By then the French had got a taste of King Khan's popularity and the cops his ability to turn the crowd unruly-thanks to the red carpet parade of the Devdas team in 2002 and Veer Zaara's 2004 show at the Cannes. This, apart from the fact that the actor is one of India's most-loved faces abroad, made France to confer the Insignia of Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters on the Indian star. The ambassador of France of India, Jerome Bonnafont, admitted this while presenting the French award-one of the four ministerial honours of the French Republic-to the actor in Mumbai on Sunday night.

"Shah Rukh Khan is a youth icon even in France. This award is universal. But we had not thought of India enough in the past," says the ambassador. Another Indian to get this award is author Arundhati Roy. George Clooney, Leonardo Di Caprio, Bob Dylon, Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep are some other famous recipients.

The actor recounted, tongue-in-cheek, how he was surprised by the star treatment he got, thanks to Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Aishwarya Rai, when Devdas was screened at the Cannes festival. "The French made me feel like a big star there. They love cinema. The popularity of Indian cinema stems from their acceptance of our work," said the actor. He aspires to take his latest films Chak De! India and Om Shanti Om to the festival this year though the festival rule says that the films to be featured should not have released in the country of its origin.

The actor's French connection, however, runs deeper than Cannes and awards. A regular at the French Centre's screenings before tasting stardom, he admits (in his characteristic homour) "love scenes" being one of the draws. Terming French films "romantic and sensuous", the actor said they are a must-watches to educate oneself about cinema.

King Khan might have got international popularity, but making a foray into foreign films is still not on his agenda. "I still have a lot to learn from Hindi cinema. I don't think I can do films in other languages," said the actor. He went on to add the difficulties he faced in mouthing Tamil words while doing a Kamala Hassan film.