The success of the ‘King Khan’ of Bollywood-Shah Rukh Khan- is no enigma. His hard work and passion have always been his driving forces and no one can deny that. The gawky youngster who entered Bollywood after a brief stint on Hindi television has a story that movies are made of. He was an ordinary looking young man who left the gullies of Delhi to follow his dream and ventured into the murky lanes of Bollywood. While many struggling actors have vanished over the time, Shahrukh established his name in the industry and emerged as the greatest Bollywood superstar ever. His story is of passion, inspiration, motivation and sheer determination. Here are some insights into the life of the ‘Baadshah’ of Bollywood.
Shah Rukh is a mass communication graduate from the reputed Jamia Millia Islamia, but he chose to follow his passion for acting and took up performances in theatre and television serials. He also attended the National School of Drama in Delhi.
His first appearance was in the 1988 television series ‘Fauji’ where he played the role of Commander Abhimanyu Rao which won him much critical acclaim and recognition. His performances were reminiscent of the yesteryear superstar Dilip Kumar and he was compared with the legend by critics on many occasions.
He appeared on the silver screen for the first time in ‘Deewana’ in 1992 and there has been no looking back since then. He did a number of films but the movie that won him recognition was Aditya Chopra’s ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge’. The movie remains the longest running movie of all times.
With time, Shah Rukh moved on from his lover boy image and donned various other roles to stay in the race. He made a six pack body for his movie ‘Om Shanti Om’ that sent women all over the world drooling.
He also set up his own production house, distribution agency and VFX studio. The superstar who came from an ordinary background had established his camp in the Hindi film industry.
Shah Rukh sustained a spine injury in 2001 while shooting for a special appearance for ‘Shakti: The Power’. However, his hard working nature and commitment to his work did not allow him to cancel his work appointments and seek treatment. He kept attending programmes and shooting for movies in acute pain and finally had to fly to London for surgery in 2003.
He went through severe pain post the surgery and had to cut down on the number of films he did after that. He shot the movies ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ and ‘Main Hoon Na’ a few months after his surgery but the song and dance sequences had to be postponed.
Shah Rukh Khan is also a philanthropist at heart but unlike many other celebrities he prefers keeping mum over his philanthropic activities. He has adopted as many as 12 villages in ‘Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara, Odisha’ to provide them electricity through solar energy.
He has won several awards and recognitions both nationally and internationally and is unquestionably the most popular Bollywood personality all over the world.
