Shah Rukh Khan: King of Hearts & Vulnerabilities!

There has to be a more powerful abbreviation or call it initials yet to be discovered & might not be ever as ‘SRK’, a mention of this and not only India, a lot of other nations recognize the country India by these initials which expand as Shah Rukh Khan.

The search button on Google when hit on the question as to who is the most popular Star of all? It effortlessly displays this name, ‘Shah Rukh Khan’, Felicitated by many countries and honored for his various achievements, this Man needs no introduction especially when it comes to people who despise him. Call me a fan, an ardent admirer of his wit & charm, a follower or whatever, One thing which enamored me time to time & every time since I was a schoolgirl with 2 pigtails and glasses so thick that I can claim this title of being a ‘Battery’ from Shahrukh which he was addressed in Raees was the human he was or the relatability factor which would effortlessly connect an average, roti daal wala or even Biryani wala human to him. The Boy with dimples and mad ruffled hair sashayed not only to the small, curved, not so smart tv screens ( well the large, big, flat, smart screens didn’t exist back then) but into the crevices of not only the teenage girls but housewives, granny’s & also to babies hearts, with Fauji. From there Dil dariya, Circus & ‘WHAMMMM’ he was on the big screen crooning ‘Koi na koi chahiye pyaar karne waala’ and the nation replied unanimously ‘Hum hai!’

It was easier back then I guess to say hum hai, to a Muslim boy who didn’t have to change his name to suit the whims & fancies or should I say protocols of this industry named ‘Bollywood’ or the country ‘India’.

He retained his name & also the person he is. 

The choice of movies he signed up for was also often criticized & under scrutiny be it Darr, Anjaam, or Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na. The change which this man brought in was quite catastrophic, to say the least. He was flawed, he was not the dashing prince, nor the one who could flex & flash muscles (he, later on, swooned us with dard-e-disco, which makes for another article). He was this messed up, scrawny-looking boy, with no Godfather backing him even the actresses were not very keen on working with him (Juhi Chawla had often confessed this in public). The relatability factor which he brought in along with him was his strongest asset if you were an ardent admirer of his. From there on the heights he claimed would make even the so-called demigods giddy!

The head which claims the crown of being the Badshah cannot be at rest when you are a Muslim who married a Hindu named his children Abram, Suhana & Aryan. Taught his children the recital of Hanuman Chalisa and never let his tongue & forgetting the tranquility & power of ‘Bismillah’ & ‘InshaaAllah’. Shah Rukh Khan was under constant judgment or scrutiny for all these reasons by all kinds of religious extremists or activists. ‘Andar ka Khan jaag gaya hai toh Pakistan chale jao’ or Musalman ho kar Ganesh visarjan? La haul vila kuwat, these allegations were a routine thing. An aam aadmi, an orphan, someone who is not a prince (the nepotism can’t be applied here, he didn’t have any connections whatsoever) went on to become the King, was not an easy thing to digest & keep calm about. And the heights he soared neither kept him calm. He is not an epitome of Humility or should I term it diplomacy. He often came across as this rude, arrogant, pompous & haughty person who shouted out from the rooftops ‘I am the best, I am the best, I am the best!!’ but didn’t we respond right back by assuring him ‘Yes you are best!’. But this is divided as there was a section of people who despised him equally or maybe more (somehow hatred is much stronger). We all do that as humans, I believe in this philosophy very strongly that if you don’t believe in yourself then you can never get others to do that.

That’s exactly what he did, he had announced this on many platforms, that he knows for a fact that he isn’t even a shadow of perfection but if he doesn’t believe in himself how would he make others do that?

However or whatever all his words were construed or perceived, almost a war of kind had started against him. He, his movies, his persona all were under constant attack for evident reasons. The theeja rang as it’s rightly put in Chak de India song, though Shahrukh Khan represented India at its best. Apparently, it was not what India is. Or maybe India was Shahrukh & Shahrukh was the best version of India once but lately, India has been changing, I won’t call it evolving because the flawed or failing & still trying to thrive (just like Shahrukh) The very fabric which made India the largest secular Democracy is under a big question mark as of now. I remember well there was this one interview of his where he had in all his humble best stated ( I can’t quote exact words, not sure which interview this was) that if he sees a truck coming towards a friend he would call out his name, his wife, then he would drag her out and save her, but if he saw it coming towards his kids he would stand right in front of the truck.

On Oct 2 his son, Aryan Khan was arrested by NCB. There have been many versions, many stories, many articles. How can it be not? He is the son of Shahrukh Khan. There is nothing new of all those versions which I would like to mention here or which you wouldn’t already know if you are a Fan or more so a Critic. The mind has been at unrest and not anything is making sense. But as I can see & maybe as I have always seen, I see a human flawed, scared, who epitomizes imperfections and most importantly a father anxious, helpless (remember the Google still confirms that he is one the most popular Star) who is under constant media & public scrutiny, who is almost been hunt down day & night, waiting patiently & with all prayers that the Indian law has some respite on his son, in a way he is doing that lying as low as he can for that humongous truck to pass over him.

For me, India is Shahrukh Khan as I’ve always known & he’ll be India at its best version of a secular Democratic. Flawed, failing but still rising up and thriving and mastering the art of survival. As the question still looms large on the verdict of the Aryan Khan Drug Case the parent in me is with this Parent who is just an anxious father waiting for his son to get back home, ‘Ek galti toh sabko maaf hoti hai? ‘Sab ko?! (Chak de India), The disdainful yet the most impactful face of Shahrukh Khan is what we are left with as an answer!