Mumbai: After winning his first-ever National Award in a career spanning over three decades, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan received a warm congratulatory message from Shashi Tharoor – and responded in a witty way that’s now winning hearts online.

Known for his eloquent English, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor congratulated Shah Rukh on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “A National Treasure wins a National Award! Congratulations @iamsrk!”

In response, Shah Rukh thanked the politician with his trademark humour, “Thank u for the simple praise Mr Tharoor… would not have understood something more magniloquent and sesquipedalian… ha ha (sic).”

SRK bags Best Actor award for Jawan

Shah Rukh Khan was awarded Best Actor at the 71st National Film Awards for his performance in Jawan, a high-octane action thriller directed by Atlee.

The film features Shah Rukh in a dual role as a father and son, with co-stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi. The story follows Azad, a prison warden who becomes a vigilante and leads a group of inmates in exposing deep-rooted corruption in the country.

After receiving the honour, Shah Rukh appeared in a video message, wearing a sling due to a recent injury on set. In his heartfelt message, he said, “To be honored with the National Award is a moment that I will cherish for a lifetime. Thank you so much to the jury, the chairman and to the INB ministry and to everyone who thought I was worthy of this honor. I want to thank all my directors and writers, especially for the year 2023.”

He went on to thank the filmmakers who contributed to his success, “So, thank you Raju sir, thank you Saeed and especially thanks to Atlee sir and his team for giving me the opportunity in Jawaan and trusting me to deliver and be worthy of this award.”

Shah Rukh is currently filming his next movie titled King, which also stars his daughter Suhana Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Deepika Padukone. Reports suggest that he injured himself during an action sequence, and is now recovering while continuing work on the film.

With IANS inputs