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"I'd rather sink trying to be different, than stay afloat like everyone else"
This above is a quote by Shah Rukh which summarises his work ethic. It is hard to keep a man down whose very name means 'face of the king'.
JUMP FROM THE SMALL SCREEN
He is a guiding beacon for all the television stars who wish to make it big in the film world. After a stint with Barry John in Delhi theatre, he played Abhimanyu Rai in Fauji in 1998. Now Fauji is a serial that many people look back to with nostalgia. Shah Rukh brought his characteristic energy to this serial. He worked in two other television serials, Circus and Doosra Kewal. After that it was Mumbai and the film world for him.
CRAZY IN LOVE
Deewana was directed by Raj Kanwar and starred the current heartthrob Rishi Kapoor and the new cutie Divya Bharti. Rishi woos and marries Divya on a concert tour. But his jealous relatives want to usurp his money and get him killed. Shah Rukh falls in love with his young widow and wins her over. The movie was a big hit. Shah Rukh had foppish hair and a hooked nose. But his face had a boyish charm and his charisteristic energy made him stand out in the film. Anyhow, Rishi was on his last legs now, getting old and fat. Shah Rukh was the new face on the block.
Azia Mirza's Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman was not a big hit. But it vindicated Shah Rukh's theatre background. It also forged a bond between Azia Mirza and Shah Rukh that made them, later, form a film company together. Although Rajiv Mehra's Chamatkar from the Eagle Films costarring Shahrukh with Urmila Matondkar and Naseeruddin Shah was not a big hit, it is a great comedy movie. Shah Rukh plays a simpleton from the village who lands up in the big bad city. He runs into a ghost (Naseer) and helps him win back his honor. Shah Rukh was fabulous as Sunder, a simple guy with a true heart. He had to stand up to great actors like Naseer and Shammi Kapoor.
Hema Malini's Dil Ashna Hai had a surfeit of female stars, Dimple, Amrita Singh and Sonu Walia along with Divya Bharti. The theme was also women oriented, and Shah Rukh played Divya's steadfast boyfriend. The movie did not do well.
All in all, Shah Rukh's debut year was a big success. He had one big hit and two critically acclaimed movies. It was the time when Govinda, Salman were ruling the roost and Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor were still around. He had hard work ahead to carve his niche.
KILLER KHAN
1993 stared out with a washout - King Uncle, a comedy about a harsh father who is mellowed by the love of kids. Shah Rukh was the young lead in the film, the title role being played by Jackie Shroff. Then it was Azia Mirza's sweetheart movie Kabhi Haan Kabhie Naa. The movie did not do too well but it brought accolades to Shah Rukh playing a lovable loser Sunil. Maya Memsahib was out and out an arthouse film.
Then Baazigar happened. This Abbas Mastan film was about a vengeful young man on a destructive trail. Picking up this negetive role was the defining moment for Shah Rukh. The movie was a hit and also was the begining of the Kajol-Shah Rukh magic. Darr had Shah Rukh in a negetive role of the obsessed lover who dies horribly in the end. Darr was Yash Chopra's venture and a hit. It had fresh as a daisy Juhi Chawla in a female lead with Sunny Deol. Juhi-Shah Rukh were friends in real life too and along with Aziz Mirza started a production company later. Anjaam, Shah Rukh's third negetive role with Madhuri did not do well and it was the end of the negetive-role spell of Shah Rukh.
DOWNS AND UP
Flops Ahead !! Sippy's Zamaana Deewana, Mukul Anand's Trimurti and Guddu (what a name for a movie). But Shah Rukh was here with a spate of other heros. Ram Jaane was again (like Chamatkar) from the Eagle Films banner and a sweet movie which was a hit. As this was Shah Rukh's solo outing, his position was vindicated.
Rakesh Roshan made Karan Arjun with Salman and Shah Rukh, pairing them with Mamta Kulkarni and Kajol. Rakesh Roshan is the man with a magic touch and Karan Arjun was gold. Kajol and Shah Rukh cavorting around singing 'Jaati hoon main, jaldi hai kya' was a rage.
The year wound up with the vision of Aditya Chopra, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The movie was a trendsetter of sorts. The NRI fable of apna desh being bigger than any other country in the world (at least for marrying) was spawned here. It helped that the box office taking increased manifuld worldwide. The movie was the sweet tale of Raj (Shah Rukh) who falls for the vivacious Simran (Kajol) and finds himself following her to India to woo her and also win over her strict father (Amrish Puri). It was the biggest blockbuster ever. It gave Shah Rukh his lover-boy image and brought romance into focus like never before.
MULTIPLEX MAGIC
The next couple of years were full of part hits and flops. HIts like Pardes and Yess Boss kept Shah Rukh on the roll while Chahat, Dushman Duniya Ka was a flop.
Then came Yash Chopra's Dil to Pagal Hai. It was the time when the multiplex culture was coming up in the metropolitan cities. The young crowd had a cool place to hang out, and such sweet movies were the requirement of the day. The movie had a designer look and examined the issue of friendship vs love. It co-starred Shah Rukh with Madhuri and Karishma Kapoor. This yuppy love flick had the feel of a musical and became a runaway hit.
Duplicate and Baadshah were mild entertainers. Baadshah did give Shah Rukh his nickname the Baadshah of Bollywood. Mani Ratnam's Dil Se was again not a huge hit. But it was a different mystical kind of a love story between a boy and a suicide bomber. Shah Rukh's dance atop a train Chaiyya Chaiyya and another one with Manisha in picturesque Tibet - Satrangi Re are classics.
YUPPIE TEENAGER
The Karan Johar movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was another yuppy tale that worked on its look. All the film stars wore branded clothes and traipsed about in an unbelievable world of a fancy college campus. But hey, films are watched to make us feel good, and this movie did that in a full measure. The movie was another huge hit and the partnership between Karan and Shah Rukh was consolidated.
The year 2K did not fare too well for Shah Rukh. He did have Mohabattein which was a hit among the college crowd. But that was the year that belonged to another rising star Hritik. Interestingly, the movie Kaho Na.. Pyaar Hai was conceptulised with Shah Rukh in mind. But Rakesh felt a new star cast would do better justice to the subject. And a new star was born. The gossip mags made much of Hritik / Shah Rukh rivallary, fuelled further as it was lean year for Shah Rukh.
Shah Rukh's home production Asoka flopped despite the presence of Kareena. It was left to Karan Johar to resurrect the Shah Rukh magic with Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham. The movie had Amitabh and Hritik alongwith Shah Rukh. The movie was a top grosser thought it took a lot of flak for its ostentatious look and being overly emotional.
SERIOUS SHAH RUKH
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas was another over the top production. It was a huge hit but again critics had a field day criticising Shah Rukh and the movie. His next with old hand Madhuri and Salman Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam sank His jealous husband act did not go down well with moviegoers.. His home production, Chalte Chalte with Rani Mukherjee was a hit. It was a movie about a couple who find it hard to keep their marriage together. It was the 'mature' phase of Shah Rukh.
Karan's next, Kal Ho Na Ho was another NRI tale about a dying young man who wants to make everyone around him happy. Co-starring Preity and Saif, the movie was a big hit. It had may rollicking songs to keep away the gloom of the hero's impending death. Pretty Woman was the typical colourful yuppy looking number that Shah Rukh loved doing.
Farah Khan, a choreographer and a close friend of Shah Rukh's decided to venture into direction and Shah Rukh produced her first film. Farah went into a 70s funk with Main Hoon Na. Shah Rukh was the typical 70s hero who did everything. He did action, romance, dance and song with equal elan, and was at his charming best. His pairing with Sushmita hit off amazingly well. He also got to play out the typical male fantasy of making out with his teacher. Main Hoon Na is an all time entertainer and a feel good movie that never goes over the top.
ROMANCE, NOSTALGIA AND FANTASY
2004 also brought Yash Chopra's Veer Zaara which was about a cross border romance. Zaara (Preity Zinta) is a pakistani lass and Veer (Shah Rukh) is with the Indian Army. They fall in love and face all kinds of problems before they are reunited. The movie was the top grosser of the year.
Up ahead was Swades, Ashutosh Gowarikar's next after Lagaan. The movie was about an NRI who yearns for his own country. Shah Rukh was praised for his understated Mohan Bhargava. It was one of his best performances ever.
His next production under the direction of Amol Palekar was Paheli, based on a Rajasthani short story. It was about a ghost who is smitten by a beautiful woman. He discovers that her husband has been made to live away from her, and decides to step into his skin to live with the woman he loves. This beautiful story about love between a woman and a ghost was very well made. Shah Rukh had a double role here, one of the self assured ghost and another of the simple man who is forced into exile by his father. Shah Rukh played both the roles with a flair. He even got to sport huge Rajasthani turbans which sat quite well on him. Even though it was not a big box office success, it was sent to the Oscar's.
CHAK DE
Karan Johar came up with a mature tale about marriages falling apart and adultery, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. But alas, the movie lost its direction and was hooted off. However, it did make a decent takings abroad. Shah Rukh had to face criticism for his wimpy role here, and incessent crying.
The failure of KANK was quickly pushed under the carpet with the smart and sexy thriller, Don. Farhan Akhtar came up his version of 70s hit. The movie was one of the top grossers of 2006 and Shah Rukh bounced back.
Shimit Amin decided to make a movie about a hockey player (oh really ? who watches hockey) who has to go underground post allegation of match fixing (boo boo). The player tries to come back by offering to coach a rag tag bag of 16 hockey players coming together for the first time. There were 16 absolutely fresh girls here with Shah Rukh, no heroine and no song, no dance. The movie touched viewers like never before. The girls were spontaneous, Shah Rukh amazing, the treatment of the movie was fabulous. Chak de India is already a cult classic, and inspiring in many ways. Shah Rukh proves why he is the Baadshah of bollywood and why there cant be another like him. He came up with a performance that left the viewers gasping, his critics are silenced and his sins (like KANK) forgiven.
Shah Rukh's next big one, Om Shanti Om with Deepika Padukone has huge expectations riding on it. It is directed by his pal Farah Khan and a home production again.
Here's looking at you Shah Rukh !
GOSSSSSIP
Shahrukh Khan prefers his name to spelt as Shah Rukh. He fell in love Gauri in Delhi and pursued and wooed her till she said yes to him. When doing his 'stalker' role in Darr and Anjaam, he said he would have turned into an obsessive lover had Gauri not said yes to him. He has two children and owns a heritage bunglow 'Mannat' in Mumbai. He says he is financially well placed so he just wants to take up projects that will fulfill him.
He is a workaholic and hardly sleeps. Night time is work time for him, his physical workout in gym starts at 11 pm in the night. He has developed a six pack for his movie Om Shanti Om, and has a shirtless dance in it. Of course he has danced shirtless in Dil Se and in Asoka too, but not with perfect six packs.
He is plagued with allegations about being gay and Karan Johar being his gay partner. He jokes about it though. His good friends in the industry are Karan Johar, Farah Khan, Preity Zinta and Juhi Chawla.
FILMOGRAPHY
- Bhootnath (2007) (in production)
- Tashan (2008) (filming)
- Om Shanti Om (2007) (post-production) .... Om Kapoor
- Chak De! India (2007) .... Kabir Khan
- I See You (2006)
- Don (2006/I) .... Don/Vijay
- Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) .... Dev Saran
- Alag: He Is Different.... He Is Alone... (2006) .... Special Appearance - Song
- Paheli (2005) .... Kishanlal/Ghost
- Silsiilay (2005) .... Sutradhar
- Kaal (2005) .... Special Appearance (Song)
- Swades: We, the People (2004) .... Mohan Bhargav
- Veer-Zaara (2004) .... Veer Pratap Singh
- Main Hoon Na (2004) .... Maj. Ram Prasad Sharma
- Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke (2004) .... Dushant
- Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Aman Mathur
- Chalte Chalte (2003) .... Raj Mathur
- Saathiya.lkc">Saathiya (2002) .... Yeshwant Rao (Special Apperance)
- Shakthi: The Power (2002) .... Jaisingh (Drifter)
- Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (2002) .... Gopal
- Devdas (2002/I) .... Devdas Mukherjee
- Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Rahul Y. Raichand
- Asoka (2001) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Asoka
- One 2 Ka 4 (2001) .... Arun Verma
- Gaja Gamini (2000) .... Shahrukh (Special Appearance)
- Mohabbatein.lkc">Mohabbatein (2000) .... Raj Aryan Malhotra
- Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega... (2000) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Rahul (Special Appearence)
- Josh (2000) .... Max
- Hey Ram (2000) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Amjad Ali Khan
- Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000) .... Ajay Bakshi
- Baadshah (1999) .... Raj 'Baadshah'
- Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) .... Rahul Khanna
- Dil Se.. (1998) .... Amarkanth Varma
- Duplicate (1998) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Bablu Chaudhary/Manu Dada
- Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) .... Rahul
- Yes Boss (1997) .... Rahul
- Koyla (1997) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Shanker
- Gudgudee (1997) .... Special Appearance
- Pardes (1997) .... Arjun Saagar
- Dushman Duniya Ka (1996) .... Badru (Rickshaw driver)
- Chaahat (1996) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Roop Singh Rathod
- Army (1996) .... Arjun
- English Babu Desi Mem (1996) .... Vikram/Hari/Gopal Mayur
- Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Raj Malhotra
- Guddu (1995) .... Guddu Bahadur
- Karan Arjun (1995) .... Arjun Singh
- Oh Darling Yeh Hai India (1995) .... Hero
- Ram Jaane (1995) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Ram Jaane
- Trimurti (1995) .... Romi Singh/Bholey
- Deewana.lkc">Zamaana Deewana (1995) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Rahul Malhotra
- Anjaam (1994) .... Vijay Agnihotri
- Darr (1993) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Rahul Mehra
- Baazigar (1993) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Ajay Sharma/Vicky Malhotra
- Maya (1993) .... Lalit
- Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Sunil
- King Uncle (1993) .... Anil Bansal
- Dil Aashna Hai (...The Heart Knows) (1992) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Karan D. Singh
- Chamatkar (1992/I) .... Sunder Srivastava
- Deewana (1992) (as Shah Rukh Khan) .... Raja Sahai
- Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) .... Raj "Raju" Mathur
- "Idiot" (1991) (mini) TV Series .... Pawan Raghujan
- "Circus" (1989) TV Series
- In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989) (TV)
- "Fauji" (1988) TV Series .... Abhimanyu Rai
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