They say that time never stops, but the footprints of time gone by indicate what's in store. When Mir Taj Mohammed left Peshawar and tediously trudged the dusty roads to Delhi's Rajinder Nagar after Partition, it was destined that the child who would be born to him and his wife Lateef Fatima on November 2, 1965 in Talwar Nursing Home will rule the hearts of millions not just in India where he disembarked, but also across the world including Pakistan which he left behind.
The man who majestically held the sword of Ashoka in the film Asoka, had years ago held the Sword of Honour at St Columba's school after leading his side in football, hockey and cricket. SRK may have done a Mansoor Khan film Josh with a lot of enthusiasm, but then the first film that his mother took him along to see was Dev Anand's Joshila and that too only when he did well in his studies.
He was 19 and she was 14. But when SRK saw Gauri Chibba in maroon corduroys', he was marooned for life. Another meeting set up by his friend Raman Sharma and SRK had Gauri's number with her. There were a few hiccups due to the inter caste relationship, but then the actor who later managed to yank off girlfriends and wives of others (on screen in most films from Deewana to DDLJ, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Veer Zaara and Paheli to My Name is Khan) got the girl of his life, never mind if he began introducing himself as Abhimanyu (his character in the teleserial Fauji).
Six years later they got married and they completed 20 years of their wedding this year. Aryan and Suhana, their children, are also given a similar upbringing where they are taught to respect others and learn to value life and people the same way that SRK and his sister were by their parents.
SRK as Abhimanyu could easily decode the Chakravyuh in Fauji too as Colonel Raj Kapoor who cast him in the serial and extended his role even though none of the six commandos were initially slated to. But the effervescence of the actor forced the director to give him a better role in the serial. Interestingly the Farhan Akhtar film Lakshya has a lot of shades of Fauji.
When SRK entered television, Bollywood films with the big stars were flopping. There was no successor to Amitabh Bachchan. Moreover, Big B was also going through a bad phase.
And here came the actor with his boundless energy and captured the hearts of the millions, first with some bloodthirsty performances in Baazigar and Darr and then romantic films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Soon, he was the Badshah of Bollywood.
His experiments, however with films like Asoka failed, but the actor kept on experimenting. He floated his IPL team, and even made profits in the first IPL itself. Truly Korbo, Lodbo Jeetbo re! His last release from his home production Om Shanti Om was a massive hit even though his last film My Name is Khan could have done better had it not gotten involved in controversies.
SRK's sense of humour is also awesome. Once when yours' truly congratulated King Khan for his film Devdas going to Cannes, he SMSed back ; "Now I will be called Shah Rukh Cannes!"
Now he awaits the release of his biggest ever spectacle for the big screen Ra.One. SRK was to do the sci-fi Robot but the film fell through when director Shankar told him that he wanted to shoot for ten days, look at the footage and shoot again. And now as Robot and the Tamil and Telugu version of the film Endhiran has broken all box office records, SRK will attempt to prove why he is the biggest star in contemporary Hindi cinema.
Because sometimes what King Khan, Rajni Kant! Cos' SRK Cannes and will be Able!
Did you know
• During his struggling days, he stayed with Aziz Mirza and Vivek Vaswani. He bought his first house when producer Ratan Jain gifted him Rs 7 lakh. In September 2001, he bought the sprawling 23,400 sq ft sea-facing bungalow for Rs 13.5 crore called Mannat where there are only 3 bedrooms, And it is priceless now because SRK stays there. The entire property has a four-storeyed building in it as well which houses a living room, a gymnasium, meeting rooms, a rehersal halls, living rooms and even an office in it.
• Shah Rukh Khan has endorsed 34 brands in all — the highest for an Indian actor. Everyone wants a piece of SRK, be it brands or the agencies.
• Incidentally SRKcan play football with David Beckham because he has a deal with Nakheel Developers in Dubai — a Signature Villa in Palm Islands worth 58 million dirhams! Even Bill and Hillary Clinton are neighbours.
• King Khan's first car was a Maruti Omni which was gifted by his mother. SRK now has six imported cars including the red Pajero which he first bought apart from BMWs, Audi and a Mercedes.
• He has been voted the sexiest man in Asia by the Jade magazine.
• He did his High school from St Columbus High School in New Delhi.
• He was an ace in electronics and biology but wasn't good at all in mathematics. Overall, however, he was a brilliant student.
• He captained his school teams in football, hockey, and played cricket as well.
• He graduated from Hansraj College, Delhi University and followed it up with a Masters Degree in Mass Communications (Film making) from Jamiya Miliya Islamiya, in Delhi, but quit it in a year.
• The reason he took up on Mass Communications (Film making) is because he loved the TV commercials.
• For a short spell, Shahrukh Khan ran a restaurant in Darya Ganj, New Delhi.
• He also joined theatre with Barry John. He started out as an actor on the small screen, in Dil Dariya (directed by Lekh Tandon) where he almost went unrecognized because he played a sardarji. Then came his teleserials Fauji, Ummeed and Circus.
• His father ran a transport company and his mother was a magistrate.
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