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Despite
two flops and a fiery reception to his latest movie,
nothing succeeds like Shah Rukh Khan. At least, not
yet
 Funny.
Shah Rukh Khan has all the trappings of triumph on display.
He tops all youth icon opinion polls. Is the most searched
name on msn.com. Has a perfume, orchid and a watch named
after him and even has a house whose name is an address
by itself. Anyone would love to be SRK at least for
a day, right?
Yet right now, SRK has the toughest job in the world.
He's damned if he does something and damned if he doesn't.
For years, he's been criticised for doing the same thing
in the same kind of movies.
He's always Raj/Rahul/Aman. The perfect son/lover/husband
all rolled into one. He's usually attired in sweaters,
jackets and overcoats, sometimes all three. He can cry
at the drop of a hat. Dance before you say 'Shava Shava'
or 'Mahi Ve'. And be it Simran, Anjali or Naina, he
always manages to save the girl before the day ends.
So now when he (finally) dares to play the flawed Dev
Saran who doesn't love his family, leaves his wife and
even sleeps with another man's wife, SRK is crucified
yet again. The backlash that his role in Karan Johar's
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (KANK) has garnered is unprecedented.
Toughest job, definitely.
"First they tell me I play the same character in
all my films and now when you attempt to do something
different, they don't like it. At the end of the day,
it's just a film. At least I see it like that. If they
don't like this one, there is always the next one,"
says SRK.
It's a hectic week in the life of King Khan. Back to
back interviews; a press conference for Tag Heuer; a
biscuit commercial shoot; an all-important appearance
on a high-powered television debate on infidelity; the
music launch for his next biggie Don; the usual meetings
and script sessions. To top it all, a newbie security
guard posted outside his palatial Mannat was shot dead
by a colleague. And oh yeah, there was also the staged
protest in Indore where a screening of KANK was stopped
because of some rather, ahem, controversial remarks
made by SRK on mother's milk of all things.
The story goes like this. When SRK was asked to comment
on the recent exposure of the presence of pesticides
in colas, the Khan, in trademark SRK-is-oh-so-cute-mode,
is supposed to have stated something to the effect that
maybe the research group should even check the purity
of mother's milk.
That's vintage SRK. But at the same time, Bollywood's
leading superstar is in a crucial transition phase right
now. He's at a stage where SRK, the brand, is soon overtaking
SRK, the actor. Today, SRK is bigger than his movies.
Or rather, his movies have become his vehicles. And
he knows it. When critics devote three out of six paragraphs
of their review to you, you know you're there. In many
ways, SRK is in the same position as Hollywood super
hunk Tom Cruise. Paramount Pictures might have dumped
the Mission Impossible star for his well-chronicled
public outbursts, but he is still hailed as the world's
most popular celebrity by US magazine Forbes. Ditto
for apna SRK who was called "the world's biggest
film star" by London's Guardian.
The 40-year old superstar is redefining success. After
being in the top slot for 16 years, stardom is no longer
just about getting a bigger opening than the previous
one, golden awards or more moolah than any other actor
can even dream of. As SRK sees it now, the joy is in
doing the small things right. Or rather, just doing
it. "I've never known what success is. I have never
chased it. It's never been about money or adulation.
It's about getting the work down just like I want it,"
he says. He's reached the peak of self-actualisation
where the greatest high that acting gives him "is
the small recognition when people are able to understand
the character that you created in the way that you created
it."
Asoka co-star Kareena Kapoor likens him to MF Husain.
She feels SRK makes the scene and makes everyone standing
next to him look good too. "He's become a master
of his craft now. Like Husain gives a finishing touch
to his paintings so that they look like his creations,
SRK does that to his performances."
Even though it's fashionable to pan SRK mannerisms -
the stutter, the pout, the bunched up eyebrows and eyes
that make for the perfect whirlpool of pain and longing
- the fact is that SRK won't be SRK without them. If
we analyse his recent report card, it's not all A+.
There are two big budget blips, Swades and Paheli and
KANK's Dev Saran too hasn't really scored with film-goers.
Add to that the mostly unanimous public opinion that
Abhishek Bachchan has stolen a bit of SRK's thunder
in the film and it's once again a tough situation to
be in.
But SRK remains unruffled. He's at a stage when a Friday
can no longer dictate his destiny. The actor confesses
that he's no longer nervous before a release. "I
don't know if I'm nervous, but I'm concerned for the
film. By the time a film comes out, I already know the
film. The desire is to please maximum number of people.
That's all," he says. A self-confessed SRK fan,
Priyanka Chopra, also his Don co-star, feels the actor
has the edge because he treats himself like a brand.
"He has no qualms in being treated like a commodity.
That's how he also perceives himself. He has the guts
to do that. So films may come and go but people feel
he is a credible and reliable brand. I don't think any
other actor has achieved this distinction."
 Today,
the value of SRK the brand is mind-boggling. He commands
Rs 5 crore for a film. An advertiser's delight, he is
easily the perfect face for launching any-thing - from
colas, biscuits and soaps to snazzy cars, computers
and high-end watches. According to The Economic Times,
SRK earns Rs 247 per minute. Last year itself, he made
Rs 13 crore from endorsement deals with Pepsi, Hyundai
Santro and Lux. The market buzz is that his contract
with Emami for Chyawanprash endorsement is a princely
Rs 5 crore-plus per annum.
He is also a true global phenomenon. Sure, Amitabh Bachchan
was voted as the Superstar of the Millennium by BBC
and Aishwarya Rai might be the reigning global princess,
but SRK is the best known Indian face abroad. His popularity
in European countries like Poland, France and Germany
is unparalleled.
For a while now, Bollywood's latest funny story has
been about how Tom Cruise got a taste of SRK's popularity
in Paris recently. You might not believe it, but this
really happened. April 26 was the Paris premiere of
Veer-Zaara at The Grand Rex. It was also the Paris premiere
for Mission Impossible 3. Yeah, the same event where
Cruise flew across the city in a black helicopter and
touched down at the foot of the red carpet, all with
the Mission Impossible theme pumping through massive
speakers.
It's not a well-publicised fact but the premiere was
delayed by over two hours because the crowd couldn't
get enough of SRK and Cruise was asked to wait at his
hotel, The Ritz. That the Hollywood star in turn preferred
to hit the streets with his two kids, Isabelle and Connor,
for some shopping for Suri, his newborn daughter, is
another story. But hey, SRK was a bigger draw than Cruise!
No wonder good buddy Karan Johar informs with great
pride, "My Paris distributor said it felt like
Elvis Presley had been reborn when he saw the ovation
Shah Rukh got at the Veer-Zaara premiere."
Need another example of SRK's global fan base? Log onto
www.intentblog.com. In November 2005, SRK had written
a piece on Paheli. Hundreds of his fans - from the Middle
East to Greece to Germany - have responded to it on
a daily basis, though the actor himself has not replied
to any of the comments. As recently as June, people
were still posting love notes and fan mail in the hope
that Khan would read it. Khan's fan base has been consistent
right from his salad days, when he charted an unconventional
route towards the summit. In his first film, Deewana,
he made an entry post-interval. For all the criticism
of playing it safe, SRK was, ironically enough, the
most daring newcomer. His evil turns in Baazigar, Darr
and Anjaam were as appreciated as his romantic overtures
in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Maybe, the audience can sense his never-say-die spirit
- the man always plays to win. His Main Hoon Na co-star
Sushmita Sen tells us that SRK has a favourite bedtime
prayer, the gist of which is to keep victory closer.
"Winning is not a momentary thing for SRK. To him,
every aspect of life is about surviving and winning
it. He never wants to become a victim. You can never
take him on face value. His mind is always ticking."
It is this sheer audacity, instinct of survival, energy,
and high competitive spirit that make SRK such a durable
brand and we as a nation are obsessed with him. The
more we get of SRK, the more we crave him. His success
story is the stuff bestsellers are known for. He's by
far the most accessible star. Everyone knows he loves
tandoori chicken, Pepsi and is a gizmo freak. Yet we
still want more. Maybe, that's why there are three books
being written on SRK and his story.
Former film journalist Mushtaq Sheikh is gearing up
for the September launch of Still Reading Khan. Critic
and author Anupama Chopra's book on the life and times
of the actor will hit the stands early next year. And
SRK is writing his own memoirs titled Twenty Years of
a Decade.
Professionally, he's still in top gear. His production
company, Red Chillies, is readying for Farah Khan's
star-studded Om Shaanti Om. After the Diwali release
of Don, he'll be seen in Yash Raj Films' Chakh De India.
Obviously, Karan Johar's next will also star him as
the leading man.
While the world debates over his stock, the man himself
is just chilling. "A good day for me is 14 hours
of steady hard work. From the time I wake up till the
time I pack up, the idea is to just go on and try to
get it right."
Well, he has at least got that right!
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