Don't get lost in commercialisation, Shahrukh tells Sania

Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan, who was on Thursday voted the 'Youth Icon' through an opinion poll conducted by leading music channel MTV, urged young tennis star Sania Mirza to focus on her game and not to get lost in 'commercialisation' aspect.

Shahrukh, who beat Sania and won the maximum number of votes in the poll, said, "I think Sania is an achiever. She has played a sport that has a lot of international competition and where it is not easy dethroning someone."

"She is doing a great job and we are proud of her but my only advise to her is not to get lost in the commercialisation aspect and make sport the core focus," he said.

Voting for the contest was held from March 18 to May 1. Over one lakh people cast their votes through SMS, online and telephone calls. This year's contenders for the title were Sania Mirza, Sonia Gandhi, Azim Premji, Sonu Nigam, Irfan Pathan, Manish Malhotra and Shahrukh Khan.

Going down the memory lane, Shahrukh said the people he looked up to when he was a youth, included Mother Teresa. "I also thought Imran Khan was an outstanding sportsman. Thought Michael Jackson is currently going through difficult times, he was one person I really liked," admitted the actor.

On whether he thought of making it big when he began as an aspirant, the actor said, "No, I never thought I would make it this big because I never planned or set any tangible goals, but always lived for the moment."

"I always believe that the task I am doing at a given moment is the most important in my life and nothing else matters," he said while underlining the key to his success.

On his advise to the young aspirants to make a foray into the film world and nursing starry dreams, he said, "I am sure I would like if every Delhiite made it big here, but it depends. If one is focussed, one has the talent and potential then why not, but it all depends..…"

On issue of ban on smoking on screen, he said, "If the health ministry has done it, they would have studied and researched the issue and hence we must accept it."

"Personally speaking, I think what is shown on screen can impact people either positively or negatively, it depends," he said and advised the youth not to drink, not to smoke and above all, not to take drugs.