Daily Times

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan calls himself a ‘semi-orphan’ as he likens his voice character of Mufasa from ‘The Lion King’ prequel to his real self.

In a clip shared by Walt Disney India on Instagram, Shah Rukh Khan, who is back in action lending his voice in the Hindi version of ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’, drew comparisons between him and the titular orphaned cub, calling himself a ‘semi-orphan’ and an ‘industry outsider’.

“If I was to not be humble and say, ‘Hann meri hi kahaani aisi hai (My story is also like this)’ then it could fit in,” he said in the video. “Technically speaking, anyone who doesn’t have parents is an orphan. I did lose my parents nearly in youth, so I’m a semi-orphan.” In another parallel with the character, Khan added, “It’s the story of an outsider. No family of mine has been in the business of filmmaking. I came from Delhi to Mumbai, so main outsider bhi hoon (I’m an outsider as well).”

“It’s the story of the King. So, yeah, I’m a king,” quipped the ‘Jawan’ star. Notably, SRK is joined by both his sons, Aryan and AbRam, for the project. His elder son returns to voice Simba in the Hindi dubbed version of the photorealistic animated musical-drama, whereas, the younger AbRam is the voice behind young Mufasa.

Both a prequel and sequel to the 2019 remake of Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton’s ‘The Lion King’ (1994), Barry Jerkins ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ is scheduled to hit theatres on December 20.