As Shah Rukh Khan accepted his first National Film Award in his 33-year storied career, he responded to a handful of people on Twitter who wished him on the achievement — from a witty reply to Shashi Tharoor to a flirty one to wife Gauri Khan. However, one SRK reply had some of the fans wondering. It was to actor-filmmaker Viveck Vaswani and Shah Rukh wrote, “Thank u for the wishes. All started with you. Raju finally ban gaya gentleman.”
For those who don’t know, Viveck was there when Shah Rukh was a starry-eyed youngster from Delhi trying to make it in Mumbai (then Bombay) after success on TV. He not only played an important role in SRK’s entry into Hindi cinema, but the actor also stayed at his house in the beginning for almost two years. Vivek had recalled how Shah Rukh returned after mother’s death and announced that he wants to become a superstar to fulfil her dreams. In an earlier post on Twitter, Shah Rukh had thanked Viveck for convincing him to join Bollywood. “Thanks my friend…and convincer of making me join the industry. Love u and a big hug. Keep making people happy,” the actor had written.
Years later, Shah Rukh had even done an extended cameo in Viveck’s film, Dulha Mil Gaya.
However, in an interview last year, Viveck had spoken about how the two don’t have a relationship anymore. Speaking with Siddharth Kannan, Vivek had said they last met in 2018 at Shah Rukh’s birthday party. “We don’t have a relationship. We don’t talk. We don’t meet, but when we do, it’s as if the years were not there. I am not a suburbanite. I am a teacher. I am the dean of a school. I work 18 hours a day. I travel by bus, local train, and Shah Rukh is a superstar,” Vivek had said.
Congratulations @iamsrk on the National Award! Very late but very very deserving! ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/MzKHsWKAwJ
— Viveck Vaswani (@FanViveck) August 1, 2025
However, he recalled meeting SRK at Mannat at the 2018 party. “I went to his birthday party four years ago. He told me specifically, ‘Sir, aa jaao, bachchon se milvana chahta hoon (Sir, please come, I want you to meet my kids). I had great fun at the party. When we meet, we are very good.”
Introducing Viveck to director Aanand L Rai at the party, Shah Rukh had said he is the only person who doesn’t owe him. “Anand Rai was standing next to me, and he told Anand bhai, while pointing towards his party, ‘Do you see all these people, everyone owes me, I have given someone a car, someone a flat. But this man standing here hasn’t taken a cup of tea from me yet,’” shared the film producer.
