How Shah Rukh Khan stole the ‘Superstar’ Crown from his competitors

Badshah Khan aka Shah Rukh Khan completes 23 glorious years in Bollywood this year and continues to don the elusive crown of ‘Superstar’ Of Bollywood.

On this occasion Raaga.Com finds out how Shah Rukh Khan took over the crown of ‘Superstar’ from Amitabh Bachchan, despite tough competition from his competitors who were eager to fetch the title like Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and others. Read on…

When Amitabh Bachchan took retirement from Bollywood the big question was -‘Who after ‘Amitabh?’ The reasons are simple: 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 can he ever be a ‘Superstar’ and fortunately Shah Rukh Khan possessed all these qualities!

First, Shahrukh had incredible range in acting. Just go through the variety of roles he has played. From DEEWANA to CHENNAI EXPRESS his career graph is dotted with milestones of histrionic achievements, analogous to the all-time greats of the past.

Secondly, Shahrukh had a natural knack for selecting the right script. At least, the roles he played in BAAZIGAR, DARR, DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE, DEVDAS, MY NAME IS KHAN etc. bear it out amply. 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. 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.

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.

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.