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I Don't Believe in Magic, But I Definitely Believe in Shah Rukh Khan

On Shah Rukh Khan's 57th birthday, here's a fan's heartfelt note for the superstar.

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Shah Rukh Khan,​ the quintessential gentleman, superstar, OG and King Khan, has turned 57. He is not just an actor with great acting skills or the only charming guy in the industry, but he is Shah Rukh Khan; what one can never be, there's just one of him in this world. SRK, to me, is much more than just a favourite actor; he has always been my prime source of self-esteem and self-assurance.  

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All Goes Above Me but SRK’s Words Go Through Me

Every time I am watching SRK’s interviews, be it for a film promotion or a talk show, that space does not feel like a Q&A session between an anchor and an actor, it feels like a one-on-one conversation with each and every person listening to him.

He connects with every single soul watching him, either live or on screen, he expresses with giving us the authority of feeling that he is one of our own and as if we have the right to know his weaker side as well.

In one of his interviews the actor had said,

“I want to do good things, I want to do creative things, but I don’t want to die like my father did and I don’t want to be unknown, despite being the most wonderful father. As much as I love calling my dad ‘a successful failure’, I would like to be just bloody successful".

Shah Rukh added “and they are right, when they say, I didn’t believe it, but believe you me, it is very lonely at the top… you have to be lonely when you try to be successful. “ He possesses his reel life qualities in real life as well. Every time I have heard SRK speak, there is familiarity, there is connect but most importantly, there are emotions that he extracts out of you without you consciously acting upon them. 

When SRK's character Raj in Mohabbatein says "Mohabbat mein shartein nahi hoti...Toh afsoos bhi nahi hona chahiye (There are no conditions in love, hence, there shouldn't be any regrets either),” it resonated deeply within me, as someone who has been through more than my fair share of hardships in the lane of love.

On Shah Rukh Khan's 57th birthday, here's a fan's heartfelt note for the superstar.

Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai in a still from Mohabbatein.

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest)

I often wonder how I still so firmly believe in falling in love and SRK is unquestionably my answer. I feel that my past experiences that couldn’t reach the destination I had planned in my head or the extremely impossible ones since it’s very beginning still had me hopeful is because of the hopeless romantic SRK has made me into. You don’t measure failures and wins in love. No matter how ‘mutually’ or how gravely my relationships have ended, I don’t think any of my partners could completely let go off me or vice-versa, because I was never evaluating in love. I gave all of me or even a little more than that, because I was never afraid of facing a ‘loss’, I didn’t want to limit myself from going crazy in love only because there are high chances of heartbreaks in the end, because to love is to be courageous.

The reason why I or most of us resonate with SRK's characters is because he humanises them, they make mistakes and get back up just how everyone does in real life.

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How Shah Rukh Khan Stands Out

 Since the begging of his career, Shah Rukh Khan has always been pitted against some of the veterans of the industry, like Naseeruddin Shah in Chamatkar (1992), Jeetendra and Mithun in Dil Aashna Hai (1992), and Jackie Shroff in King Uncle (1993) and many more significant actors that were far more experienced and well renowned in the industry. Most of them were a part of a dynasty, everyone had good looks and talent, but it is his persona and his vision about life what makes him stand out.  

In an interview with Filmfare after his debut movie Deewana (1992), the superstar was asked if he thinks competing against a veteran is a disadvantage, to which he replied, “Why should it? I don’t think any actor or actress is better than I am. No one honestly feels that another guy is better than he. If anyone denies this, he is lying. If you are good, you shouldn’t have any problems even if you have 35 stars opposite to you, but if you don't have the talent you’d be lost even in a solo starrer.”

There is a fine line between confidence and over confidence and SRK seems to manage that balance very delicately. In a rapid fire round of Koffee with Karan (KWK) season 5, Shahrukh was asked what is the best thing about being Shahrukh Khan? And he replied, “that I can do whatever I want to do” and the immediate next question was what is the worst thing about being Shahrukh Khan?, to which Shahrukh said, “that I can do whatever I want to do”.

On Shah Rukh Khan's 57th birthday, here's a fan's heartfelt note for the superstar.

Shah Rukh Khan in a still from Koffee With Karan.

(Photo Courtesy: Disney+Hotstar)

These two entirely different questions having the exact same answers had me thinking about the kind of a person Shah Rukh Khan is. He accepts and enjoys the humongous amount of stardom he has and is also very much aware of his value around the world. At the same time, he is well aware and conscious about what all this glory leads to. He acknowledges the fact that he can do and get whatever he desires within no time. But to realise that being able to do whatever you want to do is not always so fascinating, is what tells me that somewhere he is still the guy who started off without a giant Bollywood background, worked his way through the struggling times and still values what it’s like to be just a common man. 

Shah Rukh's approach towards anything he does, whether it is an award function he is hosting or a film, be it KWK or Kaun Banega Crore Pati?, whether he is talking about Hollywood actors or about philosophy, he is the ultimate all-rounder, because his first step to anything is the belief he has in himself, he captivates everything that he does and everyone that he meets. Even at the age of 57, which is officially a ‘senior citizen’ tag, SRK rules the hearts of generations, from a 5-year-old to a 70-year-old, every man wants to try his signature open arms pose and every woman wants to be looked at by him as his lover. I don’t believe in magic, but I definitely believe in Shah Rukh Khan. 

Jab tak hai jaan, King Khan. 

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