courtesy: india today
Shah Rukh Khan’s stardom as a superstar knows no bounds, particularly after his blockbuster comeback with Pathaan and Jawan in 2023. Though, questions pertaining to sustainability occurred not for the first time. They had erupted in 1999, after his biggie Baadshah that many consider was the Zero of its time.
Everything had been in Baadshah’s favor: the directorial duo of Abbas-Mustan was power-packed, SRK in the lead role, and a heady mix of action and comedy. The film that gave him the eponymous cult character tanked at the box office, leaving cineastes to wonder if King Khan would ever belong to Bollywood.
The movie failed because by 1999, SRK was already the undisputed ‘King of Romance’ with massive hits like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai under his belt. However, Baadshah was not his me-too kind of role. The audience was perhaps used to King Khan’s romances and actioners.
Amidst all of this, there was a lot of expectation in the market from Hrithik Roshan too, as he was prepping for his debut. Industry watchers and fans began wondering if his advent would really bring on the level of competition to SRK’s supremacy. While Baadshah still managed to sail through, it was Shah Rukh’s first production, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, which was released just a week after Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, that truly felt the impact of Hrithik Roshan’s meteoric rise.
The success of Hrithik’s debut and SRK suffering setbacks in succession with Baadshah, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, and Josh, many began to predict the fall of his stardom.
In her 2007 book King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema, Anupama Chopra gave details of the intense pressure SRK was under during this period. “It was so wrong,” the book quotes Shah Rukh as saying. “You can’t take away ten years of work. You can’t suddenly tell me one morning, ‘Hey, you’re displaced. You are too old, you are not good enough.’ I couldn’t leave the house without someone asking me what I thought of Hrithik Roshan. It became shameless.”
After the failures, Shah Rukh focused on serious and dramatic roles with his movies like Mohabbatein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and Devdas. He again acted in the commercial and action comedy movie in 2013 with the movie Chennai Express. It was highly successful and one of his fan favorites. But what didn’t quite materialize into expectations at that time in Baadshah is now considered one of those good examples of SRK’s willingness to stick his neck out and try something different.
