Bad boys finish first. Especially if they have the charm of Shah Rukh Khan. He blurred the boundaries between white and black and made us aware that love can become an obsession too. He could play the perfect lover too and serenaded a generation of leading ladies from Kajol to Katrina Kaif. With Swades, Chak De! and My Name Is Khan, he showed he didn’t lack acting chops. With Chennai Express, he expressed parody, a rare trait in our actors and our superstars. He made us laugh at him but also laughed all the way to bank as the film turned out to be one of the highest grossing films of all time.
Since then SRK has navigated extreme highs and lows, personal setbacks and image makeovers… Today, as he turns 59, he is one of the most influential actors in the world. He’s identified as a cultural icon around the globe, Hollywood stars like Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Tom Cruise and many more want to work with him. He has reclaimed his position as the badshah of the box office with films like Pathaan and Jawan. And his life and career has been no less dramatic than a proper big-budget entertainer. We take a quick look at all the glitz, glam and gravitas that has been part of Shah Rukh Khan’s journey. Read on…
(Above) SRK married Gauri in a Hindu rituals wedding in Delhi a year before his film debut. They also had a nikaah ceremony. He’s seen enjoying Holi with wife Gauri. It’s a known fact that SRK and Gauri follow both Hindu and Muslim traditions at home.
(Above) A mahurat shot of Deewana, his first film. In the picture with SRK are Raj Kanwar, Shekhar Kapur, Divya Bharti, Amrish Puri and Rahul Rawail.
Road Less Travelled
Dilip Kumar’s avatar as the flesh and blood anti-hero in Amar was rejected by the audience and so was Amitabh Bachchan’s in Parwana. Shah Rukh Khan didn’t let the failure of his idols deter him and successfully crossed that barrier in Darr and Baazigar. And, mind you, he did it right at the beginning of his career and not when he was an established star. The gamble paid off. A popular TV actor was converted into a superstar overnight. The movies were never the same again.
(Above) His pairing with Kajol has been one of Hindi cinema’s most popular jodis ever. Films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai owe their success to the fact. Also, ever since he’s become a superstar, SRK has been compared to Amitabh Bachchan. He’s always maintained that the senior actor is leagues ahead of him.
Romancing the NRIs
SRK’s metrosexual good looks made him the perfect poster boy for the huge NRI market that was clamouring for a home grown hero who dressed in designer togs, didn’t look out of place in London, Paris or New York, romanced his heroine on the Swiss Alps and was traditional enough to ask her parents for her hand in marriage. Formulaic films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Pardes, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham soon followed, and with each hit, his cult grew.
(Above) SRK conducted late Yash Chopra’s last interview at the Yash Raj Studios as a part of promoting his last film Jab Tak Hai Jaan.
(Above) Waving the Indian flag during his Chak De! India days at Bandra Reclamation and in a first of sorts, SRK dubbed for the Hollywood animated film The Incredibles.
Bump and grind
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the suave star. His temper sometimes got the better of him and we heard of his skirmishes with Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta, Salman Khan, and including a much infamous scuffle with filmmaker Shirish Kunder (Farah Khan’s husband). Lesser men would have drawn boundaries but SRK kissed and made up with all.
(Above) In an exhibition match in the IPL, playing as a Kolkata Knight Riders’ batsman. SRK co-owns the team since 2008.
Game changer
He was a gambler at heart and wasn’t afraid to take risks. In Om Shanti Om, he astounded the world by showing off his chiselled six-pack body. Earlier, he hadn’t shied from playing a stubbled and troubled coach of the Indian women hockey team in Chak De! India. He played a grouchy dad and an infidel husband in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and still won hearts with his honest portrayal. He took another risk in portraying a character suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome in My Name Is Khan. He wanted to be a homegrown superhero and so invested huge sums and prestige to make RA.One. Perhaps the biggest gamble of all was investing in the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders. After a shaky beginning, the team not only won laurels but emerged as the most financially sound outfit among all.
Return of the King
Life is full of ups and downs, even when you are at the head of the table. SRK’s life and career has been no different. Despite riding a wave of popularity and success with consecutive movies like Chennai Express, Dilwale and Raees, Shah Rukh faced a low phase in his career when much-awaited movies like Jab Harry Met Sejal and Zero didn’t work at the box office. While any other star would have charged ahead and released more movies to maintain visibility, SRK took the road less travelled. He stopped starring in films and focussed instead on producing, managing his business ventures like KKR, Red Chillies Entertainment and also spending time with his family and kids – Aryan, Suhana and AbRam. For four years, between 2018 and 2022, there wasn’t a single SRK film release. The Khan household as went through a tumultous time when SRK’s son Aryan Khan fought off a court case.
(Above) Jawan opened to packed houses around the world in 2023. The film managed to earn over 760 crores at the Indian box office, and the dialogue, ‘Bete ko hath lagaane se pehle baap se baat kar’, became an internet sensation in itself.
Then, out of the blue, Shah Rukh had a ‘viral’ cameo in Brahmastra. It was the teaser before the box-office tsunami. Come 2023, Shah Rukh Khan returned to the big screen with Pathaan early in the year and then Jawan, later on in the same year. The result was a blitzkrieg that saw both his releases mint in excess of 1400 crores put together at the domestic box office. The next generation of King Khan’s legacy is ready to follow in his footsteps as well. Daughter Suhana Khan has already debuted with her big OTT movie The Archies and son Aryan Khan is ready to release his directorial debut – an OTT show titled Stardom, where his father and other prominent actors play out the main roles. SRK is also slated to appear in a film along with Suhana and there are big plans for SRK’s Pathaan and Salman Khan’s Tiger to create a new cinematic universe of super spys, the kind that we caught a glimpse of in Tiger 3 and Pathaan.
