shah rukh khan
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Shah Rukh Khan, this name paints a vivid picture of a man, who came and conquered not just the big screen but, also the hearts of the audience; both in India and abroad. SRK is the second richest of the world after Tom Cruise and a brand that everyone wants to get associated with. He has managed to achieve the rare feat of being a successful TV actor, superstar, producer, humanitarian and an entrepreneur and global brand.

Today, we will take a look at SRK’s journey from a TV actor to the King Khan of Bollywood.

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SRK was born on November 2, 1965, to Meer Taj Mohammed Khan and Lateef Fatima. He grew up in Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood of Delhi. His father had several business ventures including a restaurant and a canteen in the National School of Drama, and the family lived a middle-class life in rented apartments. Shah Rukh attended St. Columba’s School in central Delhi where he excelled in his studies and in sports such as hockey and football. Initially, Khan aspired to pursue a career in sports. However, owing to a shoulder injury in his early years meant that he could no longer play. SRK enrolled himself at Hansraj College to earn his bachelor’s degree in economics but spent much of his time at Delhi’s Theatre Action Group where he studied acting under the mentorship of theatre director Barry John. After Hansraj, he began studying for a master’s degree in mass communication at Jamia Millia Islamia but left to pursue his acting career. SRK lost his father to cancer in 1981 and his mother died in 1991 from complications of diabetes. After their parents, SRK has been taking care of his elder sister Shehnaaz, she lives with SRK and his family in Mannat. SRK married his college sweetheart Gauri Chibber on October 25, 1991, after a six-year courtship.

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Shah Rukh is a trained theatre actor and knows the nuances of acting pretty well. He started his journey as an actor with Lekh Tandon’s television series ‘Dil Dariya’, which began shooting in 1988, but production delays led to the Raj Kumar Kapoor directed 1989 series ‘Fauji’ becoming his television debut instead, where he played the leading role of Abhimanyu Rai, an army cadet. This led to further appearances in Aziz Mirza’s television series ‘Circus’ and Mani Kaul’s miniseries ‘Idiot’. SRK also played minor parts in the serials ‘Umeed’ and ‘Wagle Ki Duniya’ and in the English – language television film ‘In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones’. His appearances in these serials led critics to compare his look and acting style with the legendary Dilip Kumar, but Shah Rukh was not interested in film acting at the time, thinking that he was not good enough.

We will take a look at his film career and the road to success. Shah Rukh initially didn’t want to take up films because he thought that he didn’t have the tropes of becoming a film actor. However, he changed his decision to act in films in April 1991 citing it as a way to escape the grief of his mother’s departure. He moved from Delhi to Mumbai to pursue a full – time career in Bollywood and was quickly signed for 4 films. His first offer was for Hema Malini’s directorial debut ‘Dil Aashna Hai’. However, the film ran into certain delays and this eventually made way for ‘Deewana’ as his debut film. The film was immensely successful and him the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for his performance. Some of his other films as male lead that released in 1992 are ‘Chamatkar’, ‘Dil Aashna Hai’, and the comedy ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’.

The SRK tidal wave washed the Bollywood shores with the release of ‘Baazigar’ and ‘Darr’, in both the films he played negative characters and enthralled the audience with his performances. However, Shah Rukh was crowned the king of romance with the release of ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’. His pairing opposite Kajol, not only made the film the longest running Hindi movie in Bollywood history, but also earned the lead stars a permanent place in fans’ hearts. He followed up his image of a romantic hero with films like ‘Veer Zara’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Devdas’ and ‘Mohabbatein’.

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After establishing himself as a romantic hero, SRK set out to tread the road less travelled by experimenting with his film roles. Films like ‘Swades’ and ‘Chak De!’ India saw him unleashing the marvel of an actor that he is. His performances in these two films showed that he’s a true blue thespian, who can sweep the audience off their feet at his will. After registering himself as the superstar, he ventured into other arenas of films as a producer. Although not as successful ventures, Khan is known to push the envelope and to try out something new in the industry, be it with his film, in the technical department or even with marketing, this star does it all. Over the years, we have seen him play a superhero in ‘Ra.One’, double up to play a star and his own stalker in ‘Fan’ and now, a dwarf in Anand L Rai’s ‘Zero’, opposite Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma.

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Today, SRK is a force to reckon with. He is an actor, an entrepreneur who runs one of the biggest productions houses of this country, “Red Chillies Entertainment”, a VFX and digital intermediate arm of the same production house and host of other business ventures and not to forget his philanthropic projects. Being one of the country’s biggest superstars is no easy task. It demands long hours on the film sets, tending to work commitments, showing up for events across the globe, pulling out all-nighters far away from home, but as a doting father to three beautiful children, Shah Rukh is known to go the extra mile to be a dutiful dad. After wrapping up a scheduled shoot, SRK is a frequent visitor at the Mumbai airport, jet-setting across the globe to be with his kids – Suhana in London and Aryan in the USA. With a 6-year-old AbRam, currently, in primary school, this dad is known to clear his schedule to be there for his son, and even cheer him on at his school functions.

Also Read: Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s mushy romantic love story revealed