'Pathaan' | The Shah Rukh Khan factor

Shah Rukh Khan has, over the past three decades, developed and maintained a loyal fan following that sees in him an entertainer and an articulate actor

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has not appeared in a central role in a film since 2018. Four years is a long time for any mainstream actor to stay away from playing the lead role in big-budget films.

In the meantime, much has changed, with exposure to non-Hindi cinema on OTT platforms during the Covid-19-induced lockdown redefining the preferences of many film-goers. Hurt by failures ever since the theatres reopened, Bollywood is hopeful that Siddharth Anand’s action drama Pathaan, starring Khan, will be that rare blockbuster the industry desperately needs.

While Pathaan will be a success only if viewers in the initial days like what they see, no other recent Hindi film has matched the hysteria before its release. The initial response is the outcome of Khan’s stardom. So what if he is 57-years-old? He continues to retain the loyalty of most of his fans, among them those who have outnumbered those who called for the boycott of the film (and of Bollywood) on social media and bought tickets during advance bookings to guarantee an excellent start for the upcoming actioner.

Read | Can ‘Pathaan’ end Bollywood’s dry run?

The presence of a big star in a small role offers a different kind of excitement for fans. Khan’s special appearances in three films in 2022 have served as appetisers for bigger things, including Pathaan, in the coming months. He appeared as an interviewer in the Hindi version of R Madhavan’s biographical drama Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, as himself in Advait Chandan’s romantic drama Laal Singh Chaddha, and as a scientist in Ayan Mukerji’s supernatural adventure film Brahmastra: Shiva – Part I. These brief appearances ensured that he never disappeared from public view before the release of Pathaan, Atlee’s action thriller Jawan, and Rajkumar Hirani’s social drama Dunki, both later this year.

In an age dominated by fickle fans, Khan’s popularity is partly because of his ability to charm his audience outside his films. His presence of mind and sense of humour are his USPs during occasions such as press conferences and TV shows. For example, in 2014, during a promotion for Farah Khan’s ensemble cast action comedy Happy New Year on Comedy Nights with Kapil, the host Kapil Sharma asked Shah Rukh Khan as to what was special about it that made him act in a multi-starrer film. His retort was that many stars had to be cast because the film had nothing special in it!

The actor also has a thinking side, which comes to the fore when he expresses his views on subjects of contemporary relevance. He is active on Twitter and occasionally interacts with his fans, but he is also aware of the shortcomings of social media. He reflected on what ails the social media at the Kolkata International Film Festival recently, “….Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of view that limits human nature to its baser self. I read somewhere that negativity increases social media consumption and thereby increases its commercial value as well.” How he expresses his feelings on similar subjects has made him popular among those fans, who cannot find another articulate star like him in the Hindi film industry.

Shah Rukh Khan has been at the forefront of Hindi cinema for over three decades. Some fans remember him best for his roles as the antagonist in Abbas-Mustan’s Baazigar (1993) and Yash Chopra’s Darr (1993). Others like him most for being the lover boy of Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). His performance as the alcoholic loser in love in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas (2002) was widely appreciated, not unlike his character of the gangster of Rahul Dholakia’s Raees (2017).

His last two films as the hero, Imtiaz Ali’s 2017 romantic comedy Jab Harry Met Sejal and Aanand L Rai’s 2018 romantic comedy Zero, failed to set the box office on fire. Pleasing the modern-day audience isn’t as easy as earlier either. That said, few can question his ability to get a good start for his film before viewer feedback makes or breaks it at the box office.

Biswadeep Ghosh is a senior journalist.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.