Shah Rukh Khan is one of the biggest stars in the world, but he is largely lauded for making it on his own with no Godfather in the industry. Khan rose to fame and built an empire of his own from being a boy who delivered samosas at the National School Of Drama (NSD). Veteran actor Pankaj Kapur recalled the 70s when he was a student at NSD, he remembered seeing Khan’s face as a child. “Those samosas were supplied by no other than Shah Rukh Khan. He was a little boy, 10 years old at that time,” Kapur said in an interview on Kindle Cast’s Youtube channel. He added, “I think his uncle or father used to run the canteen at that time,” he added. Years later, fate brought the two together professionally when Pankaj shared screen space with Shah Rukh in Rajiv Mehra’s 1995 action thriller Ram Jaane.His father, Mir Taj Mohammed Khan, was a restaurateur in Delhi and owned the popular eatery Khatir in Safdarjung.The superstar had earlier spoken about spending much of his childhood at NSD. Since his sister, Shehnaz Lalarukh Khan, attended classes there, Shah Rukh would often wait for her after school before heading home together.Apart from the restaurant, he also managed the mess at NSD, where he reportedly spent much of his time. After his death in 1981, Shah Rukh’s mother, Lateef Fatima Khan, continued running the family business until her passing in 1990.“I was a very cute child and my entire childhood was spent there in the laps and roaming around with arguably India’s finest actors,” Shah Rukh told The Times of India in 2014.Growing up around the institution allowed him to observe some of Indian theatre’s most respected names, including Pankaj Kapur, Raghubir Yadav, Raj Babbar, Nadira Babbar, Naseeruddin Shah, Rohini Hattangadi and Anupam Kher. Many of these actors would later share the screen with him in films.Reflecting on the influence they had on his life, Shah Rukh said, “I have watched all their plays and rehearsals for months. I have only grown up wanting to be an actor growing up watching these actors. I may not meet them now, but they have taught me how to act.”
