(This piece contains spoilers.)
In one of the many interviews in the run-up to the release of Ms Marvel, Iman Vellani, who plays the titular role in the latest offering of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Rish Shah, her co-actor in the Disney+Hotstar series, were seen discussing their favourite Shah Rukh Khan movie. It seemed like a typical, and borderline stereotypical, interview where south Asian actors are often asked about their ‘Bollywood’ connection, and to name their favourite star.
There are now dozens of clips of Vellani and her mostly south Asian co-stars talking about ‘Bollywood’ films, but none seemed as surreal as two teenagers stanning Shah Rukh Khan in an MCU fantasy drama.
In the second episode of Ms Marvel, Kamala Khan and Kamran connect over their mutual love for Shah Rukh Khan. Twice in an almost 50-minute episode, the two characters are talking about SRK, who was born thousands of miles away from New Jersey, where the story takes place and makes films in Hindi, which is not the first nor even the second language of the two characters. Shah Rukh Khan has become such an intrinsic part of the South Asian culture that there is rarely anything that connects the desi diaspora as he does.
Ms Marvel and Shah Rukh Khan
Ms Marvel is an out-and-out story about a Pakistani American superhero. The culture that we see in the series is that of Pakistani Americans. From the origin of the characters to the mosques in the background, from food to attire, the story is all about a Muslim family from Pakistan, living in New Jersey.
While some of the actors who play the roles are Indians (or have Indian connections), India only finds mention in the context of Partition. However, Indian cultural references do find a space in the series, and, not surprisingly, they are all from Bollywood. More specifically - Shah Rukh Khan.
A key characteristic of Kamala Khan is that she is in love with Marvel as well as with Bollywood. She idolises Captain Marvel and gushes over SRK. In her world, both Carol Danvers and Shah Rukh Khan hold important places.
She is a New Jersey girl who admires Captain Marvel, but she is also a south Asian teen who loves watching SRK flicks. Shah Rukh Khan makes Kamala Khan a Jersey girl of South Asian origin. Without Shah Rukh Khan, Ms Marvel would be just another American superhero.
Language, Please!
So far, none of the characters we have seen in Ms Marvel is Indian, although that is hard to tell sometimes. Seemingly, some of them speak Urdu or at least understand it. In general, anecdotal and survey data suggest that a large chunk of the South Asian population in the US speaks either Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Telugu, or Punjabi. Barring Telugu speakers, most speakers of these languages can understand Hindi.
This has happened despite the Sanskritisation of Hindi in post-Partition India and a Persianisation of Urdu in post-Partition Pakistan. Although the South Asian diaspora carries with them hundreds of languages to the far-off land, Hindi and Urdu, or the versions of it, remain the most common language spoken by them.
Most second-generation south Asian Americans have grown up with a steady dose of Hindi films, even though not all of them might be able to speak the language.
The Shah Rukh Khan Phenomenon
Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. And Bollywood reminds the desis of a familiar landscape, a familiar sound, dancing style, and music with dhol and tabla. For over three decades, Shah Rukh Khan has defined romance, music, and dance in Hindi films. There is no argument over who is the biggest film star in India, irrespective of who does how much business at the box office.
The appeal of SRK, the love of fans in India and abroad is immune to his box office performance. This appeal is beyond borders, and not surprisingly, beyond age and gender. Shah Rukh Khan finds as much love in the hearts of an 80-year-old woman as he does in an 18-year-old man
Making his entry into Bollywood in the 1990s, Shah Rukh Khan made way to the hearts of the diaspora with his roles in Pardes and DDLJ. The films, while romantic dramas, had NRIs and their roots at the heart of them. Slowly, as the popularity of Shah Rukh Khan grew in India, it similarly grew abroad. In a film like My Name Is Khan, Shah Rukh Khan took the issue of growing Islamophobia in the post-9/11 world head-on, especially when most brown Americans, despite their diverse backgrounds, were being looked at with suspicion.
But Shah Rukh Khan is more than just his on-screen persona. When he was detained and strip-searched in the US, on more than one occasion, he became one of the many Muslims who were subjected to similar treatment on a daily basis. But they all found solace in his movies and his signature style of self-deprecating humour.
Over the years, Shah Rukh Khan has become an intrinsic part of South Asian culture. Ms Marvel is a testimony to the fact that any portrayal of the desi culture is incomplete without the mention of SRK. What makes Ms Marvel a Kamala Khan is Bollywood. While Bollywood is much more than Shah Rukh Khan, there is no Bollywood without Shah Rukh Khan for Kamala Khan.
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