’ve never felt ki main gir gaya, ab uth nahi sakta. Dukh bahut hota hai, rona bhi bahut aata hai, pareshani bhi bahut hoti hai, ek do baar maine cooking bhi seekh li – acting chhor ke chef ban jata hoon, lekin haarta nahi hoon. I don’t allow defeat to overtake me,” he said.

Karan brought up SRK’s old claim that he could romance a tree, leading Deepika to challenge SRK to romance a bottle. King K didn’t miss a beat, he picked up the bottle next to him, and recited the ‘teri aankhon ki namkeen mastiyaan’ dialogue from Jab Tak Hai Jaan, leaving the room in splits

‘I was never made to feel like an outsider’
For Deepika, the idea of being an outsider was never something she internalised. She said, “When I began, it was a new world. I was a 17-year-old who came from Bangalore, and Farah Khan took interest in casting me. She didn’t even audition me.” She remembered her earliest days and said she focused on the things within her control – dedication, discipline, and hard work.
While working on Om Shanti Om, Deepika said she was given the space to grow. “I was just allowed to thrive, make mistakes. I was never made to feel like a newcomer or an outsider,” she said, calling the film a rare moment of generosity – a double role for a newcomer opposite the country’s biggest star. “Call it destiny, hard work, whatever, but the point is that it felt comfortable. I could make mistakes,” she added.
‘I’m now navigating what life as a mom is going to be’
Talking about taking a new role as a mother, Deepika said, “The minute you have a child, you’re now responsible for another human being. In this industry especially, where everything is about you, suddenly, you’re caring for this little thing that is dependent on you for everything. It’s just about being responsible for another person, and that person comes before you. I’m navigating that, and I don’t think I’ve found the answer to that yet.”