"Many people get to know a certain country through watching their movies. Through my work, quite a few foreign viewers start to know the sorrows and happiness of ordinary Indian people. Also, they have found that some local humor and jokes can be understood by people from different cultural backgrounds," Khan said, adding that art creators are the bonds that connect the world together, allowing people of different cultures to understand each other.

Khan, who was born in the western Indian city of Mumbai, where Bollywood studios are located, began his career as a child actor in the film Yaadon Ki Baaraat in 1973.

"When I fall for the story is when I get drawn to a film script," Khan said. "My criteria in selecting a script involve not trying to estimate the audience's reaction, but determining whether the story touches him."