Mumbai, Dec 7 (IANS): Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says the Hindi film industry may be driven by the star system, but the audience now chooses its 'stars' based on their performance.

Asked how important is the star system in Bollywood, Shah Rukh said here: "If in IPL (Indian Premier League), we don't have stars, nobody will watch it. So, you have to have stars for people to choose films.

"(Cricketer Mahendra Singh) Dhoni is a star, but, if he doesn't perform well for three times, everyone starts abusing him. So, performance is very important. I think star system is important, or else by this time, our films would have come to an end."

The 50-year-old, whose next film is the big ticket "Dilwale", says he feels lucky that at his age, he's getting to play roles as romantic as the ones he essayed when he was in his 20s.

"Earlier at 40, a hero was not a hero anymore. So, Salman and I were talking the other day that god has been so kind to us that we are 50, and we are still doing the same thing as we did when we were 25.

"It's a big thing for us," said the actor, who will be seen romancing Kajol in the Rohit Shetty directorial.

Releasing on December 18, the film also features Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Boman Irani and Johnny Lever among others.