5 reasons why Shah Rukh Khan is still the king of Bollywood
The title Bollywood ka Badshah (King of Bollywood). We look at 5 reasons why he remains top of the game.
فيديو ذات صلة
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1 He is a family man
In an industry where makeups and break-ups are a mainstay, Khan has maintained a squeaky-clean image. He is seen as a faultless husband (he is married to entrepreneur Gauri Khan) and is an overindulgent father to Aryan, Suhana and AbRam. What makes him great at it? He doesn’t shy away from crediting his wife for his success and makes it a point to celebrate all milestones with his family.
2 He has global appeal
When My Name is Khan was announced as part of the movie line-up at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2012, tickets sold out in five seconds after being auctioned on eBay for a whopping €1,000 each. Khan’s fandom is such that it surpasses geographical boundaries. A German newspaper once stated that the Bollywood superstar was as popular as the Pope. SRK Universe, one of the actor’s biggest online fan clubs, has close to 2 million followers worldwide.
3 One of the richest actors in the world
The young man who made his debut in 1988 with the television TV series, Fauji (Soldier), is now the world’s second richest actor. When he tried to break into Bollywood, actresses weren’t exactly falling over themselves to star alongside him. Today, starlets less than half his age want to romance him on screen, such is his charisma. So it’s no surprise that Khan actually makes more than big Hollywood stars such as Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp, and only comes second to American comedian Jerry Seinfeld on the list of top earning actors (Wealth-X’s Hollywood and Bollywood Rich List, 2014). Rumour has it that he charges nearly Dh67,000 per minute for a public appearance. The actor’s personal fortune is estimated at £350m (Dh1.9 billion) from starring in films, endorsing a variety of brands, public appearances, private performances and concerts.
4 He is a good Samaritan
Khan manages to balance his arrogant demeanour with a truckload of charity on the side. In 2011, he received the Pyramide con Marni Unesco award for his charitable work. He’s been known to work with Make a Wish Foundation regularly to grant the wishes of terminally ill children who want to meet him, even spending quality time with them at his residence. He often shares the spoils from the success of his films with the employees of his production house Red Chillies Entertainment. In 2009 and 2012, the actor “adopted” about 17 impoverished Indian villages and usually donates the proceeds from his concerts towards victims of natural disasters. He was quoted in the Guardian as saying: “I follow the Quran, which says if you do charity for a reason, it’s not charity.”
5 He is Bollywood’s biggest romantic hero
Every self-respecting Indian can quote a dialogue from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ, 1995), the film that shot him to fame. Kids growing up in the 90s ended up with a rather impractical view on love, thanks to Raj (Khan) and Simran (Kajol). With his floppy hair, piercing eyes and mischievous smile, King Khan caught the fancy of thousands of young girls, who still hold on to posters from the film. DDLJ is Bollywood’s longest-running movie, and you can still catch a matinée show at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai today. In fact, when the theatre decided to scrap the movie from its roster earlier this year, the outcry from the masses forced the cinema management to reverse the decision.