Dec 24, 2004 03:32 PM
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(Updated Dec 24, 2004 03:32 PM)
Undoubtedly Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest Indian screen icon of today- with his fan base stretching to all four corners of the globe. To many of us, he is much more than an actor, and more of a god. Yet I’m not trying to assess his popularity here, for if I was, it would be unquestionable. The purpose of this review is to merely point out the obvious about Shah Rukh Khan’s acting abilities.
So then, is SRK a potent actor? Is he capable of pulling off a wide range of roles?
Well, with regard to the first question, it is obvious Shah Rukh Khan indeed is extremely talented. He would have to be, to have won over millions of fans, as well as the countless awards and accolades to his name. But as for the second one, it is an answer I personally don’t know-for his repetitiveness has proven to be a hindrance, with regard to his career.
How can we say he’s played a variety of roles, when in the majority of the soppy, saccharine sweet, melodramatic flicks he has stared in, he has simply enacted the same role, over and over again. Of course the name of the character he plays changes every now and then and so does his profession- but essentially isn’t it the same SRK we are seeing? Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, K3G, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Main Hoon Naa and more recently Veer-Zaara what is the difference between these roles? Not a lot. So how does this make SRK a versatile actor? IT DOES’NT.
The “act” of Shah Rukh Khan has become so familiar, that for his forthcoming films, it has almost become predictable the exact manner in which he will enact a part. It is almost a certainty that Shah Rukh’s unmistakable stutter will be there, as will he flirtatiously flash his dimples with his usual starry eyed gaze.
Yet, Shah Rukh Khan himself has blatantly admitted in many an interview that he is playing characters with similar traits and mannerisms, over and over again. Yet, why you may wonder, would an actor, fully aware of his repetitiveness, choose the unfulfilling path of avoiding growing as actor-with a broad variety of roles?
Well, let’s face it, the movie-going public loves the typical Shah Rukh Khan image we have seen in majority of his films-and even if he tries something which slightly strays away from this very image-it will be met with failure. Take Mani Rathnam’s Dil Se and more recently Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades-Shah Rukh Khan attempted something different, and both the films flopped miserably. But one would wish that commercial Success wouldn’t be his main motive as an actor, and on the contrary, he would choose challenging and truly different parts to act out. I personally would love to see SRK in more films like Swades and Dil Se- where he is able to show off his talents.
Yet the reality is, as long as people are willing to pay money to see Shah Rukh Khan playing the same or similar roles- little or nothing is going to change- we are bound to see the SRK playing the same roles over and over again.
