After three decades in Bollywood, 2023 might be a watershed year for Shah Rukh Khan.
The superstar who won hearts as a romantic lead in films such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kal Ho Naa Ho finally gets to be an action hero.
This year, he is also returning to the big screen afterFor the first time in five years, he also has three films, two of which are already super hits. Pathaan was released in January and Jawan last week. The highly-anticpated Dunki will be released in December.
The two hits underscore how critical Shah Rukh is to Bollywood, which was in a slump.
He told the media: “I’ve never done an action film, only sweet love stories, some social dramas, some bad guy roles, but nobody was taking me for action. I’m 57 years old and I thought of doing action films in the coming years. I want to do Mission Impossible kind of films. I want to do over-the-top action films.”
The stage seemed to be set for Shah Rukh when narcotics agents in 2021 arrested his son Aryan off the coast of Mumbai and jailed him for nearly a month even though no drugs were found on him.
Many perceived this as an act of intimidation, a move meant to keep India’s top star in line.
The actor has been silent on the issue, preferring not to comment on political matters, but his 2023 filmography tells a different story.
In Pathaan, he played a Muslim fighting proudly for India, starring opposite Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, a Hindu and a Christian.
Jawan doesn’t touch religion but it solidifies Shah Rukh’s might in the face of a ruthless regime.
“Before you lay a hand on my son, talk to his father,” he growled in the trailer, as the name of his producer wife Gauri appears onscreen.
“Otherwise, prepare for the wrath of the King.”
In Jawan, Shah Rukh teams up with Tamil writer and director Atlee in a story about family, activism and revenge. It is violent, insane and an absolute roller-coaster ride with its love stories, high-speed chases and a hostage situation unfolding on an underground train.
It has South Indian megastars Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara, expertly weaving India’s most powerful film industries together in a thrilling moviegoing experience.
While Pathan has become India’s highest-grossing Hindi film and the first Bollywood film to earn more than US$100 million ($136 million) without a release in China, Jawan has shattered box office records after Day 4 in the theatres.
With total earnings of Rs252.08 crore ($41 million) on Monday, Jawan is “beyond historic”, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh. It has set a new benchmark for highest single-day earnings as well as highest extended weekend (four days).
Sunday’s total earnings were Rs71.63 crore, taking Jawan past the 250 crore mark. It is now the fastest Hindi film to have breached the Rs250 crore barrier, crossing the line on Day 4 and breaking the Rs250 crore record set by Pathaan.
Shah Rukh, who before this year starred in a number of lacklustre releases, said he was “overwhelmed” by the reception to the film.
Born in 1965, he grew up in a middle-class Muslim household in New Delhi. He was 14 when his dad, a businessman who fought against British rule and came from what is now northern Pakistan, died, leaving his magistrate mother to single-handedly raise Shah Rukh and his elder sister.
After starring in television commercials in the 1980s, Shah Rukh achieved stardom as a boyish and sensitive heartthrob in a string of 1990s romantic hits, including Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998).
Since then, he has featured in almost 100 films and is now a major businessman, owning a production house and an Indian Premier League cricket team.
While other actors his age have been sidelined or relegated to supporting roles, Shah Rukh continues to be cast as one of Bollywood’s enduring leading men.
Many have labelled 2023 as his comeback year, but the superstar himself does not see it that way. Quoting a line from the 1997 Hollywood film Gattaca, Shah Rukh posted on X: “I never saved anything for the swim back.”
Even as fans fawn over Jawan and eagerly await Dunki, the quote is a reminder that Shah Rukh continues to move forward and redefine what it means to be a superstar, not just in Bollywood but also beyond it.
Indo-Asian News Service
