actor Shah Rukh Khan, who is often titled the ‘King of Romance’, has captured the attention of audiences for over a decade through his films. Karan Johar recently spoke about why SRK wasn’t ‘allowed’ to blossom into his real potential as a ‘mainstream star’. “He wanted to be that quirky, mainstream star who would change the cinema. Now no one will allow it. When say Shah Rukh Khan now, the names comes with an expectation,” said Karan, while also crediting Aamir Khan as a ‘real game changer’ for consistently taking on diverse roles.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, the filmmaker explained that often, pressure to act like a superstar does not let them cast actors like SRK in such unorthodox characters. He said that the superstar did try and play something out of the box, like Paheli and Asoka. The director added that the actor has always wanted to experiment and make a difference; that is evident from the very beginning of his career when he co-directed films with directors like Kundan Shah, Ketan Mehta, and Mani Kaul.
Karan further explains that Shah Rukh Khan never wanted to be the epitome of a mainstream hero, but Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge set him down that path and a line of love stories followed.
KJo continued praising Aamir by saying that he was the game changer in the industry; he states how Aamir, over his films, had selected a range of the film or rather chosen them and Lagaan stands one of the biggest landmarks in Hindi cinema.
Sunny Deol starrer Gadar had released the same year as Lagaan, and even though the commercial success belonged to the former, Lagaan went ahead and got nomination in Academy Awards. Well, though Lagaan prospered, Aamir continued choosing films like Taare Zameen Par and Rang De Basanti which changed the face of the industry. Karan even credited Aamir’s Ghajini and said, “He also did Ghajini, which actually brought back the culture of remake in Hindi cinema. I think he is real game changer.”