‘Do You Realise Who You Met’: US Envoy Garcetti Says His Staff ‘Went Nuts’ After His Meeting With Shah Rukh Khan

US Ambassador Eric Garcetti said that his office staff went berserk and did not believe him in the first place when he said he met Shah Rukh Khan in his Mumbai residence, Mannat, during his first couple of weeks here in India.

Speaking to ANI, the former mayor of Los Angeles, who assumed his role as US envoy to India last year, said he was first unaware of the love for Shah Rukh Khan across the country.

“Oh, my God, did you know who you met?” Garcetti said he was questioned by his office staff.

“I think when I visited Shah Rukh Khan my first couple of weeks here, we talked about cricket because, of course, he’s involved as a cricket owner. He owns part of the Los Angeles team. Everybody in my office went nuts,” Garcetti said.

“They’re like, oh, my God, did you know who you met? I said, yeah, Shahrukh Khan. But I didn’t realise the level of love that there was across the country,” the US envoy was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Garcetti said these interactions are the fun parts of his job as it focuses not just on policy but also on people. “It’s an amazing thing to see Bollywood, to see cricket, to see food. To me, that’s the way, that’s the fun of this job–not just policy, but people. Because at the end of the day, people will come and go who are politicians. But if we know each other, that will sustain our lives,” he said.

“This relationship too, India-US relationship, is people-to-people driven. And I hope that I can bring more of the Indian people to America because I think the bridge from here to America is very strong. Indians really know Americans and everybody has a cousin or a friend… in America…,” he further added.

Garcetti met Shah Rukh Khan in May last year at the actor’s residence, ‘Mannat’ in Mumbai.

He also shared the photos from the meeting with Shah Rukh Khan and said both of them discussed Bollywood and it’s “huge cultural impact” across the globe in a post on social media site X.

“Is it time for my Bollywood debut? Had a wonderful chat with superstar @iamsrk at his residence Mannat, learning more about the film industry in Mumbai and discussing the huge cultural impact of Hollywood and Bollywood across the globe,” the US Envoy wrote.

The Biden administration appointed Eric Garcetti as the 26th US ambassador to India.