King Khan

Meet Shah Rukh Khan (hereafter SRK).*

He's the biggest movie star you've never heard of (or if you have it's because I've told you about him). Ever since I stumbled upon Bollywood, I've had a SRK dilemma. My dilemma is that I can't conclude what I feel about him. To many, he's the sexiest man to ever grace celluloid. Some consider him India's best actor today. His economic power is unparalleled in Bollywood--merely a special appearance in a film will virtually guarantee the film's box office success. But I am not so easily sold. Or maybe I am, and that's what bothers me.

To see a SRK film is to be captivated by an awkward looking charismatic power. One poster on Bollywhat.com said of first seeing SRK in a film: "Who's that? He sure is ugly, but I can't take my eyes off him." By the end of her second SRK experience, she was convinced he was "the sexiest thing ever." This is the strange power SRK has. Even men like this guy. And undeniably, SRK has a certain something that makes you take his side, that forces your eyes to follow him every time he's on screen. What he lacks in movie star good looks, he makes up by his charm and screen presence. Did I mention he can dance, too?

I could accept his manipulating screen presence if he wasn't heralded as one of India's finest actors. Charisma and acting ability are two different things, and while the man is a competent actor, Humphrey Bogart he is not. He can't cry convincingly on screen, and for some reason, directors make him cry. He can't laugh with any sense of truth. I often find him over the top, obnoxious--the boy next door who desperately wants to be bad. And yet, if I counted my DVD collection by the actors who star in the films, I own more movies with SRK than with any other actor, including my favorite, Kate Winslet.

The biggest problem I have with SRK is that no matter how conflicted I am by the man, I can never really dislike him because to be a Kajol fan is to be a SRK fan. You can't like her and not like him. Their celluloid jodi (relationship) is the most talked about in Bollywood (think Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan, Spencer Tracy-Katherine Hepburn). A movie starring SRKajol (as they're called on internet fan forums) will be a superhit in India. Their third film together, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), is the most successful movie in the history of Indian cinema and has yet to leave the theater since it was first released on May 13, 1995.


SRK with Kajol

So I give up. SRK may not be my favorite Indian actor. He may not be the best looking man in India. I may not completely understand the fanfare behind him. But even I can't deny that a star like SRK comes only once in a great while, and I'm going to do my best to enjoy the phenomenon that is King Khan.

A list of some of my favorite SRK films:
DDLJ (1995)--with Kajol
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)--with Kajol and Rani Mukherjee
Kabhi Khushie Kabhie Gham (2001)--with Kajol
Devdas (2002)--with Aishwarya Rai
Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)--with Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan
Veer-Zaara (2004)--with Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee
Dil Se (1998)--with Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta
Main Hoon Na (2004)--with Sushmita Sen

*This is the first in a series I'll be doing to introduce you to the wonderful world of Bollywood. Next up: Kajol.