I would like to believe that I am the last superstar of India, Shah Rukh Khan

Film critic,Anil Sinanan, talks hockey and greatness with Indian hero Shah Rukh Khan

I arrive for my 5pm appointment with Shah Rukh Khan at the plush Yash Raj Studios in Bombay, only to be told: “I am afraid Mr Khan is running a little late.”

This is no surprise: Khan is a busy man. The star of more than 50 films and with a fan base that’s numbered in the billions (Bollywood has a global audience of 3.6 billion; Hollywood has 2.5 billion) it is the consistent success of his films that was directly responsible for putting Bollywood as we know it on the global cinematic map.

Born in 1965 in New Delhi, Khan entered Bollywood via theatre and television in the 1980s. Initially, his success was based on his antihero turns in Baazigar and Darr, both released in 1993. In 1995 he resurrected the good romantic hero in the blockbuster Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) – or DDLJ, as it is known – which widened his fan base and took Indian cinema to an international audience.

This was the first film to include a positive “untainted by the evils of the West” nonresident Indian (NRI) character. It spoke to the NRIs of the world, who returned to the cinema in droves. His subsequent NRI hits such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001) entrenched Khan’s hold on the domestic and overseas box office.

So it is that all of five-and-a-half hours after the appointed time that I finally meet “King” Khan. He is dressed in jeans and a crisp white shirt, and wearing large sunglasses, because of an eye infection. Even without being able to see his eyes I think he looks tired.

Luckily, he lives up to his bubbly reputation and chats away about his next release, Chak de India (Go for it, India!), which next month becomes the first Indian film to be given a London open air premiere. In the film he plays a hockey coach who trains a girls’ team. Traditonally, hockey is India’s national sport – Indians invented the game – but in recent times its popularity has slipped behind those of cricket and football. Does he hope that his film will revive interest in the game?

“I think the reason Indian hockey went down was due to the change in the format of the game, from one that was skill-based to one based on physical strength,” Khan explains. “If, in this country of one billion people, six girls and two boys decide to take up hockey after seeing the film I think I will have succeeded in passing on a message of the importance of hockey as an art form.”

But Khan is taking a professional risk. With the exception of the Oscar-nominated Lagaan (2001), which dealt with cricket, there are hardly any successful sporting Indian films. Was he aware that the film may fail? “If people such as me who are at the top of our work do not take chances and make different kinds of cinema, no one else will,” the actor reasons.

And Khan’s mission may well succeed – Bollywood stars are treated like gods. Why is this so? “In this country entertainment is the last achievement for the common man,” he says. “People regard me as taking away their everyday sadness for three hours, when they can sit in a dark, air-conditioned hall and see me fulfil their dreams. Shah Rukh Khan gives hope to people.”

He is right: he is often dismissed by critics as a ham actor with five basic expressions, but Indian audiences do not really care about acting ability. It is star quality that matters and Khan’s energetic, endearing and cheeky screen presence is the key to his appeal.

So what’s next for King Khan? Has he thought of going back to his theatre origins, perhaps in London’s West End? “I do not think my accent is right for the West End,” he smiles. “And I don’t have the time.”

As I take my leave – at midnight – I ask him about Bollywood’s future. “The entertainment industry is changing rapidly, with the growth of satellite channels and multiplexes. Soon there will not be any superstars. I would like to believe that I am the last superstar of India.”

Source: Times Online UK