The Bollywood icon will receive the career Leopard award at the 77th Locarno festival in August.

Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan ROHAN-SHRESTHA

Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be honored with the lifetime achievement award, the Pardo alla Carriera, or career leopard, at the 2024 Locarno Film Festival.

The Panthaan, Don 2 and Om Shanti Om star, known to his fans as “King Khan,” will receive the prize at Locarno’s iconic Piazza Grande on Aug. 10.

As part of the tribute, the festival will screen Khan’s 2002 hit Devdas from director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Khan will also take part in a public Q&A at the Forum @Spazio Cinema on Aug. 11.

The 58-year-old actor has been a box office draw and global ambassador for Indian cinema since his breakthrough performances in Baazigar (1993) and the romantic classic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). He won critical praise for such films as Devadas, where he plays an alcoholic, and for his portrayal of a man with Asperger syndrome in My Name Is Khan (2010).

Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro called welcoming a “living legend” like Khan to the 77th edition of the festival “a dream come true,” praising the Indian filmstar for the “wealth and breadth of his contribution” to Indian cinema. “Khan is a king who has never lost touch with the audience that crowned him. This brave and daring artist has always been willing to challenge himself while remaining true to what his fans all over the world eagerly expect from his films. A true ‘people’s hero,’ sophisticated and down to earth, Shah Rukh Khan is a legend of our times.”

The award comes on the heels of Khan’s highly successful 2023, which saw the release of three blockbusters: Pathaan, Jawan and Dunki, all of which were huge hits. Jawan, directed by Atlee and produced by Khan’s own Red Chillies Entertainment, became by some estimates the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time, earning close to $140 million.

The 77th Locarno Film Festival runs from Aug. 7 to 17