Melaka, 24 August 2025 — Seventeen years after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was awarded the title Datuk in Melaka, the honour remains a talking point in Malaysia’s tourism and cultural circles.
The Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka (DMSM), conferred in 2008 during the 70th birthday celebration of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob, made Shah Rukh Khan the first Indian movie star to receive such recognition in Malaysia. At the time, he wore traditional Malay attire at the official ceremony, an image that was widely shared across Asia and beyond.
The award was tied to Shah Rukh Khan’s significant role in promoting Malaysia internationally. Several of his films, including One 2 Ka 4 and Don, featured scenes shot in Malaysia. The A Famosa Resort in Alor Gajah, used in One 2 Ka 4, gained international exposure through his fanbase and global cinema distribution. Tourism officials described this as “free promotion” for Melaka, citing the state’s ability to attract Indian and international visitors without large marketing costs.
Then Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the recognition was strategic, as Shah Rukh Khan’s movies gave worldwide publicity to Melaka and boosted tourist arrivals. The state’s decision, however, was met with mixed reactions—supporters praised it as a clever tourism strategy, while critics argued that local Malaysian talents should have been honoured first.
Today, the legacy of that decision has resurfaced in light of recent events. In 2024, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing was also conferred a Datukship by Melaka for her role in boosting tourist arrivals from China. Her appointment as Tourism Friendship Ambassador led to a surge of over 664,000 Chinese visitors to Melaka last year.
Looking back, Shah Rukh Khan’s Datukship can be seen as the beginning of a tourism strategy that uses global celebrities to put Melaka on the world map. Nearly two decades later, the move continues to prove its relevance as states compete to attract international visitors through cultural diplomacy and star power.
