Fun fact: Shah Rukh Khan’s first foray into cinema was not the 1992 hit Deewana. Another film he shot the same year, called Idiot, never made it to commercial theatres. This despite it being screened at the New York Film Festival. Mani Kaul, one of the few champions of the so-called Indian parallel cinema, adapted Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s book for the big screen and only now (last week) did the film see the light of day when it was screened at the Jio Mami 18th Mumbai Film Festival.
The important news within this piece of trivia is the fact that Khan — who turns 51 on November 2 — played an antagonist in this film, his very first film outing. And by 1993, having played murderous anti-heroes in both Darr and Baazigar, Khan was well on his way to being a B-town favourite.
What is sad is that, despite his boundless talent for playing the bad guy, Khan never managed to parlay the success of Darr and Baazigar into latching onto more counterculture, non-chocolate boy roles. And while he did, on occasion, pick up unconventional roles, most of his fans could only bare to watch him play the romantic hero, dubbing him the King of Romance. RIP badass Shah Rukh Khan.
But not all is lost. Now that he’s effectively crossed the line where it’s acceptable for him to convincingly romance 20-year-olds (although we have no doubt that Bollywood will keep him at it for some time to come), here’s our list of five (kind of) age-appropriate roles he could play without coming off as icky. You’re welcome, Khan, and happy birthday! (You can pay us in hugs.)
The nerdy archaeologist with a penchant for sleuthing
This could be an Indiana Jones-meets-Byomkesh Bakshy mash-up role. Khan, playing the intrepid-archaeologist-disturbs-ancient-evil trope, will comb the deep jungles of the Western Ghats, or the vast deserts of Thar or even the narrow, old lanes of Kolkata for historical artefacts — purely for academic purposes, of course — all while fighting off evil goons after treasure.
A father trying to fix his broken marriage
This doesn’t have to be as serious as it sounds. It’s been obvious since early on that Khan has a unique talent for comedy (Yes Boss, Duplicate, Kal Ho Na Ho). He possesses an uncanny aptitude for playing the ditz, but with an intelligence that is rare in the high echelons of Bollywood stardom. Also, his personal comedy seems to be a refined combination of manic professor and wise, desi uncle.
So think Jim Carey’s Liar, Liar. Physical humour elevates this family drama/career woes-driven comedy and Khan would be perfect playing a doting father to a teenager now (he could have a decade ago as well, but it’s never too late). And wouldn’t it be refreshing to see Khan play a working man with everyday career troubles (rather than the rich businessman we see him play with panache in SO MANY films)?
The father of a girl who wants to marry the poor boy next door
The tables are about to be turned. After his 1995 hit Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, it’s only fair that Khan has to look on in horror/sadness/fake-happiness while his daughter jumps into a moving train to be with her lover, who has no recognisable job or ambition and whom she’s known all of two months. Amrish Puri will have the last laugh on this one.
Mad scientist
This could be something like Rick and Morty’s Rick, traversing the multiverse with his grandchildren, fighting humans and aliens alike; or Gene Wilder’s Dr Frankenstein (or Fronkensteen, as he’d tell us) from Young Frankenstein; or even Christopher Lloyd’s lovable Dr Brown in Back to the Future. Combining a love for science with adventure, some good ol’ time travel and space pirates, the glory of watching Khan scream “For Science!” as he dabbles in potentially amoral scientific activity would be priceless. Or he could be the eccentric mentor to a bumbling hero as he tries to woo the leading lady. He’s playing a version of the eccentric mentor in Gauri Shinde’s Dear Zindagi, also starring Alia Bhatt in the lead role. Thank heavens we’re not watching the two romance.
And finally, Batman
We know we’re asking for a little too much now. But this is a personal request because who in all honesty can say that Ra.One adequately satisfied our superhero dreams for Khan? And while he’s a few years older than Ben Affleck, who currently plays the Caped Crusader, Khan makes a perfectly good candidate for the role. He’s a multimillionaire in real life. We all know he’s at his best when he’s dark and broody (think Chak De, Baazigar, Jab Tak Hai Jaan). He’s also a hit with the ladies. And he would look totally cool driving the Batmobile. Case closed.
