'Asked for special permission to fly out': SRK recalls being stuck with wife, son in New York for 4 days during 9/11 attacks

The superstar recalled that he woke up in shock when Hiroo showed him visuals of the terrorist attack. He said that at first, he thought that the aircraft carrying his film's crew had crashed.

Known as the 'Baadshah Bollywood' and 'King of romance', Shah Rukh Khan along with his wife Gauri Khan, son Aryan Khan and filmmaker Karan Johar's mother Hiroo Johar was in New York when the 9/11 attacks took place.

According to reports, in a 2010 interview with DW News, Khan recalled how he was stuck in America and needed special permission to get out of the country safely.

During the interview when Khan who was promoting his movie My Name is Khan, was asked about the 9/11 attacks, he said, "My director’s mother (Hiroo), my wife (Gauri) and my little son (Aryan) and we were to do an interview for the launch of a film called Asoka. And the rest of the crew was supposed to fly off to Toronto four hours before us(sic)."

The superstar recalled that he woke up in shock when Hiroo showed him visuals of the terrorist attack. He said that at first, he thought that the aircraft carrying his film crew had crashed.

Khan said, "I was woken up… Karan’s mother, Mrs Hiroo, she showed me the television and I thought it’s the plane that our crew is taking, that’s why she is showing that there has been an accident. There was press on floor below my room, waiting to do the interviews and I was like, ‘What has happened?'"

The Bollywood star said that he was stuck in New York for four days as the airlines were grounded but later got special permission from authorities to fly to Toronto.

According to media reports, Khan said, "I was stuck there for 3-4 days with my family. Then, we kind of made our way out, went to Toronto and flew back because all the flights and everything was cancelled. So, we asked for special permission and requested some people, and they kind of understood. Very kindly, they let the family go because the kids and mothers and everyone… so we got out of it. I think I was deeply affected by it, like everyone else was(sic)."

The superstar once said that even years after the 9/11 attacks, he was regularly stopped in America at the airport for security checks.

He said, "Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom."