Shah Rukh Khan finally broke a 33-year dry spell with his National Film Award win for Best Actor in Jawan. That’s wild, considering he’s practically been the face of Hindi cinema since the ‘90s. It’s not like he hasn’t delivered award-worthy performances before, either.
If you ask most people (and honestly, even Shah Rukh himself), his best shot came in 2004 with Swades. The critics loved him, the fans were rooting for him, but the trophy ended up in Saif Ali Khan’s hands for Hum Tum.
Not everyone agreed with that call, and a recently resurfaced video proves Shah Rukh didn’t either.
When Shah Rukh Khan Said He Should Have Won The National Award
Back in the late 2000s, at an event, Shah Rukh found himself on stage with director Kunal Kohli and anchor Mandira Bedi. Kunal asked about his favourite films, and Shah Rukh, ever the diplomat, rattled off how he likes pretty much everything and everyone—“I’m good by heart, I like all films, all heroes, all heroines,” he said, adding that Kunal’s movies were great too.
But then he couldn’t resist poking fun at the elephant in the room. “Fanaa was very good. I think Hum Tum was very nice. His actor won the National Award for Hum Tum when I think I should have got it, but that’s another story.” He laughed, Kunal grinned awkwardly, and the moment said it all.
Throwback to the time SRK publicly said that he should have won the National Award in 2005 for Swades than Saif for Hum Tum.#ShahRukhKhan
NATIONAL AWARD FOR SRK pic.twitter.com/vGxZnuRpkL
— Redditbollywood (@redditbollywood) August 1, 2025
Throwback to the time SRK publicly said that he should have won the National Award in 2005 for Swades than Saif for Hum Tum.
byu/GiveMeSomeSunshine3 inBollyBlindsNGossip
When this clip resurfaced after Shah Rukh’s big win, fans were quick to back him up. Reddit lit up with people saying Swades was easily the superior performance and that Saif’s win for Hum Tum didn’t make sense. “He truly deserved it for Swades, tbh,” one commenter put it.
Someone else pointed out that jury politics might have been at play that year, with TS Nagabharana allegedly questioning Swades’ originality.
Shah Rukh Khan wins his maiden National Film Award
The story stings a bit more when you remember Swades was a box office flop. Shah Rukh’s gamble with a different kind of role didn’t pay off commercially, and he’s admitted before that it made him rethink his choices, pushing him towards more mainstream, crowd-pleasing films after that.
Fans can’t help but wonder—if he’d won the National Award back then, would he have taken more risks? Would we have seen more Swades-like performances from him?
Jump to today: at the 71st National Film Awards, Shah Rukh finally got his due, sharing the Best Actor prize with Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail. Rani Mukerji took home Best Actress for Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, and 12th Fail grabbed Best Film.
After the ceremony, Shah Rukh posted a heartfelt thank you on Instagram, crediting his director Atlee, his fans, his team, and his family. He called the National Award more than just a personal achievement—it’s a sign that what he does on screen matters, a reason to keep pushing himself.
