Happy Birthday Shah Rukh Khan, the Toast of Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan.

(Photo: PTI)

Shah Rukh Khan is celebrating his 58th birthday on 2 November this year and preparations are on for a series of grand celebrations in the wake of two back-to-back thumping box-office successes, Pathaan and Jawan.

Typical of the strange idiosyncrasies of the Bollywood box office, his best films did not churn out the kind of miraculous moolah these two entirely escapist films did, making everyone in and around Bollywood happy as the films became a wake-up sign for Bollywood, symbolic of either freeing itself from the clutches of the Southern masala films or joining forces with them in a way, which Jawan has done and how!

The three feature films in which Shah Rukh stripped himself of his typically ‘Shahrukhi’ school of acting complete with mannerisms and stylisations that threw up his true potential as one of the best performers in world cinema, are Swadesh, My Name Is Khan, and Chak De India.

But they did not work any kind of magic at the box office and till now, the star actor has not taken on any recent assignments of these kinds of films.

Bollywood's Most Powerful Personality

For this critic, it was easier to catch him at Changi airport in Singapore between two flights from Australia to Kolkata than to nail him down in India. Shah Rukh Khan, the unquestioned Badshah of Bollywood, revealed a side of him not easily seen in film glossies.

This quote-centered profile offers a glimpse of this mega-successful star, producer, television anchor, and son of the late businessman Meer Taj Mohammed Khan and Lateef Fatima, whose greatest regret in life is that his parents are not around to share his success.

Time Magazine has called him probably the most recognisable actor in the world. The Guardian newspaper has described him as the world’s biggest film star on the assumption that Bollywood has a global audience of 3.6 billion as compared to 2.5 billion for Hollywood. National Geographic featured him on their cover in 2005 for their feature 'Inside Bollywood'. March 2007 onwards, his wax figure has stood alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London.

Shah Rukh Khan is without doubt the toast of Bollywood currently, arguably its most saleable actor and perhaps its most powerful personality. And all this without any connections with the Indian film industry that's known for its nepotism.

He was born on 2 November 1965, and raised in New Delhi, though his roots are from Peshawar, now in Pakistan. He attended St Columba’s school where he was awarded the prestigious Sword of Honour for his all-round accomplishments in academics, sports, and drama.

Having graduated from Hansraj College in Delhi with honours in Economics, Khan followed up with a stint at Barry John’s theatre group TAG and joined Jamia Millia Islamia University for a Master's Degree in Mass Communications. However, he didn’t complete the course.

Meanwhile, he first got noticed as an actor in 1988 with the TV series Dil Dariya  and in particular Fauji  where he played the role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai followed by a small role in the movie In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones. The death of both his parents prompted Shah Rukh to shift base to Mumbai.

Did you know that Shah Rukh Khan finished reading Gregory David Roberts’ Shantaram much before the book hit Indian bookstores and recommended it to some of his producer friends? “I asked them if they would want to make a film based on the book but there was no response. Now Hollywood has taken it,” said the star whose home library has a collection of more than 5,000 books of which there are at least three he wants to turn into films.

“The other two I have really enjoyed are Mark Haddon’s murder mystery, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Yann Martel’s fantasy adventure Life of Pi. Right now, my reading priorities are focused on biopics about people who have led interesting lives.”

Though he admits that the Indian film industry has a lot to learn from Hollywood “in terms of organisation, technology, and its distribution network, the stories are right here with us, in Bollywood. Our fantasies are attainable. Our fantasies are smaller. They are about having a house, perhaps a small car. Unlike Hollywood, we are not bothered about aliens,” obviously referring to Hollywood blockbusters like Deep Impact and Independence Day.

And he has every right to make this statement because most of his fantasies sell extremely well both in the national and the international market.

Om Shanti Om (2007) produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, his own production house, was the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year earning $45 million across the world. Some of the biggest hits in Bollywood over the past 30 years have Shah Rukh starring in them. Among these are – Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gam (2001), Chak De (2007) and Om Shanti Om (2007.)

His face is that of an icon who represents one of the largest film industries in the world. But he began small, with a bit of theatre in Delhi followed by not very significant roles in a few television serials like Fauji in 1988 and Circus in 1989.

'Face of the King'

A few remember that he wooed his wife Gauri for eight years before they tied the knot in 1991, more than 30 years ago. “Gauri has known me for many years and she understands me perfectly. I would call her my pillar of strength simply because we have not known life separate from each other. What has sustained the relationship is the tremendous faith we have in each other. I have never looked inside her purse or even glanced into her wardrobe,” said Khan, who has an acting roster that goes up to nearly 100 films, several being his own productions.

His roles have been a veritable rainbow of colours ranging from the psychopathic killer in Darr and Anjaam to the star incarnate in Om Shanti Om to the sickeningly melodramatic adopted son in Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gam to the stern but determined Kabir Khan in Chak De India. “I am a lot like the no-nonsense hockey coach Kabir Khan in Chak De minus that stern stuff,” he confides.

He and Gauri have a son, Aryan, now 25, and a daughter Suhana, now 23. They became parents of a third child, a son named Abram, who was born through a surrogate mother.

Things he will never do on screen are riding a horse and kissing a girl.

“I am extremely shy of women and perhaps that is why I romance them so well when we are just playing make-believe characters on screen,” is his surprising comment. “I have been fortunate to have worked with some of the most beautiful and talented women in Indian cinema and at least half of my success goes to their credit. They have contributed to my dance numbers and to my appearance by teaching me how to look good. I am what I am because of what they have helped me to become,” said the Badshah with a modesty that belies the public image his publicity machinery has carefully constructed for him over the years.

Do you know what Shah Rukh means? It means “face of the king.”

This is one ‘king’ who hosts television shows with a grace so natural that it charms you and takes you by surprise at the same time. It is the same man who tamed his unruly lock of thick black hair with a mix of homemade glue and water when he began his career in films.

This is one ‘king’ who loves to dote on his three kids, who think “I am the best dad in the world because they do not have much of a choice.” Shah Rukh insists that he never jumps a red light, and is a law-abiding citizen. But after this, he lights up his cigarette, unable to stick to this new law in Singapore of not smoking.

(Shoma A Chatterji is an Indian film scholar, author and freelance journalist. This is an opinion article and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)