Forbes India was part of the select Amazon Prime Video gathering, in which the world's richest man divulged his plans for India, success secrets...and was made to audition for Zoya Akhtar's next!
Bezos said Khan was “one of the most humble” stars he had met, while Khan poured him a glass of water on stage. “That’s only because my last few films haven’t done well!” Khan responded cheekily, leaving the audience chuckling.
Khan also asked him when he last visited a brick-and-mortar store. “I enjoy buying groceries, so I do go out for that,” Bezos said. “But in fact, the last store I visited was a kirana shop in Mumbai, today, and that was incredible to me.” What advice does he have for young entrepreneurs? “This isn’t surprising, but they must be passionate about what they’re doing, and really think about their choices,” said Bezos. “You can get very fixed on your ‘gifts’, but that can confuse you. It’s not those your talents that construct your life, but your choices that do. Gifts are given to you. You can only be proud of the things you earn.” Akhtar also asked the world’s richest man what he would like to have more of. “The obvious thing is time,” he said. “I like to wander, fuel my curiosity. But wandering is very time consuming.” Bezos spoke about his aerospace venture Blue Origin, saying he wants to tackle climate change and the potential of space with it. “We could move all pollutant industries to space in the future, and preserve the one good planet we have,” he said. “We want the next generation of Mark Zuckerbergs to be able to start space companies from their dorm rooms.” The session ended with Bezos recounting how he got a cameo in Star Trek Beyond (2016) by ‘literally begging’. “I pursued it for years, and not without conditions,” he smiled. “I wanted a speaking role with a pivotal line, so I wouldn’t be cut out.” “Would you cast him in your next film?” Khan asked Akhtar. When she said she would, he got Bezos to ‘audition’ with the popular line from his film Don, with an adaptation: “Jeff ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai.”