Baadshah of hearts
By Surendra Kumar

CONFIDENCE, thy name is Shah Rukh Khan! Five years back, as usual, the media was going to the town claiming that the era of the super stars was long over. And after the repeated failure of the films of ‘Big B’ after his return from semi-retirement, and the almost oblivion from films of Rajesh Khanna, Hindi filmdom’s first super star, many saw some validity in such prophesies. But, obviously, these observations hadn’t reckoned with the phenomenon called Shah Rukh Khan. He has been saying in many of his interviews that so long as he was around, the era of the super stars wasn’t over! His statements were dismissed, as usually happens, as utterances of a brat and a loudmouth! But having given a string of super hits like Deewana, Baazigar, Darr, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naan, Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge, Dil to Pagal Hai, Pardes and Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai in the last five years, his detractors have been silenced. They have to sit up and take note of this new idol of the Hindi film world.

Shah Rukh has captured the hearts of millions of teenagers. He is the new heart-throb of the "bubblegum brigade". None can challenge his hold on cine-goers of the age group of 14-19 years. Even the children of some of the well-known families of Bollywood, including Amitabh Bachchan’s, would testify that Shah Rukh is their first choice when it comes to choosing a movie idol. Surprisingly, they can’t pinpoint why. They express their feelings for him in affectionate phrases like ‘He is so cute!’ ‘He is so charming!’ All this says a lot about him. They see reflections of their own different perceptions in his persona.

In a sense, he is the pioneer of this new trend in India. Even the most revered matinee idols of India such as Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan never enjoyed such an appeal. After the release of Bobby, both Rishi and Dimple were, no doubt, catapulted to the status of idols. But this massive love affair with the teenagers couldn’t be sustained. Betaab of Sunny Deol and Love Story of Kumar Gaurav encashed the Bobby trend for a while but not for long.

The fact is, whether one likes him or not, today, Shah Rukh is the uncrowned King of Bollywood. According to Film Trade Guide, he is worth more than Rs 100 crore. Huge amounts of money is invested in the films he has been signed for. So it is not only his own fate but also the fortunes and livelihoods of many other persons which depend on the success of his films.

He has the best and the most respected banners in the film industry lining up to sign him. The list includes names of such stalwarts as Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Mani Ratnam, Yash Johar, Barjatya and others. There is hardly any heroine who doesn’t want to work with him. From Madhuri Dixit to Kajol, from Karisma Kapoor to Raveena Tandon, from Rani Mukherjee to Preity Zinta, from Manisha Koirala to Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen, he has the best female artistes to pick and choose. His status in this respect today reminds one of Dilip Kumar’s in the 50s and 60s when heroines used to dream to work with him; though, of course, Shah Rukh still doesn’t command the same aura and awe among his contemporaries and co-stars.

What matters is that the public comes to see him. Arguably, he is the highest paid actor in Mumbai. His films command the highest price for each territory from distributors in India as well as abroad, which is the clearest barometer of his market standing. Recently, Mahesh Bhatt, who has himself given so many thought-provoking films such as Saransh, Daddy, Arth and Zakhm, said in an interview that Shah Rukh Khan was the ‘reigning deity’ of the box office today. While his films are sold for a whopping Rs 7-8 crore per territory, the films of his competitors like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Sunny Deol can fetch no more than Rs 3 crore in overseas markets.

Moreover, from Filmfare to Zee TV to Videocon, there is hardly any prestigious award that he hasn’t won in the last two years. Whether there is a musical extravaganza or a celebrity football match to raise funds for the heroes of Kargil, it is incomplete unless he shows up. In brief, Shah Rukh has arrived. Today, he commands the price, respect and fan-following as did Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in their heydays.

It is not surprising that for his next venture Yash Chopra, who has given hits like Kabhhi Kabhi with Amitabh, has also roped in the Shah Rukh along with the ‘Big B’ for his next film Mohabbatein. This is a shrewd business decision. With the failing fortunes of Amitabh at the box office, the producer doesn’t wish to take a chance. After all, Bade Mian needed Chhote Mian (Govinda’s) crutches to attract distributors and the crowds in cinema halls last year.

Another coup staged by Shah Rukh is his teaming up with the ever-experimenting Kamal Hassan for his next movie Hey Ram. It boasts of many big names of Bollywood such as Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin Shah, Hema Malini, Rani Mukherjee etc. While the other Khans — Aamir and Salman — are also doing well and Sunny Deol has his own diehard fans, for the present, Shah Rukh seems to occupy positions 1 to 10, as was the case with Amitabh in the post- Deewar phase!

And this has not happened overnight. Though he had impressed in his earlier roles in tele-serials such as Fauji, Apana, Kewal, Circus and Dil Dariya, no one would have thought that he would rise to such dizzy heights in such a short period of time. Come to think of it, there is nothing very spectacular in his personality that might attract attention. He is not dashingly handsome like Dharmendra, nor tall like Amitabh, nor muscular and well-built like Sunny Deol, Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. He is also not of the variety of the earlier Khans — Firoz and Sanjay — who were not only handsome but were also known for their temper and colourful lifestyle.

He looks an ordinary, happy-go-lucky boy next door with average looks. But it is his ‘filmi persona’ of a youngster with limitless energy and flair to do the craziest and most weird things on screen with great aplomb which seen to have endeared him to his fans. His nervous demeanour, quivering, breaking voice, trembling hands, and tendency to go overboard, somehow connect him to millions of college-going girls and boys. Maybe, they see a reflection of their own lives in his characters. May be, they aspire and dream to be likes him! Apparently, he is the object of many of their adolescent fantasies!

A part of Shah Rukh’s antics seem an updated version of the vintage Shammi Kapoor of Junglee, Kashmir ki Kali and Janwar fame. Of course, keeping pace with changing times, Shah Rukh’s dance numbers are much faster, his attire much more trendier and fashionable and picturisation much more sleek and gimmicky. As teenagers form the majority of today’s movie buffs, their verdict can make or break a film. In other words, unless a film clicks with this vast audience, it can’t hope to be a hit.

As the tastes and likes and dislikes of this generation are formed not so much by what happens in India but by what they see on TV through satellite and cable, they like what appears a closer copy of foreign celebrities. Shah Rukh Khan clicks with the ‘teeny -boppers’ because, to a great extent, for them he is the Indianised version of Hollywood film stars, MTV VJs, supermodels, singing sensations. So the young folks lap him up. In their eyes, he comes close to Tom Cruise, Hugh Grant, Ricky Martin and Leonardo DiCaprio, the boyish-looking hero of the biggest hit of all times — The Titanic. The heroine and the hero of this film, in one scene, standing on the cliff-like edge of the deck at the front of the ship try to beat each other in spitting competition! Then they kiss, hug and caress each other hanging precariously on the moving ship with only the blue sky above and the deep, blue water below! Who else other than Shah Rukh among the Indian actors can do such a weird thing, given a chance, with total conviction? Therein lies a clue to his success. He has said so many times that he is willing to do anything on screen without any inhibitions or complex, so long as he is convinced that it is the right thing to do. No wonder, he is the heart-throb of this ‘bubblegum brigade’, which is so crucial today for the success of any film in India.

In this sense, he is not the idol of the whole family; he is the darling of only the younger generation. Even his most successful films such as Darr, Bazigar, Dil to Pagal Hai, Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai are not the family entertainers in the sense as were Rajesh Khanna’s Hathi Mere Saathi, Sachcha Jhootha, Anand, Aradhana or Amitabh’s Amar Akbar Anthony, Laawaris, Chupke Chupke, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, or Dharmendra’s Jugnu, Raja Jani, Dharamveer, Tum Hansi Main Jawan etc.

Regrettably, with his tremendous success, his mannerisms, his facial expressions and hand gestures are becoming increasingly repetitive and predictable. It is a malady that also afflicted Rajesh Khanna when he was at the top. Some like Dev Anand and ‘Jaani’ Raj Kumar, remained prisoners of their trademark mannerism for their entire life, which obviously limited their histrionic ability.

When his films like Baazigar and Darr became super hits, he was hailed for being bold and showing the courage to accept negative roles. It was a challenge no doubt, but he, certainly, wasn’t the first Hindi film hero to do a negative role. Four-and-a-half decades back, in a film called Bewafa, surprise of surprise, our Awara ‘Raju’ — Raj Kapoor — did a negative role with Nargis and Ashok Kumar in the lead. As a matter of fact, in the last scene, an enraged Ashok Kumar, who suspects Raj of flirting with his wife, shoots at Raj Kapoor who is seen sneaking out through the garden! Dilip Kumar had done a film called Madan with a role which had negative overtones. Similarly Dev Anand’s role in Baazi was basically negative. But because Shah Rukh’s Baazigar and Darr were super duper hits, he was branded as the lucky mascot of negative roles. People forget that the lady killer, Vinod Khanna, began his career as a villain and did quite well. ‘Shotgun’ Sinha also started his filmi career as a villain in films like Chetna and graduated to do lead roles in many multi-starrers.

Shah Rukh’s films are devoid of pretensions of conveying any social commitment or ideological commitment. They don’t claim to raise issues which could change society. Raj Kapoor in Awara, Shri 420 and Jagate Raho tried to show the seamy side of society with an aim to create awareness about it for its eventual mitigation.Shah Rukh’s films can’t be bracketed with earlier films of B.R. Chopra, either like Dhool Ka Phool, Kanoon and Sadhana.

In Dil To Pagal Hai and Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai viewers never get to know how the characters live the way they do. But it doesn’t matter. The audience doesn’t flock the cinema halls to ask such silly questions. They come there just to while away their time, to let their hair down and enjoy. Some lose their hearts. Some don’t and move on. They don’t commit suicide. Such films become commercial blockbusters. These are great entertainers for the viewers of this era.

Though Shah Rukh claims that he is good at cloning Dilip, Amitabh, Rajesh and others, one can’t find great influence on him of any of these great Indian matinee idols. But his filmi persona has loads of influence of popular American TV stars Michael J Fox and John Ritter of Three’s Company. Some of his bumbling gestures, speaking almost without a breath and other antics seem to have been borrowed from them. Canadian actor Jim Carey w won an Oscar for his role in the film Mask a few years back also seems to have been a source of inspiration to Shah Rukh for his deadpan facial expressions and spring-like jumps and movements. This seems especially true about his portrayal in the film Duplicate. Similarly in his negative roles one can’t find traces of famous Indian villains like K.N. Singh. Pran, Shatrughan Sinha, Prem Chopra, Amjad Khan, Amrish Puri etc. But one can notice some influence of Jack Nicholson and Robert de Niro, though Shah Rukh is no Sir Anthony Hopkins of The Silence Of The Lamb!

Though he may not be brash or arrogant, modesty is not his hallmark. He rather enjoys being outspoken and provocative. A cursory glance at some of his reported statements will bear it out: ‘Face facts, I am the biggest actor in the country today... I am a hugely popular star... The bottom line is that I work very hard... I have been told that girls find me desirable... I will shout from the roof top and tell people how good I am... Those who criticise me should stop thinking for me.... Tomorrow if it makes me happy I will dance on the road or at a wedding party... If one doesn’t like that, one needn’t watch my films..."!! Confidence bursts out of these lines. People may not like his outspokenness but they can’t accuse him of hypocrisy.