“Beneath the guise of my superstardom, I am an ordinary man” –a line resonates from a now-viral piece ‘My Name is Shah Rukh Khan’ from the 2013 edition of the Outlook Magazine written by the man himself.
Growing up watching Shah Rukh Khan navigate through various stages of his life has served as an inspiration and lesson at every stage – the latest being the entire episode of his 23-year-old son being taken to custody on alleged charges. In these last couple of weeks, we witnessed several shades of this ‘ordinary man’ in what is probably the most unfortunate period of the superstar’s life.
We have witnessed his on-screen personas face all sorts of vulnerabilities. From proving his role as a doting family man (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham), facing the grief of losing his stepson (My Name is Khan) to being put on trial over his surname (Chak De India). His vulnerabilities transcended off-screen with this one incident and he was fighting the battles of Rahul, Rizwan and Kabir all at once. As his legion of fans and industry colleagues rallied behind him, the superstar proved that he is an ordinary man after all. And he made this huge statement without speaking a single word, or without hinting at his stature and reputation. With a dignified silence and his folded hands greeting his well-wishers, he proved that his grace extended beyond the celluloid and was a perpetual presence in his life.
At his most vulnerable, he was the epitome of a law-abiding citizen, reminding us that no matter how high he has flown, he knows his roots. That is what makes him the superstar Shah Rukh Khan and also relatable as a star to the general public.
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The impact that he had on someone watching him from afar was huge. However, the realisation that Mr Khan is a language of love and resilience is not a recent one, neither is the love and admiration for him a new phenomenon in my life that occurred after I witnessed the human side of my favourite star. The feelings crept in at the early age of three when I saw him spread his arms for the first time for his Simran (Kajol) in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. His impact on my life came in that early.
Owing to the limitations in understanding that comes with that tender age, I failed to comprehend the nuances of the emotion of love, but Raj, with his glasses tilted down a bit, smirking at the camera, was the definition of it.
As I danced to the tunes of Chand Ne Kuch Kaha (Dil Toh Pagal Hai), Koi Mil Gaya (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) and the entire soundtrack of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, with a dupatta in hand to replicate Kajol’s saree, his image of a romantic hero got cemented in my mind.
A decade later, at the age of thirteen, I was slowly learning to look beyond the romantic guy and trying to understand him as an actor who took challenges head-on right from the first innings of his career.
At a time when the heroes of our films had certain fixed quirks, Shah Rukh Khan was adding more flavours by playing characters who jumped around, broke into cartwheels every now and then, wasn’t afraid of being goofy and vulnerable in front of his leading lady and embraced the failures of his life. He was also playing the villain and the anti-hero in films like Darr, Baazigar and Anjam when following the safe formula would have been less risky for him.
But you don’t become the ‘King Khan’ of Bollywood just by playing safe, nor does one move forward in life by remaining in their comfort zone. One of the countless lessons by the man.
A couple of years later, around the age of seventeen, when the zeal for achieving something great was at its peak, once again, I again looked to Mr Khan for inspiration. Drawing examples from his life gave me the impression that I was growing up alongside him, a fancy that made a lot of things seem easier than they were.
The lyrics of Chand Tare from Yes Boss, “Saari duniya par main chhaaun..Bas itna sa khwaab hai” played on loop as his infectious energy transcended the virtual medium to reach us. The lyrics that further continued, “Mere peechhe, mere aage, haath jode duniya bhaage..bas itna sa khwaab hai” is not only the reality of SRK, but it also instilled a ‘khwaab’ (dream) in many who grew up witnessing his journey.
A name synonymous with hard work and success, a regular guy from Delhi not only made it big in the city of dreams but became the dream himself.
My growth as a person to a great extent has been connected with the perception that I have developed about Mr Khan and his movies. With time, the perception of the brand SRK did change from being a romantic hero to being a nuanced actor, from a superstar and global icon to an ordinary dreamer like us. But for every Sunil whose love was not reciprocated, there was a Raj who redefined love. While Mohan Bhargav taught us that our country is not perfect but it can improve, Dr Jehangir said the same about our families. For every Kabir Khan whose identity was questioned, a Rizwan Khan stepped up and every time a Raj Aryan Malhotra couldn’t grasp the hand of his girlfriend, a Veer Pratap Singh moved across the border to do the same.
Having said all of that, I have always been asked, “Isn’t it a bit too much to look at Shah Rukh Khan the way you do?” Maybe it is a little over the top to relate to someone from afar, without knowing them and letting a superstar affect one’s life. But the closest to an answer that I can find right now is an excerpt from Akhil Katyal’s viral poem:
“Shayad isliye kuch logon ke halak mein fasta hai… Ki ek Shahrukh mein pura Hindustan basta hai.”
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