Shah Rukh Khan turns 57: Anti-hero, romantic hero, the struggling star and other phases of his career
Shah Rukh Khan, the King Khan of Bollywood (a colloquial term for the Hindi film industry), is 57 today. One of the most successful Indian movie stars of all time, SRK has had a glorious 30-year career, and still despite a couple of setbacks, shows no signs of stopping. There have been instances when critics and others wrote off when his career was not going so well, but SRK scripted epic comebacks every time. After a turbulent few years as an actor in films of late, and the resulting hiatus, he is all set to again rule our hearts next year with three projects: 'Pathaan', 'Jawan', and 'Dunki'. He will also make a cameo in Salman Khan-starrer 'Tiger 3'.
On his birthday, let's explore the different parts in which SRK's career can be divided. He is the master of reinventions and has always done new things if older stuff was not working. These are by no means neat divisions. Before starting, let's take a brief look at his background.
Early life
SRK was born in New Delhi in 1965. He grew up in Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood of the Indian capital. He has an illustrious background. His father Mir Taj Mohammed Khan was a freedom fighter from Peshawar and a follower of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the 'Frontier Gandhi'. Mir Taj was also a cousin of Shah Nawaz Khan, major general in Netaji Subhash Chanda Bose's Indian National Army.
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TV career
Like many others without any contacts just starting out in the entertainment film industry, SRK struggled a lot in the early years. He first acted in the TV series 'Dil Dariya' in 1988. However, thanks to its production delays, he was first seen on the small screen in 'Fauji', a 1989 series. He played the role of Abhimanyu Rai in the show, which explored the training of Indian Army personnel. SRK was also a part of popular serials of late 1980s and early 1990s called 'Umeed' and 'Wagle Ki Duniya'. He was also a part of TV movie 'In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones' which was written by Arundhati Roy. The film, interestingly, also starred Manoj Bajpayee.
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Early film career
In 1991, SRK left Delhi for Mumbai to explored a career as an actor in Hindi cinema. He first began shooting Hema Malini's directorial debut 'Dil Aashna Hai' but appeared on the screen in 'Deewana' in 1992, officially his debut. Also starring Divya Bharti and Rishi Kapoor, the film was a success and gave SRK a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. 1992 also saw the release of 'Chamatkar', 'Dil Aashna Hai', and 'Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman'. Shah Rukh's career had kicked off.
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SRK the anti-hero
Although SRK is best known for being Bollywood's greatest romantic hero, early on in 1990s, particularly 1993 and 1994, he garnered a lot of critical and audience acclaim by portraying bad guys and anti-heroes. He, for instance, played the role of a vengeful murderer in 'Baazigar' and a stalker and obsessive lover in 'Darr'. 'Baazigar' got SRK his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. And 'Darr', which gave SRK fans the phrase "I love you, K-k-k-Kiran", got him a nomination Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role.
In 'Anjaam' (1994), Khan was bestowed with the Filmfare Best Villain Award for playing an obsessive lover's role.
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SRK the Romantic
In 1995, Shah Rukh Khan starred in an impressive seven films, but it is one film that may indeed be his most famous ever: 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'. With his 'flippant, flirty lover-boy who is desi at heart' persona in the film, SRK won many a heart and continues to do so even now, after more than a quarter of a century of its release. The film's impact was seen overseas as well, particularly among NRIs (non-resident Indians), who could relate to SRK and Kajol's lost-in-Europe characters. The film was a humongous hit. In following years, Shah Rukh bolstered his onscreen romantic hero image with movies like 'Yes Boss', 'Pardes', 'Dil To Pagal Hai', 'Dil Se..', 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', among others. These roles gave Shah Rukh multiple awards. And now, he was the default romantic hero of Bollywood.
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SRK the struggling star
In the following years, SRK had to face career struggles after the arrival of new generation of film stars. Sure enough, he gave hits in this period too (late 1990s to early 2000s) but none on the scale of 'DDLJ' and 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'. His bid budget 'Baadshah' came in 1999 and turned out to be a flop. Ditto, 'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani' that came next year. One highlight during this period was a supporting role in 'Hey Ram' in 2000, a Kamal Haasan-starrer. That performance was widely praised. 'Mohabbatein, released same year, was a success. 2001's 'Aśoka', although critically acclaimed, flopped. His career woes were worsened by a spinal injury that occurred during Krishna Vamsi's 'Shakti: The Power', in which he played a cameo. 2001's 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...' was also a success, but was a multi-starrer. This era in SRK's career was a mixed one, full of great successes and spectacular failures.
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SRK the comeback star
2004 onward until 2010s, SRK found resurgence in his career. And we mean, some real resurgence. Some of the successes of this period include 'Veer-Zaara', 'Main Hoon Na', 'Swades', 'Paheli', 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna', 'Chak De! India', 'Om Shanti Om', 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi', 'Billu', among others. Some of these, particularly 'Swades', 'Paheli', and 'Chak De! India' are remembered as King Khan's finest performances. This era, some say, found SRK at the top of his acting ability.
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From 2010s to present
The last decade has been mixed for Shah Rukh Khan. He has also done some of the bravest films of his career in this period. Karan Johar's 2010 film 'My Name Is Khan' comes to mind, a story exploring the Muslim experience of post-9/11 US through the eyes of a man with Asperger syndrome. He also starred in Anubhav Sinha's superhero film 'Ra.One' in 2011. In the same year, he starred in the sequel to Amitabh Bachchan's iconic 1978 film 'Don', called 'Don 2'. These were risky propositions due to various reasons and not all of these and other projects like these were successes but they proved SRK was always open to overhaul his onscreen persona and did not want to be typecast.
In the latter half of 2010, he has struggled to gain the love of his fans. His last few films - 'Zero' and 'Jab Harry Met Sejal', for instance -- have either been reviewed well by critics or commercial successes, but not both.
However, SRK has shown he can challenge himself by taking up less glamorous roles like in 'Raees'. Also, he is still an excellent actor as apparent in movies where his abilities have been tested ('Swades' comes to mind) and he can shine in the OTT space too. As mentioned, he has multiple projects lined up for releases like 'Pathan', 'Jawan', and 'Dunki'. If these movies star SRK the actor and not SRK the film star, fans are in for a treat.
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