It’s been a wonderful year for actor Muhammad Khan. Not only was he named the country’s best actor of the year over the weekend, he also got a shout-out on Twitter from his biggest idol, renowned Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan.
On Sunday, Khan got up on stage to receive his Best Leading Actor award at the Indonesian Film Festival 2019 (FFI 2019), thanks to his exceptional performance in Garin Nugroho’s Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku (Memories of My Body). Khan ended his winning speech by thanking his idol, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan (SRK), who has inspired him to embark on a career in acting.
“I would like to thank King Khan, Shah Rukh Khan. […] actually, you were the reason why I wanted to become an actor when I was 10. I would like to share this award with you as well, and I hope I can meet you one day,” Khan said, before singing a portion of Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam from the 1998 Indian action comedy film Duplicate.
Muhammad Khan, an Indonesian new actor who won Piala Citra for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in MEMORIES OF MY BODY, dedicated his award for @iamsrk, his acting inspiration.
He sings a part of Mere Mehbob Mere Sanam, one of the OSTs from DUPLICATE (1998). pic.twitter.com/Swegd0uOkt
— CulturePlay 6M Double Masks Vax (@picture_play) December 9, 2019
The clip of his speech has since gone viral, with netizens tagging SRK himself. The 54-year-old finally responded on Twitter last night, promising the Indonesian Khan that they will meet soon.
I am so glad for your success. Will meet you soon. Have a good life and keep feeling as an actor….& Thks everyone for bringing this to my notice. https://t.co/hJMZetKn4j
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) December 9, 2019
Khan went live on Instagram last night to thank everyone for the support. The younger actor appeared to be overwhelmed with emotions, now that he’s been noticed by the person he always looks up to.
Actor Muhammad Khan feels so happy and gets emotional when he reads your tweet @iamsrk sir. He really hoping to meet you soon. Here is the video he just sent to us. @iamsrkclub @BilalS158 @SRKUniverse pic.twitter.com/oQlZ9pFxOo
— SRKUniverse Indonesia – SRKFCI (@SRKFCI) December 9, 2019
Khan, who hails from the Jepara regency in Central Java, has been active in the local theatre scene. He studied theatre at the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) in Yogyakarta from 2009 to 2016.
In 2018, Khan starred in Kucumbu in a leading role as a lengger dancer in Central Java named Juno — the story of which was inspired by real-life dancer and choreographer named Rianto. Lengger is a genre in Javanese traditional dance in which male dancers can assume female appearances. The film recounts the life story of Juno, who faces several traumatic experiences since he was young as well as his struggle with his sexuality.
Khan’s win contributed to the arthouse/drama film’s glorious sweep in this year’s FFI, as it won in eight categories, including Best Music for composer Ramondo “Mondo” Gascaro, Best Director for Garin Nugroho, and Best Film.
In September, Kucumbu was selected by the Indonesian Academy Awards Selection Committee as Indonesia’s submission to compete in the Best International Feature Film (previously called Best Foreign Language Film) category at the upcoming Academy Awards.
Kucumbu’s big win in FFI feels like a bold statement to people who don’t accept the film’s LGBT theme, as the film attracted a slew of controversies during its theatrical run in Indonesia. Several conservative groups made petitions to have it banned and there were widespread boycotts of the film in several cities such as Depok in West Java, the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak, as well as the Central Java capital of Semarang.
Reader Interactions