Thirty years after he began his career, the actor remains among the world's biggest film icons.
Last month, Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan celebrated 30 years in Hindi cinema. Shrayana Bhattacharya, who has written a book on the Bollywood actor's enduring popularity, explains why he is still among the world's biggest film icons.
In that sense, Khan's meteoric rise from a humble Delhi family to global celebrity is the penultimate neo-liberal fairy tale of success in India, an example of how to "make it" to the top without any film lineage or connections to prop him up. Khan's stature grew with a growing economy. Discussing the malicious right-wing attacks against Khan and his mixed-faith family - his wife is a Hindu - a young fan I interviewed declared: "He is secular, but he is also very sexy."Most importantly, the actor has always depicted the fragility we all share as human beings.
Data shows that his characters engage with women much more than the roles played by other Bollywood male stars. But the love Khan's characters seek is not only the traditional love of a woman, they desperately seek the love and approval of fathers, friends and fellow countrymen.The men he plays feel deeply, are constantly vulnerable to the gaze of the Other, and shed many, many tears. Film writers often comment on how Khan can cry better than most actors in the world.
Khan has crafted a deliciously arrogant and poised public persona, forever seducing us with moments of self-disclosure followed by self-deprecating intellect and bitter sarcasm.Chain-smoking, brazen, self-aware and hilarious, Khan is never boring. He goes from offering sound advice on dealing with financial insecurities and troubled friendships to cracking hilarious jokes about ageing in the film industry and his own sexuality.
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