Villain, lover boy and now action hero

He’s just turned 58, the age you’d expect actors to hang up their action boots. But Shah Rukh Khan has just put them on, recasting the romantic hero of dimpled smile and outstretched hands fame into rippling muscles, chiselled abs and high-octane machismo.

And it seems to have worked as a box office wonder for the star, who made a career comeback of sorts in 2023 after a spree of successive flops and a four-year break with back-to-back action films ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Jawan’ - they rank among the highest-grossing Hindi films ever, with each collecting over Rs 1,000 crore globally.

Film stars’ birthdays are always an occasion for their fans. It was so for Shah Rukh as well this year, with the crowds outside his home in Mannat bigger, louder and more enthusiastic. Thousands of people waited for hours outside Mannat to ring in his birthday on November 2. He obliged shortly after midnight, appearing on his balcony to greet them with folded hands, blowing kisses and striking his signature arms wide open pose.

As the night sky lit up with mobile cameras flashing wildly and the crowds screamed and chanted his name, it seemed evident that Shah Rukh’s many gambles in his over-three-decade career had paid off.

“It’s unbelievable that so many of you come and wish me late at night. I am but a mere actor. Nothing makes me happier than the fact that I can entertain you a bit. I live in a dream of your love. Thank you for allowing me to entertain you all. See you in the morning on the screen and off it,” Shah Rukh had written on ‘X’.

During the promotion of ‘Pathaan’ earlier this year, Shah Rukh said playing the titular action hero was the realisation of a long-cherished dream.

“I came to the film industry 32 years ago to be an action hero, but I missed the boat because they made me a romantic hero instead. I’ve only wanted to be an action hero,” he said in a video interview posted by the film’s production banner, ‘Yash Raj Films’ on ‘YouTube’ in January this year.

“I mean, I love ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ and I love Rahul and Raj and all these good, sweet boys, but I always thought I was an action hero, so for me, it’s my dream come true,” he added.

A friend and frequent collaborator, Karan Johar, also said that Shah Rukh hated love stories and only wanted to be in action films.

“He didn’t want Aditya Chopra to make ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. He was irritated when I was making ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ but then when these films worked, he didn’t say anything because he was like, ‘You know, ‘Chadhte suraj ko salaam (bow to the rising sun).’ If this love story is working, let’s go with it,” Johar said on the ‘Be A Man Yaar’ podcast a week ago.

From the gauche actor of TV shows ‘Fauji’ and ‘Circus’ to now, it has been a long and storied journey from Delhi to Mumbai for one of India’s most popular and enduring stars.

Shah Rukh made his debut with ‘Deewana’ in 1992, playing the affable boy next door in ‘Chamatkar’, ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ and ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na’ before successfully transitioning into the menacing villains in ‘Baazigar’, ‘Darr’ and ‘Anjaam’ in the same decade.

It was unusual for a leading man to play outright negative characters to such success, but Shah Rukh made the switch to the vengeful, obsessive roles easily.

His dream was to be an action hero, probably in the mould of a swashbuckling Dharmendra, but directors, some of his friends and his contemporaries thought his expressive eyes, dimples and what came to be known as his quintessential wit and charm would be a better fit for romantic roles. And then came the love stories. The films were many, each a bigger success than the previous one. Whether it was ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Pardes’, ‘Yes Boss’ or ‘Mohabbatein’, Shah Rukh was the ultimate lover boy for many millions of his fans in India and around the globe.

As he grew older, Shah Rukh’s career slumped a bit. After successive underperforming titles ‘Dilwale’ (2015), ‘Fan’ (2016), ‘Raees’ and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ in 2017 and 2018’s ‘Zero’, the actor was written off by critics and viewers. But as the popular dialogue in his hit film ‘Om Shanti Om’ goes, “Picture abhi baaqi hai, mere dost.”

He took a self-imposed sabbatical from films but never really retreated into the background of public attention. In 2022, Shah Rukh teased the audience with cameo appearances in diverse films such as ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’, ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ and ‘Brahmastra: Part One: Shiva’. And then, as a new year began, came ‘Pathaan’ in January. The superstar, who was introduced as the battered, bloodied

Indian spy in the teaser of the film, proclaimed he was alive when a man wondered if Pathaan was dead. Indeed, both Shah Rukh and the character live on.