Edinburgh, Oct. 19: The whole plot and sub-plots behind Edinburgh University's decision exceptionally to confer an honorary "degree of Doctor honoris causa" on Shah Rukh Khan can now be revealed.

After listening to the explanations offered by academics at one of the world's great universities, film fans in India will only marvel: " Kya dialogue mara!"

Film scholar Piyush Roy summed up: "Edinburgh University has honoured so many heads of state and Nobel Laureates in the past but they were just not prepared for the tsunami that hit them with Shah Rukh Khan."

Professor Crispin Bates, who introduced Shah Rukh last Thursday to a 1,000-strong audience packed into the Assembly Hall at New College, told The Telegraph: "The nomination of Shah Rukh Khan was proposed by academics in Edinburgh University's Centre for South Asian Studies, and was then passed through committees at School level, in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and then finally a committee of the principal and vice-principals of the university."

Bates, himself a former director of the centre, emphasised: "It was therefore a rigorous process completed over many months."

Bates, who is a professor of Modern Indian history and has been a visiting professor in Indian history "several times" at Calcutta University, acknowledged: "It is true that in the past Edinburgh University has awarded honorary doctorates to poets, novelists, historians, scientists, etc. but never to anyone from the performing arts."

"Recently, however, the University of Edinburgh merged with the Edinburgh College of Arts, and the teaching of film studies is now a major part of the curriculum in our School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures," he went on.

He said: "The University has a keen interest in teaching and research on the Indian subcontinent, for which it is one of the leading centres in the UK. It is, therefore, timely and appropriate for the university to recognise the achievement of performers and artists as much as scholars within India, and who better to recognise than Shah Rukh Khan, a global icon, and the most outstanding and influential actor in Indian cinema."

The degree was conferred by Princess Anne (now known as the Princess Royal) in her capacity as the university's chancellor.

The citation was read by Charlie Jeffery, senior vice-principal. A Scottish woman musician, dressed in a blue sari, played some numbers from Shah Rukh's hit films on her electric violin.

Bates said that Shah Rukh "was awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition of his prolific and very successful acting career and for his wide-ranging philanthropic endeavours, most notably in improving child health and education in India, and supporting victims of domestic violence."

There was also a local angle: "He was one of the first Indian actors to film in Scotland in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and it is through his films that many Scots have come to know and love India. He has thus played an important role as a cultural ambassador, uniting our two cultures."

"His life's work has also provided a consistent, aspirational role model, exemplifying the idea of a 'new man' who is respectful to women, and showing us how to combine traditional and modern values," Bates stressed. "This philosophy was clearly articulated in his inspirational, erudite and warmly received lecture, which explained the importance of his ideals both in his daily life and in many characters that he has played on film."

As part of the normal process of "vetting" Shah Rukh, a PhD student and award-winning film critic from Odisha, Piyush Roy, submitted a detailed an 1,800-word document, setting out the actor's achievements both inside and outside the film industry.

Piyush, who is finishing a PhD on "the aesthetics of Indian cinema and how to enjoy Indian films better", commented: "Nobody really questions the choice when someone like Marie Curie, David Attenborough or J.K. Rowling gets honorary degrees, because subjects like chemistry, media and literature are up there in the pecking order of subject disciplines."

He said: "These are classical subjects - media is getting there in terms of recognition. 'Film studies' is new."

Piyush, who was in the temple yesterday for the Shashti Puja preparations, was delighted with the recognition given to the actor: "The fact that Shah Rukh Khan, a star from Bollywood, is awarded a doctorate from one of the world's oldest, prestigious and traditional universities, is a big step forward in the acknowledgement of an emerging discipline like film studies - and Indian cinema studies within it - among leading social science subjects."

He, too, pointed out: "SRK's huge personal work and contributions to charitable activities were the other major reasons for his choice, apart from his cinematic contributions, and his being the focus of most of the ongoing Indian cinema-themed research work, paper publications and projects, in the academic space across the world."

Professor Bashabi Fraser, who spoke last week, elaborated on the thinking in senior academic circles: "I think Edinburgh University has recognised a lifetime's achievement of an artiste who is still in his prime and honoured his quiet philanthropic munificence."

Fraser, who is director of the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs) at Edinburgh Napier University, said: "For me, what stands out in Shah Rukh Khan is his unifying figure for the Indian nation and the sub-continental diaspora... with his ability to bring the message of common humanity and compassion to the centre of the portrayal of society."

"His willingness to appeal to the grassroots as well as to the vast Indian middle class in and outside India, in his many roles shows how he remains in touch with the pulse of a nation and its diaspora. He challenged the stereotype of maleness by crying in many of his roles, showing how it was all right for men to shed tears - a normal human response."