Shah Rukh Khan Completes 20 Years In Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan started his career in Bollywood in the year 1992 after a fairly successful stint in television having acted in Circus and Fauji, with Deewana opposite Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti. During this period, he was also seen in other films such as Hema Malini's Dil Aashna Hai, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Maya Memsaab opposite Deepa Sahi, wherein he appears in a much-publicized sex scene. He won the Filmfare Best Male Debut award for his performance in Deewana and went on to notch up another trophy the following year.

In the year 1993, SRK bagged the big ticket Yash Raj film Darr followed by Abbas-Mustan's Baazigar, for which he won critical acclaim for portraying villainous roles. His stammering line 'I love you Kkkk..iran' garnered much popularity amongst the masses almost becoming synonymous with the persona of the actor. He bagged his first Filmfare Best Actor Award. Of course, this was the first of many more such awards. SRK kept experimenting with various roles playing the happy-go-lucky Sunil in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and the obsessive lover in Anjaam. Both the films fetched him Filmfare awards for Critics Best Performance and Best Villain respectively.

1995 belonged to Shah Rukh Khan. He delivered two of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters that year. One of them was the Rakesh Roshan film with Salman Khan Karan Arjun, which was based on the theme of re-incarnation. The film turned out to be one of the highest grossers of the year. His other film was the game changer in his career. Debutante director Aditya Chopra's film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge turned out to be one of the biggest hits in the history of Indian cinema. It achieved unprecedented critical and box-office success along with ten Filmfare awards. Interestingly, it is still running at Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre having completed a record-breaking run of 17 years (and still counting) at the box-office. Khan's chemistry with Kajol worked big time at the box-office heralding the best Bollywood jodi of all time.

The coming years marked a golden run for the actor. Although 1996 began on a sour note with dismal films such as English Babu Desi Mem, Chaahat and Trimurti. However, 1997 turned things around for King Khan as his film with Aziz Mirza Yes Boss turned out to be successful and so did Subhash Ghai's Pardes. Later that year, the Yash Chopra film Dil Toh Pagal Hai alongside Karisma Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, set new trends in the way love stories were made as well as brought in a new style of choreography, thanks to Shiamak Davar. On the personal front, his son Aryan was born in that year. The following year, 1998, was a case of mixed-fortunes for the superstar. His Dil Se... despite garnering critical acclaim failed to bring in the numbers. Even though his film Duplicate failed to make a mark, Karan Johar's directorial debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai consolidated SRK's status as King Khan.

He bagged innumerable endorsements with reputed brands, featured on the covers of international magazines and was the much-adored dimpled face of the Hindi film industry!

Shah Rukh Khan started having back problems around this time which has caused trouble for him on innumerable occasions since then. On the professional front, he dabbled with other genres such as action, comedy, drama with films such as Baadshah, Josh and Hey! Ram hence making it a not-so grand status for King Khan towards the end of the millennium. His daughter Suhana was also born in the year 2000. His coming of age was in Aditya Chopra's 2nd film Mohabbatein, where he played a character much closer to him in terms of age. His role of a music teacher garnered critical acclaim. He also set up his production company Dreamz Unlimited with Juhi Chawla and Aziz Mirza, and the first film out of the banner was Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, which unfortunately failed to make a mark at the box-office in spite of being much ahead of its time, in terms of content. His other production included Asoka based on the life of the renowned Indian emperor. The film got ample critical acclaim and was a moderate success at the box-office. His big-ticket release in 2001 was the Karan Johar film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, which broke several box-office records at the overseas market, almost making SRK a household name in the Western countries.

2002 gave Khan his landmark film in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Devdas, where he plays the alcoholic lover to perfection. He swept all the awards in the Best Actor category that year, and put to rest all rumours surrounding his downfall. He continued his golden run into the next year (2003) with box-office successes such as Chalte Chalte and Kal Ho Naa Ho. During this period, he underwent a back surgery as well and even had a fight with friend Salman Khan on the sets of his home production Chalte Chalte.

2004 was a super-successful year for Shah Rukh, on two counts, the critical acclaim as well as box-office collections. His films, Farah Khan's directorial debut Main Hoon Na, Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara and Swades managed to garner critical acclaim as well as box-office success. Many consider his portrayal of the Nasa scientist Mohan Bhargav in the film Swades to be his finest performance till date.

The following year 2005 was not so great for him, as his production Paheli failed to bring in the moolah, despite critical acclaim. Although, the film was screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and was even India's official entry to the Oscars, Khan has often regretted making this film. 2006 was once again a very productive year for King Khan, professionally. Although, his films Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and his remake of Amitabh Bachchan's Don, Farhan Akhtar's Don did well, there were plenty of rumours about his alleged tiff with the Bachchans that year.

The following year too, was mired in controversy, be it not being called for the Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wedding, or being involved in a war of words with politician Amar Singh, owing to an off-colour remark at an awards function. He was also in the centre of controversy, for promoting his film Om Shanti Om at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur, Rajasthan and was pulled up by the BCCI. His films Chak De India and Om Shanti Om did really well at the box-office as well as garnered critical acclaim. He also made his comeback to Indian television with the third season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. Comparisons with the original host Amitabh Bachchan were inevitable. Although, the TRPs were not as high as they were for Big B, SRK managed to hold his own as a television presenter. In 2007, he also bought a team in the Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders, and decked it up with the best of players, support staff, theme songs and sponsors.

2008 was once again an eventful year for King Khan. His team Kolkata Knight Riders delivered an ordinary performance that year, much to the superstars' dismay. His only film that released that year was Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, which was a huge success at the box-office. SRK was also in the news that year for his fight with Salman Khan at Katrina Kaif's birthday party at a restaurant in Bandra. The fight has led to a big divide in the Hindi film industry, and has almost made a reconcilement between the two superstars, next to impossible. SRK also made a comeback to television with Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hai?, the Indian version of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? Although, the show was liked by most, it failed to bring in good ratings for the channel. In the same year, Khan suffered a serious injury while shooting a special appearance in Mudassar Aziz's Dulha Mil Gaya. Owing to his, he had to undergo an arthroscopic surgery in February 2009, after shooting for certain sequences of his film My Name Is Khan in the United States.

Around the same time, he also had a fall-out with his director-friend Farah Khan over not being consulted before she started shooting with Akshay Kumar for Tees Maar Khan.

Khan's next film was My Name Is Khan, his fourth collaboration with director Karan Johar and the sixth film in which he is paired with Kajol. This film was a very challenging one for Khan, as he was playing a Muslim man Rizwan Khan, suffering from Asperger syndrome. The film was set against the backdrop of perceptions on Islam post 9/11 and Khan had to do a lot of research on this role. The film once again, got Khan into a controversy on two counts. He had voiced his opinion in favour of the Pakistani players, who were not picked up by any team at the IPL auction. This led to a huge brouhaha as the political party Shiv Sena launched a scathing attack on the actor. Protests were held, screenings were stopped and effigies were burnt leading to much disturbance around Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. During a promotional visit to the United States, Khan was detained at Newark Airport, New Jersey because of his last name. The government of India got involved and the United States had to issue an apology. However, this incident has had its barrage of opinions from various quarters.

Subsequently, he got on to make his next production, the biggest of them all, superhero flick RA.One. He thought of making this film after he was approached for Shankar's Endhiran which eventually went to Rajinikanth. Shah Rukh went on to make this film along with director Anubhav Sinha of Dus fame. It turned out to be the most expensive Indian film ever made. No stone was left unturned. The best of special effects team was roped in, 3D conversion took place, international singer Akon sang two songs and an extensive promotional campaign took place to make his dream project a spectacular success. However, critics panned the film and even the numbers were not as huge as anticipated. Another film, a sequel to his 2006 film Don 2 did decently well at the box-office. However, his recent films failed to replicate the success of his contemporaries Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, who broke records at the box-office, hence refueling debates on who is the King Khan. There were several reports towards the end of 2011 on how SRK is battling mid-life crisis, losing his super stardom and his friends are drifting apart.

Even 2012 began on a sour note for the actor, as he was involved in a brawl with Farah Khan's husband Shirish Kunder. He allegedly slapped him for reasons unknown. There was greater hue and cry about the incident and the media went into an overdrive speculating about the fight. The next day, Sajid Khan and Shah Rukh's wife Gauri Khan played mediators and all was well between the actor and Farah Khan's family. Another incident took place during this year's IPL. He was once again involved in a brawl this time, with the security and the authorities at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Shah Rukh was livid at one of the guards for pushing his daughter Suhana and thus, got into an altercation with the MCA authorities present at the ground. Once again, there was media frenzy over the high-handedness of the super star. Khan held a press conference the next day, clarifying on what had happened.

However, good times did not take long as his team Kolkata Knight Riders finally conquered the Indian Premier League. They were crowned champions and King Khan was over the moon. His upcoming films include Yash Chopra's untitled film with Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, Rohit Shetty's Chennai Express and Farah Khan's next. Let's hope that he can give us many more moments to relish!

(A weekly feature by Shivom Oza on the various trends showing up in Bollywood)