Shah Rukh Khan is stepping into 60 on November 2 (today). There is a series of screenings of his films in theatres across India in the shape of a festival of Shah Rukh Khan films. This is in the wake of the National Award for Best Actor he won after 32 years in the industry as an international star and actor whose screen presence outshines those of his peers, namely Salman Khan and Aamir Khan.

Do you know what Shah Rukh means? It means “face of the king.” This is one ‘king’ who hosts television shows with a grace so natural that it charms you and takes you by surprise at the same time. It is the same man who tamed his unruly lock of thick black hair with a mix of homemade glue and water when he began his career in films. This is one ‘king’ who loves to dote on son Aryan, 28, and daughter Suhana, 23, who think “I am the best dad in the world because they do not have much of a choice.” Shah Rukh insists that he never crosses a red light and is a law-abiding citizen. But after this, he lights up his cigarette, unable to stick to the new law of not smoking.

The festival of Shah Rukh Khan films kicked off across 30 Indian cities on October 31 in 75 theatres for two weeks. Among films chosen are – Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Dil Se, Devdas, Main Hoon Naa, Om Shanti Om, Chennai Express, Jawan and many others. The festival is being organised by the PVR Inox group. Happy with the way his 60th year in the world is being celebrated, Shah Rukh said, “The audience has given its love to these films for over 30 years and bringing these films back into the theatres seems like a reunion for me and for my audience.”

Typical of the strange idiosyncrasies of the Bollywood box office, his best films did not churn out the kind of miraculous moolah his entirely escapist films did, making everyone around in and outside Bollywood happy as the films became a wake-up call for Bollywood either as freeing itself from the clutches of the Southern masala films or joining forces with them in any way. Which Jawan has done and how!

The three feature films in which Shah Rukh stripped himself of his typically ‘Shahrukhi’ school of acting, complete with mannerisms and stylisations that threw up his true potential as one of the best performers in world cinema, are Swades, My Name Is Khan and........

© Mathrubhumi English