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carla |
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He's one of the biggest stars in Bollywood - he's slick, he's polished. Millions love him, millions want to be him. He's all charm, all charisma.
He's Shah Rukh Khan. And I can't stand him.
I struggled with this for a long time as my interest in Hindi movies grew and developed. Nearly Bollywood fan I encountered swooned over him in one way or the other. Some of his movies - *Kuch kuch hota hai*, *Dil se*, *Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge* - turned up again and again on favorites lists. But when I watched his films, I just didn't see it. He's average-looking. He's too slick and affected to really be charming. His mannerisms and facial expressions are grating. His delivery is practiced and unnatural. His romance is aggressive and unappealing. I'm just immune to the jadoo he seems to cast over other people.
I've seen about eight of his films now. At first I expected him to grow on me but when I discovered that the reverse was happening I imposed a semi-moratorium, so that I wouldn't start to hate him thoroughly. Now I only watch his movies if I have a very compelling reason to do so. I don't automatically dislike movies that he's in - but the only film in which I can really say I liked *him* was *Main hoon na*. It's a parody, and so his persistent self-caricature worked there in a way it doesn't when it's meant in earnest.
I have to give this to Shah Rukh Khan: he's a fine dancer - I generally come closest to liking him in his upbeat, athletic dance numbers. And I respect him for being very good at what he does, entertaining people - not me, but lots and lots and lots of other people. I'm no longer in angst about not liking him - but I have tremendous thought to why and so I thought I would open the topic up for all of you: What do you think of Shah Rukh Khan? Do you love him? Would you watch him read the phone book for three hours? Does he melt your heart? Do you covet his dimples and eyebrows? Or do you, like me, carry the Shah Rukh immunity gene?
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Carla, I think it's his looks, period. Caricature is precisely the word: no texture, little substance, lots of clowning. But the train station scene in Swades was quite well played. I didn't find him annoying at all in that film. On the contrary, there was an instant, somewhere near the beginning, when I saw it, I finally saw it, a facial expression: and I said to myself, "Self, that is why they love him." Yes, he sure can dance!
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I hope there aren't too many SRK fanatics in this group (ya right), but Carla...you aren't going to make too many friends with this thread!
SRK is an enigma of sorts...there's so much to him than what meets the eye. No, I am by no means a "fan" of SRK. I too believe his roles have become quite repetitive and lack any sort of real substance. But SRK the man, and the actor (at times) brings to the screen, dignity, poise, and experience.
Firstly, he is one of the very few self-made super-stars in India today (and has held his status despite having the young-guns like Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek knocking on his doorstep). However, I think this has ultimately led to his demise in terms of judging characters and experiencing newer themes. He's too big a star on screen, and it is his status that tends to overshadow his performance. So many of his fans are so much in awe of him that they tend to over-look the more real, the more important factors of his career..his abilitites, his performances.
If you tell me that SRK has no talent..I'd probably role my eyes. If you tell me he's the best thing ot have happened to the Industry, i'd still role my eyes. Carla, I am quite disturbed with two of the comments you made. 1) You're making a rash judgement based on only 8 films. Do you think you could list the films you've seen? Perhaps I could recommend some of his more better films.
2) You liked him in Main Hoon Na? The very few people I meet who dislike SRK, dislike him because of films like Main Hoon Na! This is the typical nonchalant, carefree, breezy, lover boy type of roles that SRK has played and to an exstent mastered over the years. The man does not eploit his talents and this is what frustrates me. He tends to go into over-kill mode with is nothing but tasteless and annoying if you ask me!
However, let's not forget some of the other roles he's accomplished quite brilliantly (Darr, Dil Se, Devdas, Swades..and some others). He has the ability, but he chooses to stay within the Dharma Production and Yash Raj Camp because Shah Rukh is so much binded by his relationships. It is these relationships that hold the actor in him back.
Other than that, I think he's a great man. I've met him peronally and he's such a charming personality. After lots of health issues I commend his vision to stay at the very top of the Bollywood A-List.
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Aakash, your post makes me smile, because it's exactly the sort of thing I've heard dozens of times before when I've come clean about this. So let me defend myself a little.
First, I absolutely never said that Shah Rukh Khan lacks talent, skill, or dedication to his work. I believe he has all of these things in abundant quantity. Which is why it is all the more interesting to me that he doesn't appeal to me. I don't hate him; I'm not bashing him; and I'm not attacking those for whom his magic works. Rather, I am continually amazed that I just don't get it.
Second, I completely disagree with you that I am making a rash judgement about him. Quite the contrary - I have given him many chances and have given a great deal of thought to why I don't like him. I hoped that would be clear from my initial post. Life is too short, and Hindi films too many and varied, for me to spend more time with someone who doesn't appeal to me that I could spend with dozens of performers who do. Also I specifically said that I don't automatically rule out his movies; but they are not what I reach for unless there is some other compelling reason to watch them.
I'll listen to your recommendations for his "better" films, though I am confident I have heard them all before, and then some. Usually, when I dare mention that I'm less than madly in love with Shah Rukh Khan, I get bombarded with responses of the form, "Oh, but have you seen X?" X has, at various times, been any of the following: Devdas, DDLJ, Main hoon na, Veer Zaara, Swades, Dil se, and probably others that I'm not thinking of at the moment. And I get contradictory responses too: One person will say, "Well, watch X, and you'll understand why people love him." Another will say, "Whatever you do, stay away from X - it will only make you hate him more." This only drives home the point that what we are talking about is personal taste, whether a star clicks for you or does not.
Third, I *hated* Devdas, and I hated Shah Rukh Khan's work in it most of all. So if that's an example of what you consider his best work, well, I think I just have to stick with my conclusion that I don't have the Shah Rukh Khan gene. Because that performance didn't work on me one bit.
Fourth, I don't think *Main hoon na* is the typical lover boy role - rather, I think it's a parody of that role, and that's why it worked for me. It's when he plays that character in earnest that he is at his least appealing to me. Playing it to make fun of it, and of himself, is a very different animal.
Okay - per your request, here are the Shah Rukh Khan films I have seen, first in rough order of how much I liked the film over all (most to least) and then in rough order of how much I liked Shah Rukh Khan in the film (again, most to least). (As it turns out, there are only seven of them.)
Films overall: Swades, Main hoon na, Dil se, Don, [big gap], Hum tumhare hain sanam, Dil to pagal hai, Devdas
Shah Rukh Khan in the film: Main hoon na, Don, Swades, Dil se, HTHS, DTPH, Devdas
To be fair to his performance in Swades: it was the first film I ever saw him in, and I haven't seen it since. So I did not appreciate at the time how much more restrained and less obnoxious of a performance it was than what he normally turns in. I think if I saw it again now, it would move closer to the front of that list.
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Geetanjali, my views on SRK mimic yours. I have no emotional attachment for him. I will never go see a film just because it has SRK. Everytime I view a film, my emotional sense will always remain detached from anything that has to do with the film (cast, director, story etc etc).
Carla, trust me you're not the only one in the world who isn't in love with SRK. Many critics are, what you'd call, "sick" of him. I don't hate the guy, and I definately am not crazy over him (i guess that would hold true for the girls..lol, not me).
No reason to contemplate and ponder your views Carla, just embrace it as it is! He hasn't really don't anything in particular in his work that warrants praise. I'ts more of his personal charm, charisma, and life-story that propells him to the top.
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When SRK knelt before a wheel chair in Madame Tussauds
By IndiaFM News Bureau, April 9, 2007 - 11:14 IST
I went to see Shahrukh Khan in London when he came to unveil his statue at Madame Tussauds wax museum. I was accompanied by five young women from Shahrukh Khan’s French fan club, Shahrukhfan.fr. We knew that only media people would be allowed to get into the museum, but despite this, we came from France, hoping to see Shahrukh, and maybe talk to him.
I am on a wheelchair and it was almost vital for me to tell him that when I see him dance, my body too dances, that I can dance with his body. I so much wanted to thank him! We went to the museum at 7am and we waited for hours in the icy wind of London. We talked to the bodyguards, they were giants but very nice ones; people were getting more and more excited and less and less controllable. They had come from all parts of the world, “only” to catch a glimpse of Shahrukh: France, Japan, Australia, and Trinidad.
Then he came. Suddenly no one remembered me, our small group was scattered, literally ejected meters away from me, I was sandwiched between Nani, who was helplessly holding the wheelchair, and the bodyguard, with my head flattened against him. I managed to move my head away, and I saw Shahrukh, with his caramel-coloured skin, his black hair and beautiful smile.
Then, for one second, our eyes met. How strange. Try to imagine: the overexcited crowd, the hysteria, the bodyguards, and our eyes met, although he was three meters away from me, with lots of people between us, and my chair wasn’t at all at the level of his eyes. Then everything became black. The tsunami was dangerously shaking my chair. My face was flattened against the bodyguard. All that came to my mind was that the wedge of the armchair was completely driven into the guard’s legs, and Nani was doing her very best to prevent me from falling on the ground. Then the bodyguard moved, with one hand he was holding the crowd and with the other he made sure that I could see something. In fact, it’s because Shahrukh was kneeling down that the guard moved. He was kneeling down for me. It was like being in a cave with human walls, we were in front of each other, and I was able to tell him thank you, I could tell him that he made me dance. He didn’t understand. People were screaming and my English wasn’t good, I was too nervous.
He asked me, surprised, if I wanted to dance. I said “no, I don’t want to dance, I dance with your body”. He smiled, took my face with infinite tenderness, and kissed me on the forehead. He didn’t smell cigarette, nor perfume, only a nice body odour. His kiss wasn’t wet but not dry either. It was complete. He went away and I didn’t see him again. What more can I tell you? This man gives off strength. When he came near me I felt this strength, he gives and gives, only with his presence.
It wasn’t a star kissing a disabled woman for publicity. I felt the human being, full of tenderness. He is able to do a lot of good. I don’t understand why Tussauds tried desperately to discourage us from coming. I hope Shahrukh knows that the reason why there weren’t more people is that Tussauds refused to give information, kept repeating that we wouldn’t see him, laughed at us. The public relations of the museum strung us along; Tussauds didn’t want us to come. I don’t know why and I hope this will reach Shahrukh’s ears. If it does: thank you, Shahrukh; seeing you and seeing you dance has changed my life. Thank you for stopping in front of me on Tuesday, April 3rd.
(As emailed to us by Alicia Baca)
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Thanks for posting that article, Aakash. I can only imagine what that experience must have been like for that young woman.
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lol, ok obviously I could post articles about SRK all day long. And by no means do these articles reflect my views. But just thought they'd made for itneresting reads here...
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Interview with Shah Rukh Khan´s acting teacher Barry John
By: By Steven Baker
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Shah Rukh Khan has credited you with teaching him all he knows about acting. Do you agree?
On the basis of my own education and experience, I do not believe that any one teacher or mentor can be credited with delivering every skill or quality that an actor possesses. Acting is a complex alchemy of inner and outer experiences, awarenesses and skills that are drawn from many sources, and then filtered through the unique persona of the actor. And the learning never stops.
I imagine that I had a profound impact on SRK’s formative years as an actor, which are vital in laying positive foundations, fostering aptitude and self-confidence. His training was more of a traditional apprenticeship than a formal schooling, and he brought to it his trademark energy, hard work, intelligence and humour. The credit for the phenomenally successful development and management of his career goes to the superstar himself.
More recently, Kunal Kumar and Shiney Ahuja, amongst others, have passed through your doors. Did they have star potential from the beginning?
In the light of Shiney Ahuja’s and Kunal Kapoor’s more recent achievements, I might be tempted to say, in retrospect, that they had star potential that was evident during their training. But the fact is, I was not aware of it. Both were good students to work with: committed, involved, questioning and responsive. Shiney had a maturity of years and experience in business and in marriage, which set him apart from the average student; it resulted in greater self-belief and a deeper level of involvement. Kunal was from Mumbai, and therefore blessed with greater exposure and awareness of what was expected of him.
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Carla, what I admire most about you is that you always have very good reasons behind your opinions. I, on the other hand, sometimes don’t. I’m a fairly new convert to Bollywood, and I’m still a little star struck. I like most of what I see and I still haven’t really developed my “oppositional gaze” yet. My initial SRK love was a reaction, like blinking or gagging. Maybe, as you say, it is a matter of either having or not having "the gene".
I’m definitely evolving now though. SRK has been replaced as my favorite bw actor and my love has been tempered to strong like. Here are my reasons why…
Like:
1. As you said, the man can dance.
2. I like his body language. He creates just as much erotic tension as any Hollywood star without steamy sex scenes and kissing etc. I think that can be hard, and not every Bollywood star can do it.
3. I actually like that he’s not conventionally attractive.
4. I find him very charming. He has this funny grin…*sigh*
Dislike:
1. He is the worst fake crier that I have ever seen. Period.
2. I hate his psycho stalker roles.
Films in order of preference:
Dil Se, KKHH, DDLJ, Devdas, KKKG (Not his fault, I blame Kareena), Paheli, KANK, Dil to Pagal Hai, Koyla, Anjaam
Smithie
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kepeters: thanks for your kind comments and welcome to Jaman! I am delighted to see you here.
This is a great line: "My initial SRK love was a reaction, like blinking or gagging." I do think that visceral, involuntary response can be important in determining whether one likes a star or not. That's not to say one's views can't be refined over time, but that reflexive response determines a lot. I had that reaction to Madhubala in *Mughal-e-azam* - my jaw dropped to the floor the first time she appeared on screen, and I was still trying to scrape it up three hours later when the movie ended.
One more thing - those gut reactions are no less valid or powerful just because they aren't backed by obsessive navel-gazing! I happen to enjoy analyzing why I like or dislike something, but I am sure some others find it self-indulgent and pretentious.
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I'm so with you, Carla!
He just looks too... I dunno... kind of slick and slimy. He doesn't come across as someone I'd trust right off the bat. I guess I kind of got to like him in Paheli, but only because he turns out to be kind of goofy.
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Welcome kepeters! Have you seen any of the films on Jaman?
My absolute favorite is Umrao Jaan - I think I had a Carla - Madhubala - moment when I saw Rekha in UJ. Not that I am awed by her everytime, just that I like seeing strong powerful women on screen.
Have a great time here.
p.s. Carla, I for one am a big fan of your "obsessive naval-gazing"!
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