Vintage Shah Rukh
I know his rating currently is of being too Bollywood and too filmi, but given the SUPER INTELLIGENCE of the guy (he did top his very prestigeous St Columba’s High School in Delhi), the guy has the ability to adapt and learn and mould himself to the market conditions–Read on:
So folks as generally happens- it happened to Bachchan, it happend
to Dilip to Rajesh, it is STILL happening to Dev “you can’t be
serious” Anand (love the guy even if he continues to make senseless
stuff, love his zest for life)
They all fall victims to their superstardom and a phase comes when
their acting becomes cliched, caught in caricature and a trying to
fit into a mould phase, as opposed to creating a mould phase.
Shah Rukh currently is growing through this syndrome. Give his a few
more years, as he becomes 50 + the roles will cease and so will the
emage and then we will re emerge. But that being said, let us
remember some of his earlier classics. Anyone doubting the guys
ability to act, think again, on watching these:
(a) Kabhie Ha Kabhie Na —- Deewana tera Deewana !!!! so he
romanced Mrs Shekhar Kapur, Suchitra Krishnamurthy. This movie, was
perhaps his best role and his most risky one…he does not get the
heroine in the end, instead that honour goes to the second lead,
Deepak Tijori (now turned director). The film also got together SRK
and Ashutosh for the second time after the serial Circus. They would
come again for that magical SWADES. Here SRK did not play any larger
than life guy, he was that regular dude, aspiring for that love
interest he deep inside probably knew he would not be able to get,
but aspiring and doing it nevertheless.
(b) Chamatkaar—–Jo thum dhek rahe ho woh, sab kuch ek tamasha
hain!!!!The movie got togehter SRK and Naseer and a wonderful, light
hearted , tale unwound, sans any special effects and melodrama.Again
SRK plays the dude, a simple guy lost in Mumbai. This one was his
first few films in his new hometown (coming that he had from Delhi)
and his flair for comedy, which was evident again in Main Hoon Na,
came to the fore here. As much a Naseer film as a SRK film, with
neither trying to steal any scenes, just complimenting each other.
(c) YES BOSS - Main koi aisa geet gaon, arzoo jagaon!!! The setting
was 1997 and the ‘New India’ was awkening, the fist generation of
the small town guys making their way to the big cities as the dot
com days had started….was also the year I came to SF from Toronto
and landed up in the Tenderloin area of SF (for the folks who know
SF, know my predicament as I was dressed in a suit to go work for
KPMG…in the Tenderloin!!!!)This was the days when young
professionals, as potrayed by SRK were making their way to bpmbay,
but not to act in films, to make it, at any cost, in the corporate
world. Abmition was no more a bad word. The character, intelligently
potrayed by SRK, gave a superlative performance, even as he
willingly gave up his love interest (without) any melodrama, to his
corporate interest. A fantastic film by Mirza and a fantastic
performance by SRK, ably supported by Aditya Pancholi and Juhi
(d) RAJU BAN GAYA GENTLEMAN- Aaj humari basti mein mach gaya shor,
seede sade basti hain aur uske log, par apna Raju hero hain aur hum
Raju ke fan, ke Raju ban gaya Gentleman—Yes this was the arrival,
in your face, the new order was here, the new generation had woken
up, gone was that hero who would live in fantasy land and sing
fantasy…this was the regualr guy, the corproate guy, the yuppy
from Delhi and he had arrived. To be fair to SRK, he has never shied
away from acting with the best. This one, again Mirza, pitted him
with Nana Patekar. This was also the reincarnation of the “well
educated and articulate” into Indian cinema. The consumate
professional. The era when AB abdicated briefly, was a void, aptly
filled by the new hero, who had all the faults of a regualr guy,
much like regular Raju, who got envelopped in blind emotion. Awesome
performance by the “yes I want money and success and what the hell,
I ‘m not apologetic about it” SRK. Great performance too by Amrita
Singh and Juhi too, but Raju stole the honour and from then on until
now, has become a Gentleman.
(e) Maya Memsaheb - Cast opposite the very versatile and talented
Deepa Mehta, SRK plays the infatuated one and gives a performance,
which would make the ARTHOUSE folks applaud. This guy can certainly
act with the best of them, let there be no doubt about that and this
film proves it. He chose the more commercail stuff to make his money
and more power to him for that, but anyone doubting his basic acting
skills had better watch this movie and perhaps also Hey Ram.
(f) The Others - As mentioned above Hey Ram, Swades and of course
Darr (more about that in another posting)
Trivia — Now for those in this and other groups who “I am
intelligent and I don’t see Bollywood song and dance”
types…Remember ArunDati Roy’s IN WHICH ANNIE GIVES IT THOSE ONES,
by Pradeep and Arundatti…..well guess what…….look hard
enough…you will find SRK there too!!!
Certainly Barry John, Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi, Fauji, TV, Circus,
Arundatti…had done just about everything to this prodigy, to
ensure that he was ready to take on the world.
It may seem hard to believe when one sees SRK now….but the basics
are all there in place and will remerge as the times change…that I
can tell you with all confidence..
Now why was all this not covered in the documentary?
Sincerely,
Vivek “yes, yes I know it is all Aamir after Rang De and why not,
but the journey of this 5ft 9inch from the studios of Doordarshan in
Delhi, from Col Kapoor’s Fauji, from Cadet Abhimanyu Rai to Maj Ram
Prasad Sharma of Main Hoon Na has been truly a rise up the
ranks”Kumar
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No matter how much I dislike him as an actor (esp in candy floss roles) I do think he can perform and entertain well in certain roles. But it’s as you said …
“phase comes when their acting becomes cliched, caught in caricature and a trying to fit into a mould phase, as opposed to creating a mould phase.”
Nice trip down memory lane with some of those movies
Chamatkar?:o i found it a bit |-) ~X(
but, o bicchu o bicchu…. :d
I’ve never been able to watch Maya Memsaab, don’t know why but that and oh darling yeh hain India just made me cringe ..
Kabhie Ha Kabhie Na was wonderful.
Agree with Kabhie Haan Kabhie Naa, Raju Bangaya Gentleman…but..i didn’t like him Yes Boss ( i thought too much of buffoonery), Chamatkar….arghhh
I am not so confident of him after 50s, not quite sure he has the talent as others you mentioned to back himselves up….but..the cliched ” You may like him, You may hate him…But you cannot ignore him” Saaala Machchar..errr SRK sabhi jagah phaila hain…
There have been many top stars before but shahrukh has got to be the most intelligent and sharp one. He can see that times are changing and he crossed 40 yrs, so he isn’t trying a straight romantic movies anymore. He is doing other genres and getting back to his roots.
And I completely agree with “the guy has the ability to adapt and learn and mould himself to the market conditions”. He is not unaware about the changes in the industry and audience’s tastes. He will adapt to the new market conditions and come out a winner (as always). He is not a sunil shetty or rajesh khanna with low IQ and neither salman khan who is careless with his career. He is too sharp and career-oriented. He is also hard working and talented, so I dont see why cant he be successful in the later years too.
I like kabhi haan kabhi naa among the given list. I feel kakn and swades are his best roles. Also, swades is just couple of years back. So, you cant say he is caught in his stardom or cant act now.
Reddy Sir agree about the IQ of Rajesh and emotional as opposed to professional career choices made by Salman, but would say that Sueil Shetty (my Altamount Road neighbor) is a BAD actor YES, but a very SHREWD businessman, so IQ is probably very high. The ONLY reason he continues to act in films is to increase his profile as a CEO of Mishchief (his boutique) and his other busines interests. A CEO can come in the front cover of Business Week of India Today, but what better way to increase your profile than coming in the larger canvasss. Plus a VERY STRONG rumour is that he funds all the movies he acts in (partially)and is admittedly a businessman who just happens to be in films. Started by career as a CA with R.N. Bhansali & Co in Churchgate, who were the CA’s for I.M. Kadri, a top Architect of Mumbai and a socialite family. Their daughter is married to Sunil, hence from day one it has been apparent that his entry to films was to promote his business interests.
hmmmm… interesting.. i didnt know that about sunil shetty… anyway about SRK..i admire him for the fact that he has came a long way and worked his way up.. but now i just feel like he is getting tired of it…is it so wrong if i say when i watch his recent movies i just feel like he is only doing to make some big bucks or just agree to do films for people who are his “friends”… i dont know.. just an opnion..
Yes Boss and PBDHH stand out for me. Here shahrukh was his real self. Yes Boss was what he really felt and wanted to be.
PBDHH probably is what he wanted the world to be. He compromised and it got the better of him. As said above by Sangeetaji, hate him for his tantrums in glossy films but when this guy is real, he is REAL.
Nice Post as usual Vivek Bhai.
ravptor, very interesting observation, now that I think of it, I quite agree with u.
well sharukh fuckin khan dosent have balls right now to try different and encourage new talent. all he wants to be a star than an actor. May be he might do some thing in his late fifties, As some one once said either sharukh khan or sex sells in bollywood, thats all he is good for making money.I remeber him talking on some show that he wanted to be star and have big house and become rich that shows that he is definelty money minded person rather than an actor, not doubt he has bit of talent can act (as shown in some of his earlier movies and swades ofcourse)but i cant never like him. for me he is most over rated and over hyped actor of my generation.
Thought Shahrukh could do no wrong until I watched KANK - ouch! A painful-to-watch ham-fisted performance. Even more embarassing is that he’s been nominated for this film - when did the Filmfare awards degenerate into this? I’ll just pretend that the underratred “Swades” was the last Shahrukh movie I saw….
u forgot “dil se” !!! .. the last 20 minutes !!
Kabhi haan kabhi na and Swades…liked shahrukh in only these two movies. Ashutosh derserves a special mention for putting a full stop to shah rukh’s all those irritating mannerisms in that film. No doubt, he is great entertainer and very smart chap. But as actor…only those two movies.
For me, Swades will top anything that SRK has done. Dil Se & Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa come close - but it was just refreshing to see him break the mould in Swades after so long.