Celebrating 22 years of Shah Rukh Khan

What made Shah Rukh Khan a Superstar?

Bollywood has seen many megastars in the past, but only four of them had the privilege of being tagged SUPERSTAR. They are Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, who succeeded in making the hearts of millions of cinema buffs go pit-a-pat and win their enduring allegiance. For years they ruled the big screen, entertaining the masses with their talent.

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22 years later, when, Shah Rukh Khan is a SUPERSTAR, Raaga.Com analysis what are the factors that made Shah Rukh Khan, the superstar, while his contemporaries like —Aamir Khan and Salman Khan could not achieve the incredible tag of SUPERSTAR!

Superstars are not born every day; they are once-in-blue moon phenomena. In addition, they always have three inherent qualities: they have a hundred percent acting potential; they have a hundred percent star value. And above all, they are destiny’s paranormal prodigies! Only if a performer is aided and abetted by the all the three basic boons, then he can be a SUPERSTAR.

In Aamir’s case, he is more inclined to walk in Raj Kapoor’s steps than be a full-fledged, unrivalled, unequalled high priest of histrionics alone. As for Salman he maybe a successful star, but again like Dev Anand he lacks the quality called histrionics. That leaves only Shahrukh in the game, and Mr. Baazigar knows how to serve and play his cards.

If take a look at the all the qualities of the past SUPERSTARS, we find Shah Rukh Khan, probably possessing all the three in right balance.

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First, Shahrukh has incredible range in acting. Just go through the variety of roles he has played. From DARR (1993), BAAZIGAR (1993), DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE (1995), DIL TO PAGAL HAI (1997),) SWADES (2004), CHAK DE! INDIA (2007), DEVDAS (2002) AND MY NAME IS KHAN (2010), DON (2011) his short career graph is dotted with milestones of histrionic achievements, analogous to the all-time greats of the past.

Secondly, Shahrukh has a natural knack for selecting the right script. At least, the roles he played in BAAZIGAR and DARR bear it out amply because, no other young actor would dare touch those roles in the early phase of his career. That’s how Dilip Kumar once used to be. He never hesitated to experiment even with a negative role, as he did in Mehboob’s ANDAZ and AMAR. Again, Rajesh Khanna also never shield away from antihero roles. As a matter of fact, his career took a dramatic turn only after B.R. Chopra’s ITTEFAQ. So did Amitabh in DEEWAAR.

Shahrukh also shares another marked similarity with Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. Like them, he too doesn’t mind, if the script wants, him to die in the end. And his death has surely given him a lingering life on screen.

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Finally, just like the previous superstars, Shahrukh has never been afraid of competition from his co-stars. On the contrary, most of his co-stars are always in awe of him. Also, all the three superstars preceding him had attained the Numero Uno status within a very short period of their arrival on the scene. Shahrukh’s rise too has been equally brisk. All the ex -superstars had an impressive fan following, mostly from the opposite sex. Shahrukh also happens to be very lucky in this respect. To beat it all, even the most fastidious critics have been kind to Shahrukh and never tire of praising him to the sky, as they once had backed up his predecessors.

As if all this was not enough, Destiny also surely seems to be on Shahrukh’s side because, rarely an artiste from the small screen has made it big on the big screen. Shahrukh has been singularly lucky in this respect as well.

And last but not the least Shah Rukh, like the previous superstars has a boy –next-door simple looks and no godfather to guide him in the industry.

Thus SRK is a lethal combination of a hundred per cent talent for acting, a hundred per cent star-value and, above all, a hundred per cent destiny’s prodigy.


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