Shah Rukh Khan | |
---|---|
![]()
Khan at a media event for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012
| |
Born | Shahrukh Khan 2 November 1965 [1] New Delhi, India[2] |
Residence | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Occupation | Actor, producer, television presenter |
Years active | 1988–present |
Net worth | |
Religion | Islam |
Spouse(s) | Gauri Khan (m. 1991) |
Children | 3 |
Signature |
Shah Rukh Khan, also known as SRK (born Shahrukh Khan; 2 November 1965), is an Indian film actor, producer and television personality. Referred to in the media as "Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" or "King Khan", he has appeared in over 80Bollywood films in genres including romance, action and comedy. Described by the Los Angeles Times as perhaps "the world's biggest movie star", with a significant following in Asia and the Indian diaspora worldwide, Khan was reportedly the second-richest actor in the world in 2014, with an estimated net worth of US$600 million. His work in Bollywood has earned him numerous accolades, including 14 Filmfare Awards.
Khan started his career in theatre and appeared in several television series in the late 1980s. He made his Bollywood debut in 1992 with Deewana. Early in his career, Khan was recognised for his unconventional choice of portraying dark roles in the films Darr(1993), Baazigar (1993), and Anjaam (1994). He rose to prominence by starring in a series of romantic dramas, including Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001). He earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of an alcoholic in Devdas (2002), a NASA scientist in Swades (2004), a hockey coach in Chak De! India (2007), and a man with Asperger syndrome in My Name Is Khan (2010). Many of his films display themes of Indian national identity and connections with diaspora communities, and gender, racial, social and religious differences and grievances. For his contributions to film, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, and the Government of France has awarded him both the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Légion d'honneur.
Khan is currently co-chairman of the motion picture production company Red Chillies Entertainment and its subsidiaries, and is the co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders. In 2007, he made his debut as a television presenter with the Star Plus game show Kaun Banega Crorepati. The media often label him as "Brand SRK" because of his brand endorsement and entrepreneurship ventures. Khan's philanthropic endeavours have provided health care and disaster relief, and he was honoured with UNESCO's Pyramide con Marni award in 2011 for his support of children's education. He regularly features in listings of the most influential people in Indian culture, and in 2008 Newsweek named him one of their 50 most powerful people in the world.
Contents
[hide]Early life and background
Khan was born on 2 November 1965 in New Delhi.[2] He spent the first five years of his life in Mangalore where his maternal grandfather Ifthikar Ahmed served as chief engineer of the port in the 1960s.[4][5][a] According to Khan, his paternal grandfather Jan Muhammad was from Afghanistan.[7] Khan's father Meer Taj Mohammed Khan, an ethnic Pashtun (Pathan), was an Indian independence activist fromPeshawar, British India (present-day Pakistan). As of 2010 Khan's paternal family was still living in Shah Wali Qataal area of Peshawar's famous Qissa Khawani Bazaar.[8] Meer was a follower of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,[9] and affiliated with the All Indian National Congress.[8] He moved to New Delhi before the 1947 partition of India.[10] Khan's mother Lateef Fatima was the daughter of a senior government engineer.[11][b] His parents met when his mother was involved in an auto accident, and his father rescued her, took her to the hospital, and donated blood. They were married in 1959.[14] Khan described himself on Twitter as "half Hyderabadi (mother), half Pathan (father), [and] some Kashmiri (grandmother)".[15] His cousin in Peshawar, Maqsood Ahmed, claims that the family is actually of Hindkowanorigin, and also contradicts the claim that his grandfather was from Afghanistan.[8]
Khan grew up in the Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood of Delhi.[16] His father had several business ventures including a restaurant, and the family lived a middle class life in rented apartments.[17] Khan attended St. Columba's School in central Delhi where he excelled in his studies and in sports such as hockey and football,[18] and received the school's highest award, the Sword of Honour.[17] In his youth, he acted in stage plays and received praise for his imitations of Bollywood actors, his favourites of which were Mumtaz and Amitabh Bachchan.[19] One of his childhood friends and acting partners was Amrita Singh, who later became a Bollywood actress.[20] Khan enrolled at Hansraj College (1985–1988) to earn his Bachelors degree in Economics, but spent much of his time at Delhi's Theatre Action Group (TAG),[21] where he studied acting under the mentorship of theatre director Barry John.[22] After Hansraj, he began studying for a Masters Degree in Mass Communications at Jamia Millia Islamia, but left to pursue his acting career.[23] He also attended the National School of Drama in Delhi during his early career in Bollywood.[24] His father died of cancer in 1980,[c] and his mother died in 1991 from complications of diabetes.[26] After the death of their parents, his older sister, Shahnaz Lalarukh, born in 1960,[2] fell into a depressed state and Khan took on the responsibility of caring for her.[27][25] Shahnaz continues to live with her brother and his family in their Mumbai mansion.[28]
Although Khan was given the birth name Shahrukh Khan, he prefers his name to be written as Shah Rukh Khan, and is commonly referred to by the abbreviation SRK.[1] He married Gauri Chibber, a Punjabi Hindu, in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on 25 October 1991, after a six year courtship.[29][30] They have a son Aryan (born 1997) and a daughter Suhana (born 2000).[23] In 2013 they became parents of a third child named AbRam,[31] who was born through a surrogate mother.[32] According to Khan, while he strongly believes in Islam, he also values his wife's religion. At home, his children follow both religions; the Qur'an is situated next to the Hindu deities.[33]
Acting career
Further information: Shah Rukh Khan filmography
1988–92: Television and film debut
Khan's first starring role was in Lekh Tandon's television series Dil Dariya, which he began shooting for in 1988. Because of its production delays, the 1989 series Fauji became his television debut.[34] In the series, a realistic look at the training of army cadets, he played the leading role of Abhimanyu Rai, which earned him much recognition.[35][36] This led to further appearances in Aziz Mirza's television series Circus (1989–90) and Mani Kaul's miniseries Idiot (1991).[37] He also played minor parts in the serials Umeed (1989) and Wagle Ki Duniya (1988–90),[37] and in the made-for-television English-language film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989).[38] Khan's appearances in these serials led critics to compare his look and acting style with those of film actor Dilip Kumar,[39] but he was not interested in film acting at the time.[37]
Two weeks after his mother's death in April 1991, Khan changed his decision to not act in films; he moved from Delhi to Mumbai to pursue a full-time career in Bollywood, and was quickly signed to do four films.[40] His first film offer was for Hema Malini's directorial debut Dil Aashna Hai,[24][35] and by June 1991, he had started his first shooting.[41]However, production delays meant that his second film Deewana, in which he starred alongside Divya Bharti as the second male lead behind Rishi Kapoor, was released first in June 1992.[42] Deewana became a box office hit and launched Khan's career in Bollywood;[43] he earned the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for the performance.[44] Also released in 1992 were Khan's first films as the male lead, Chamatkar, Dil Aashna Hai, and the comedy Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, which was his first of many collaborations with actress Juhi Chawla.[45] His initial film roles saw him play characters who displayed high levels of energy and enthusiasm. According to Arnab Ray of Daily News and Analysis, "he came, sliding down stairs on a slab of ice, cartwheeling, somersaulting, lips trembling, eyes trembling, bringing to the screen the kind of physical energy ... visceral, intense, maniacal one moment and cloyingly boyish the next."[46]
1993–94: The anti-hero
Among his 1993 releases, Khan garnered the most appreciation for portraying negative roles: an obsessive lover, and a murderer in the box office hits Darr and Baazigarrespectively.[47] Darr marked the first of Khan's many collaborations with filmmaker Yash Chopra and his company Yash Raj Films. Khan's stammering and the use of the phrase, "I love you, K-k-k-Kiran," were popular with audiences.[48] For Darr he received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role, also known as the Best Villain Award.[49] Baazigar, in which Khan played the "consummate anti-hero",[50] an ambiguous avenger who murders his girlfriend, shocked Indian audiences with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula.[51] His performance in Baazigar, which would be his first of many appearances with actress Kajol, won him his firstFilmfare Award for Best Actor.[52] The Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema in 2003 stated that Khan "defied the image of the conventional hero in both these films and created his own version of the revisionist hero".[52]
In 1994, Khan played a love-struck musician in Kundan Shah's comedy-drama film Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, a film which he later professed to have been his favourite role of his acting career.[53] His performance earned him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance, and in a retrospective review from 2004, Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com referred to it as Khan's best performance.[54] Also in 1994, Khan won the Filmfare Best Villain Award for his role as an obsessive lover in Anjaam, co-starring Madhuri Dixit.[55] At the time, playing negative roles was considered risky for a leading man in Bollywood. Film critics such as Arnab Ray of Daily News and Analysis subsequently credited Khan for "pushing the envelope" by choosing to play such characters, through which he established his career in Bollywood.[46]
1995–98: The romantic hero
Khan starred in seven films in 1995, the most significant being Aditya Chopra's directorial debut, the romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, in which he played a young Non-resident Indian (NRI) who falls in love with Kajol's character during a trip across Europe. Khan initially displayed antipathy towards portraying the role of a lover, but this film is credited with establishing him as a "romantic hero".[56] Lauded by both critics and the public, it became the year's highest-grossing production in India and abroad and was declared an "all time blockbuster" by Box Office India,[57][58] with a gross of over
1.22 billion (US$19 million) worldwide.[59] It remains the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema; as of 2015, it was still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai after more than 1000 weeks.[60] The film won ten Filmfare Awards, including a second Best Actor Award for Khan.[55] The director and criticRaja Sen said, "Khan gives a fabulous performance, redefining the lover for the 1990s with great panache. He's cool and flippant, but sincere enough to appeal to the [audience]. The performance itself is, like the best in the business, played well enough to come across as effortless, as non-acting."[61]
In 1996, all four of Khan's releases failed critically and commercially,[62] but the following year, his starring role opposite Juhi Chawla in Aziz Mirza's romantic comedy Yes Boss earned him accolades that included a nomination for Best Actor at Filmfare.[63] Later in 1997, Khan starred in Subhash Ghai's diasporic themed social drama Pardes,[64] where he portrayed Arjun, a musician facing a moral dilemma. India Today cites it as one of the first major Bollywood pictures to succeed in the United States.[65] Khan's final release of 1997 was a second collabaration with Yash Chopra in the popular musical romance Dil To Pagal Hai. Khan portrayed Rahul, a stage director caught in a love trianglebetween Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor. The film and his performance met with critical appreciation, with Khan winning his third Best Actor Award at Filmfare.[55]
Khan performed the lead role in three films and made one special appearance in 1998. His first release was playing a double role opposite Juhi Chawla and Sonali Bendre in Mahesh Bhatt's action comedy Duplicate, the first of his many collaborations with Yash Johar's production company Dharma Productions. The film and his performance were not well-received;[66] India Today described him as an "energiser bunny", who "just goes on and on and on".[67] The same year, Khan won critical praise for his performance as an All India Radio correspondent who develops an infatuation for a mysterious terrorist (Manisha Koirala) in Dil Se..,[68] the third installment of Mani Ratnam's trilogy of terror films.[69][70]His final release of the year was portraying a college student in Karan Johar's romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, another love triangle featuring Kajol and Rani Mukerji. Writer Anjana Motihar Chandra has referred to the picture as the blockbuster of the 1990s, a "pot-pourri of romance, comedy, and entertainment."[71] Khan won the Best Actor award at the Filmfare Awards ceremony for the second consecutive year,[55] although he and several critics believed his performance to have been overshadowed by that of Kajol.[72][73]
The roles in this phase of his career, and the series of romantic comedies and family dramas that followed, earned Khan widespread adulation from audiences, particularly teenagers,[74] and established him as an icon of romance in India.[75] He continued to have frequent associations with directors Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra, and Karan Johar, who moulded his image and made him into a superstar.[76] Khan became a romantic leading man without ever actually kissing any of his co-stars,[77] although he broke this rule in 2012, after strong urging by Yash Chopra.[78]
1999–2003: Career challenges
Khan's only release in 1999 was Baadshah, in which he starred opposite Twinkle Khanna. It underperformed at the box office but earned Khan a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Performance in a Comic Role.[79] Khan became a producer in 1999 in a collaboration with actress Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza for a production company called Dreamz Unlimited.[80] The company's first production, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000), starring Khan and Chawla, was a commercial failure.[81] It was released one week afterKaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, starring the then newcomer Hrithik Roshan, who critics believed overshadowed Khan.[82] Khan's next role was that of a Muslim archaeologist who is beaten to death during the unrest following the partition of India in Hey Ram, a picture which touched upon social and personal issues and communal harmonies and difference, common in Khan's films.[83] Released in both the Tamil and Hindi languages, the film was critically acclaimed and was selected as India's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards that year.[84] In Mansoor Khan's action drama Josh, Khan starred opposite Aishwarya Rai as the leader of a Christian gang, which Vinayak Chakravorty of Hindustan Times believed to have been a "tailormade role",[85] although author J.K. Bajaj notes that audiences generally did not accept Khan and Aishwarya Rai as brother and sister.[86] His final release of 2000 was Aditya Chopra's successful romantic drama Mohabbatein, which co-starred Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.[81][87]Khan plays a music teacher who encourages his students to rebel against their authoritarian principal (Bachchan), with Khan and Bachchan meeting in a clash of "two differently configured masculinities" according to authors Rini Bhattacharya Mehta and Rajeshwari V. Pandharipande.[88] Khan was awarded his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actorfor his performance.[89]
In 2001, Dreamz Unlimited attempted a comeback with Khan portraying the title role in Santosh Sivan's historical epic Aśoka, a partly fictionalised account of the life of emperorAshoka. The film was screened at the Venice Film Festival and the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival to a positive response,[90] but it performed poorly at Indian box offices.[91] As losses continued to mount for the production company,[82] Khan was forced to close srkworld.com, a sub-company that he had started along with Dreamz Unlimited.[92] The family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..., which Khan cites as a turning point in his career,[93] reunited him with Karan Johar as part of an ensemble cast. The Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema draw comparisons between Khan's "long, ideological struggle" with domineering businessman father Yash (Amitabh Bachchan) and his earlierMohabbatein.[94] Khan's performance was met with wide public appreciation,[95] and it was the top-grossing Indian production of all time in the overseas market until 2006.[59] In December 2001, Khan suffered a spinal injury while performing an action sequence for a special appearance in Krishna Vamsi's Shakti: The Power.[96] He was subsequently diagnosed with a prolapsed disc, and despite multiple alternative therapies, nothing effected a permanent solution to the injury.[96]
In 2002, Khan played the title role as a rebellious alcoholic opposite Aishwarya Rai in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romanceDevdas. It was the most expensive Bollywood film ever made at the time,[97] yet recovered its costs, earning
840 million(US$13 million) worldwide.[59][98][99] The film earned numerous accolades including 10 Filmfare Awards, with Best Actor for Khan,[44]and a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.[100] Fuad Omar, author of Bollywood: An Insider's Guide, believed that Khan surpassed himself as an actor, displaying much intensity and raw passion in a "devastatingly shattering performance", revolutionising Indian cinema at the time in his most violent film to date.[101]
Because of Khan's spinal injury from 2001, he was in severe pain while shooting several of his films.[96][102] By the beginning of 2003, his condition had worsened to the point that he had to undergo Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion surgery at Wellington Hospital, London.[103][104][105] Khan resumed shooting in June 2003, but he reduced his workload and the number of films he did each year.[102] Conflict broke out between the partners of Dreamz Unlimited over the failure to cast Juhi Chawla in their production of Aziz Mirza's Chalte Chalte, which led to them parting ways, despite the film's success.[106] Khan's next release was Kal Ho Naa Ho, a Karan Johar penned comedy-drama set in New York City, which became the second-highest-grossing film domestically and the top-grossing Bollywood film in external markets in 2003.[87][107] Co-starring Jaya Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan, Khan received unanimous critical appreciation for his portrayal of Aman Mathur, a man with a fatal heart disease, with critics praising his emotional impact upon audiences.[108]
2004–09: Resurgence
2004 was a critically and commercially successful year for Khan. He transformed Dreamz Unlimited into Red Chillies Entertainment, with his wife Gauri serving as a producer.[109]In the new company's first production, Khan starred in Farah Khan's directorial debut, the action comedy masala film Main Hoon Na. A fictionalised account of India–Pakistan relations, which some commentators viewed as conscious effort to move away from the stereotypical portrayal of Pakistan as the constant villain,[110] it became the second-highest earner of the year.[111] Khan then featured in another India–Pakistan related story in Yash Chopra's love saga Veer-Zaara, playing Indian Air Force pilot Squadron LeaderVeer Pratap Singh, who falls in love with Pakistani woman Zaara Haayat Khan, portrayed by Preity Zinta. Veer-Zaara was the highest grossing film of 2004 in India; it earned a worldwide gross of over
940 million (US$15 million)[59][111] and was screened at the 55th Berlin Film Festival to critical appreciation.[112]
Lastly in 2004, Khan starred as a NASA scientist who patriotically returns to India to rekindle his roots in Ashutosh Gowariker's social drama Swades (meaning "Homeland"), which became the first Indian picture to be shot inside the NASA research centre at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.[113] Film scholar Stephen Teo refers to the picture as an example of "Bollywoodised realism", displaying a transcendence in conventional narrative and audience expectation in Hindi cinema.[114]In December 2013, The Times of India reported that Khan found filming the picture such an emotionally overwhelming and life changing experience that he had still not viewed the film.[115] Derek Elley of Variety found Khan's performance "unsettling" as "a self-satisfied expatriate determined to bring Western values to poor Indian peasants",[116] but several film critics, including Jitesh Pillai, believed it to have been his finest acting to date.[117][118] He was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for all three of his 2004 releases and eventually won the award for Swades.[44] Filmfare later included his performance in the 2010 issue of Bollywood's "Top 80 Iconic Performances",[119] and it was featured on Rediff.com's list of the 10 Best Bollywood Movies of the Decade.[117]
In 2005, Khan played dual roles opposite Rani Mukerji in Paheli, a lavish production set in Rajasthan, which tells the story of a wife (Mukerji) who is left by her husband (Khan), and visited by a ghost, disguised as her husband, who is in love with her and takes her husband's place. Respected in serious art cinema,[120] it was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and for members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,[121] and was chosen as India's official entry for the 79th Academy Awards.[84]
Khan collaborated with Karan Johar for the third time in the musical romantic drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), the story of two unhappily married people in New York who have an extramarital affair with each other. The film, which featured an ensemble cast which including Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Kirron Kher, emerged as India's highest-grossing film in the overseas market,[87] earning more than
1.13 billion (US$18 million) worldwide.[59] Both his roles in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and the action thriller Don, a remake of the 1978 film of the same name, earned Khan Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards,[122] despite Khan's performance as the titular character in Don being negatively compared to that of Amitabh Bachchan in the original film.[123][124]
In 2007, Khan portrayed a disgraced hockey player who coaches the Indian women's national hockey team to World Cup success in Yash Raj Films' semi-fictional Chak De! India. Bhaichand Patel notes that Khan, who had a background in the sport playing for his university's hockey team,[125] essentially portrayed himself as a "cosmopolitan, liberal, Indian Muslim".[126] Faring well in both India and abroad,[59][127] Khan garnered another Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance,[44] which Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBNconsiders to have been "without any of his typical trappings, without any of his trademark quirks", portraying Kabir Khan "like a real flesh-and-blood human being".[128] Filmfare included his performance in their 2010 issue of the "Top 80 Iconic Performances".[129] In the same year, Khan starred alongside Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Talpade and Arjun Rampal in Farah Khan's reincarnation melodrama Om Shanti Om, portraying a 1970s junior artiste who is reborn in the 2000s as a superstar. The film became the highest grossing Indian motion picture of 2007, both domestically and abroad,[87][130] and it earned Khan his second nomination of the year for Best Actor at Filmfare.[131] Khalid Mohammed from Hindustan Times wrote, "the enterprise belongs to Shah Rukh Khan, who tackles comedy, high drama and action with his signature style—spontaneous and intuitively intelligent".[132]
In 2008, Khan collaborated for the third time with Aditya Chopra on the romantic drama Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi opposite newcomer Anushka Sharma. Khan played Surinder Sahni, a shy man with low self-esteem, whose love for his young arranged wife (Sharma) causes him to transform himself into Raj, a boisterous alter-ego. Rachel Saltz of The New York Times believed the dual role to have been "tailor-made" for Khan, giving him the opportunity to display his talents,[133] although Deep Contractor from Epilogue thought Khan displayed greater strength in the role of Surinder and weakness in the role of monologue-prone Raj.[134] In December the same year, Khan suffered a shoulder injury while filming a small role in Mudassar Aziz's Dulha Mil Gaya. He underwent extensive physiotherapy sessions at the time but the pain left him almost immobile and he had arthroscopic surgery in February 2009.[135][136] Khan performed an extended, special appearance in the 2009 film Billu, playing Bollywood superstar Sahir Khan—a fictionalised version of himself, wherein he performed musical item numbers with actresses Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra.[137] As head of the film's production company Red Chillies, Khan made the call to change the title of the film from Billu Barber to Billu after hairdressers across the country complained that the word "barber" was derogatory. The company covered up the offending word on billboards that were already installed with the original title.[138]
2010–present
After turning down the role that subsequently went to Anil Kapoor in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Khan began shooting My Name Is Khan (2010), his fourth collaboration with director Karan Johar and his sixth with Kajol.[139] The film is based on a true story and set against the backdrop of perceptions of Islam after the 11 September attacks. Khan plays Rizwan Khan, a Muslim suffering from mild Asperger syndrome who sets out on a journey across America to meet the country's president, in a role that film scholar Stephen Teo sees as a "symbol of assertive rasa values" and another example of Khan representing NRI identity in global Bollywood.[140] To provide an accurate portrayal of a suffer without disparagement, Khan spent several months researching his role by reading books, watching videos and talking to people affected by the condition.[141][142] Upon release, My Name is Khan became one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time outside India,[59][87] and earned Khan his eighth Filmfare Award for Best Actor,[44] equalling the record for the most wins in the category with actor Dilip Kumar.[143] Jay Wesissberg from Variety noted how Khan portrayed the Asperger's sufferer with "averted eyes, springy steps, [and] stuttered repetitions of memorized texts", believing it to have been a "standout performance sure to receive the Autism Society's gold seal of approval".[144]
In 2011, Khan starred alongside Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor in Anubhav Sinha's science fiction superhero film Ra.One, his first work in this genre, to meet the demands of his children.[145] The film follows the story of a London-based videogame designer who creates a villainous character who escapes into the real world. It was billed as Bollywood's most expensive production; it had an estimated budget of
1.25 billion (US$20 million).[146][147] Despite negative media coverage of the film's box office performance, Ra.One was a financial success with a gross of
2.4 billion (US$38 million).[148][149] The film, and Khan's portrayal of a dual role, received mixed reviews; while most critics praised his performance as the robotic superhero G.One, they criticised his portrayal of videogame designer Shekhar.[150] Khan's second release of 2011 was Don 2, a sequel to Don of 2006.[151] To prepare for his role, Khan exercised extensively and performed most of the stunts himself.[152] His performance earned him positive reviews from critics; Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India said, "Shah Rukh remains in command and never loses his foothold, neither through the dramatic sequences nor through the action cuts".[153] The year's highest-grossing Bollywood production abroad,[154][155] it was showcased at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival[156] and at the 2012 International Film Festival of Marrakech in Morocco.[157]
Khan's only release in 2012 was Yash Chopra's last picture,[158] the drama Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which saw him once again in a romantic role, starring opposite Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. CNN-IBN considered the overall performance by Khan to have been one of his finest to date, but believed that Khan's first screen kiss of his career with Katrina Kaif, twenty years his junior, was an awkward one.[78][159] Jab Tak Hai Jaan became one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time, both in India and abroad, setting several records and earning over
2.11 billion (US$33 million) worldwide.[160][161] The film was showcased at the 2012 International Film Festival of Marrakech in Morocco.[157]
In 2013, Khan starred in Rohit Shetty's action comedy Chennai Express for Red Chillies Entertainment, a film which earned mixed critical reviews and a fair amount of criticism for its perceived disparagement of South Indian culture, despite its tribute to Tamil cinema star Rajinikanth at the end.[162] The critic Khalid Mohamed thought that Khan overacted in the film and criticised him for "re-rendering every old trick in the acting book".[163] Despite the criticism, the film broke many box office records for Hindi films in both India and abroad, surpassing 3 Idiots to briefly become the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time, with a gross of almost
4 billion (US$63 million) in worldwide ticket sales.[164][165] On 7 March 2013—a day before International Women's Day—The Times of India reported that Khan had requested a new convention with the name of his lead female co-stars appearing above his own in the credits. He claimed that the women in his life, including his co-stars, have been the reason for his success.[166] In 2014, the actor was featured in Farah Khan's ensemble comedy Happy New Year, which co-starred Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan and Boman Irani; his third collaboration with the director.[167] Although Khan's "unidimensional character" was criticised,[168] the film became one of the biggest successes of the year.[169]
As of December 2014, Khan is filming Maneesh Sharma's Fan, in which he essays dual roles of a superstar and his fan.[170] He has also signed on for director Rahul Dholakia's next film, entitled Raees, produced by Excel Entertainment and co-starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui.[171]
Other work
Production
Khan co-produced three films from 1999–2003 as a founding member of the partnership Dreamz Unlimited.[80] After the partnership was dissolved, he and wife Gauri restructured the company as Red Chillies Entertainment,[109] which includes divisions dealing with film and television production, visual effects, and advertising.[172] As of 2015, the company has produced or co-produced at least nine films.[173] Either Khan or Guari are usually given production credits, and Khan has appeared in most of the films, either in the lead role, or in a guest appearance. Khan was involved in several aspects of the making of Ra.One (2011). Aside from acting, he produced the film, volunteered to write the console game script, dubbed for it, oversaw its technical development and wrote the digital comics based on the film's characters.[174][175] Khan has occasionally done playback singing for his films. In Josh (2000) he sang the popular song "Apun Bola Tu Meri Laila". He also sang in his own voice for Don (2006), and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).[176] ForAlways Kabhi Kabhi (2011), which was produced by Red Chillies, Khan participated in the lyrical composition.[177]
Television
In addition to his pre-film career television appearances, Khan has hosted numerous televised awards shows, including the Filmfare, Zee Cine, and Screen Awards.[178][179][180]As a game show host, in 2007, he replaced Amitabh Bachchan for one season as the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,[181]and a year later, Khan began hosting Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?, the Indian version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.[182] In 2011, Khan returned to television, appearing on Imagine TV's Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout, the Indian version of Wipeout; scenes featuring Khan were shot at the Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai.[183] Contrary to his earlier television anchoring jobs, Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout performed poorly. It aired for only one season and became the lowest rated show hosted by a Bollywood star.[183]
Stage performances
Khan is a frequent stage performer and has participated in several world tours and concerts. In 1997, he performed in Asha Bhosle's Moments in Time concert in Malaysia, and returned the following year to perform with Karisma Kapoor for the Shahrukh—Karisma: Live in Malaysia concert.[184] The same year, he participated in The Awesome Foursome world tour across the UK, Canada and the U.S. along with Juhi Chawla, Akshay Kumar and Kajol, and resumed the tour in Malaysia the following year.[185][186] In 2002, Khan featured with Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Preity Zinta and Aishwarya Rai in the show From India With Love at Manchester's Old Trafford and London's Hyde Park in the UK; the event was attended by over 100,000 people.[187] Khan performed alongside Rani Mukherji, Arjun Rampal and Ishaa Koppikar in a 2010 concert at the Army Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.[188] The next year he joined Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in the Friendship Concert, celebrating 150 years of India-South Africa friendship inDurban, South Africa.[189] In 2013, Khan performed a tribute to his mentor filmmaker Yash Chopra at the Zee Cine Awards along with Katrina Kaif, Karisma Kapoor and Anushka Sharma.[190]
Khan started an association with the "Temptations" series of concert tours by singing, dancing and performing skits alongside Arjun Rampal, Priyanka Chopra and other Bollywood stars in Temptations 2004, a stage show that toured 22 venues across the world.[191]The show played to 15,000 spectators at Dubai's Festival City Arena.[192] In 2008, Khan set up Temptation Reloaded, a series of concerts that toured several countries, including the Netherlands.[193] Another tour was held with Bipasha Basu and others in 2012 in Jakarta,[194] and in 2013 another series of concerts visited Auckland, Perth and Sydney.[195]In 2014, Khan performed in SLAM! The Tour in the US, Canada, and London,[196] and also hosted the Indian premiere of the live talent show, Got Talent World Stage Live.[197]
Humanitarian causes
Khan has been brand ambassador of various governmental campaigns, including Pulse Polio and National AIDS Control Organisation.[198] He is a member of the board of directors of Make-A-Wish Foundation in India,[199] and in 2011 he was appointed by the UNOPS as the first global ambassador of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.[200] Khan told The Guardian that he tries to keep his charity work guarded because of his religious beliefs.[201] In 2009, when news broke that Khan had committed to bear all expenses for the treatment of two Kashmiri orphan children who suffered severe burns during a terrorist attack in Srinagar, it was revealed that he had been anonymously donating toNanavati Hospital in Vile Parle for nine years.[202]
Khan has performed in charity and benefit concerts including the Help Telethon Concert to raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. He, together with Rani Mukerji and director Karan Johar donated
11.5 million (US$180,000) to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Tsunami Relief Fund for the tsunami-affected areas in India.[203][204] Khan organised and participated in the Temptations 2005 show in New Delhi, which raised funds for the disabled rights group National Centre For Promotional of Employment for Disabled People.[205] He and other Bollywood stars took part in the Rock on For Humanity concert, which raised over
30 million (US$470,000) to help children affected by the 2008 Bihar flood.[206]
Khan has pledged to further the cause of child education in India.[207] He has recorded a series of public service announcements championing good health, child immunisation and proper nutrition, and joined India's Health Ministry and UNICEF in a nationwide child immunisation campaign as part of National Rural Health Mission of India.[208] In 2011, he joined Amitabh Bachchan and Judi Dench to promote Resul Pookutty's foundation that works to improve the living conditions of underprivileged people in India.[209] The same year, he received UNESCO's Pyramide con Marni award for his charitable commitment to provide education for children, becoming the first Indian to win the accolade.[210] During his multiple appearances at the NDTV Greenathon, Khan has adopted up to twelve villages to provide with electricity as part of the solar energy harnessing project's initiative Light A Billion Lives.[211][212]
In the media
Main article: Shah Rukh Khan in the media
Khan receives a large amount of media coverage in India, and is often referred to as "King Khan", "The Baadshah of Bollywood", and "The King of Bollywood".[201][213][214] Author Anupama Chopra cites him as an "ever present celebrity", with two or three films a year, constantly running television ads, print ads, and gigantic billboards lining the streets of Indian cities.[215] The object of a sometimes fanatical following, with a fan base estimated to exceed one billion,[216] in 2011, Steven Zeitchik of the Los Angeles Times declared him to be "the biggest movie star you've never heard of. And perhaps the world's biggest movie star, period."[d][218] Khan is one of the wealthiest and most powerful celebrities in India, topping the Forbes India's "Celebrity 100 list" for 2012 and 2013.[219][220] He was named by Newsweek as one of their 50 most powerful people globally in 2008,[221] and was ranked by the firm Wealth X as the second richest actor in the world afterJerry Seinfeld in 2014, with an estimated net worth of $600 million.[3] Khan owns several properties in India and abroad, including a house in New Delhi,[222] a GB£20 million apartment in London,[223] and a villa on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.[224]
Khan frequently appears on listings of the most popular, stylish, and influential people in India. He regularly featured among the top ten onThe Times of India 's list of the 50 most desirable men in India,[225][226] and in a 2007 poll by the magazine Eastern Eye he was named the sexiest man in Asia.[227] Khan is often referred to as "Brand SRK" by media organisations because of his many brand endorsement and entrepreneurship ventures.[228][229] He is one of the highest paid Bollywood endorsers and one of the most visible celebrities in television advertising, with up to a six per cent share of the television advertisement market.[230][231] Khan has endorsed brands including Pepsi,Nokia, Hyundai, Dish TV, D'decor, LUX and TAG Heuer.[198][231] His popularity has been documented in several non-fiction films, including the two-part documentary The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan (2005),[232] and the Discovery Travel & Living channel's ten-part miniseries Living with a Superstar—Shah Rukh Khan (2010).[230][233] Several books about Khan have been published, including Mushtaq Sheikh's Still Reading Khan, which describes Khan's family life and features rare photographs,[234] and Anupama Chopra's biography King of Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema, set against the backdrop of the Indian film industry.[235][236] In 2007, Khan became the third Indian actor to have his wax statue installed at London's Madame Tussauds museum, after Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan.[237][238]Additional versions of the statue were installed at Madame Tussauds' museums in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, New York and Washington.[239]
In 2008, Khan partnered with Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for acquiring the ownership rights of the franchise representing Kolkata in the Twenty20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) for US$75.09 million, which was renamed as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).[240] As of 2009, KKR was ranked as the IPLs most valued team with a brand value of $42.1 million.[241] The team was surrounded with controversy and performed poorly on the field during the first three years of the tournament.[242]Their performance improved during the fourth season in 2011; they became the champions in 2012[242] and 2014.[243]
Awards
Khan's work has likely garnered him more awards than any other Bollywood actor.[44] He has received 14 Filmfare Awards from 30 nominations,[244][e] including 8 for Best Actor; tied for the most in the category with Dilip Kumar.[143] Khan has won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for Baazigar (1993), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai(1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Devdas (2002), Swades (2004), Chak De! India (2007) and My Name Is Khan (2010). He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2005.[44] The Government of France has awarded him both the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2007),[245] and the Légion d'honneur (2014), its highest civilian honour.[246]