Review: Shah Rukh Khan; Legend, Icon, Star by Mohar Basu
Full of trivia about his childhood, early days in the film industry, and his persona, this portrait of the Hindi film star attempts to immortalise his legend
“Even in action, Shah Rukh remains vulnerable,” Mohar Basu writes in the first chapter of Shah Rukh Khan; Legend, Icon, Star, describing the Hindi film star’s foray into the action genre with Siddharth Anand’s Pathaan (2022). The author, who is the chief correspondent (entertainment), Mid-Day, is explaining how Khan did not promote “toxic masculinity” in the film. “Pathaan pops painkillers, fixes broken pottery with gold, gets saved by both Deepika’s Rubai and Salman Khan’s Tiger,” she writes, as if the sign of a muscular action hero getting ‘saved’ by an actress is the ultimate blow to entrenched male chauvinism.
Is this an attempt to paint SRK as a man in touch with a softer, gentler side? Yes. Is it convincing? Not really.
In less politically correct times, Khan sold fairness creams with the tagline “Pehelwaan hoke kyu ladkiyon waali cream laga raha hai?” The advertisement drew much ire for its cocktail of sexism and colourism when it aired in the 2010s. And then there was his interview with Lady Gaga, now scrubbed off the Internet, that showed the superstar making the American pop icon very uncomfortable. There is no mention of all this in the book.
An account of Shah Rukh Khan’s life and how the actor braved it all, Shah Rukh Khan; Legend, Icon, Star includes old interviews he did with Filmfare and with Simi Garewal. A 1992 Lehren interview, a 2016 Huffington Post conversation, little known nuggets about the actor’s early days in Mumbai, his gig on Doordarshan’s Fauji, his work around the turn of the millennium and his resurrection in 2022 are all presented. Full marks to the author for collating all the trivia about the superstar and providing a picture of his personal and artistic evolution. Full credit to her too for admitting that SRK wasn’t always the green flag man that the world now believes he is. In the chapter titled A Love Story For The Ages, she narrates how the actor was possessive about his wife and did not approve of her interacting with other men.
Still, the 283-page book does not really examine SRK’s legacy. While the first chapter portrays Khan as a messiah standing against communal hate, Basu generally paints him as a godlike figure who can do no wrong. It isn’t just the author who falls into this rut. Shah Rukh Khan fans, as a whole, seem to have no critical bone in their collective body. If they are to be believed, he is the ultimate feminist and impossibly, inhumanly, correct in every way.
A popular joke on Twitter (now X), references The Caravan cover story on the actor’s ‘Silent Rebellion’. Each time the actor promotes a government policy, the hashtag ‘Silent Rebellion’ is ironically used to point out the discrepancy between the actor’s perceived political positioning and his alignment with the government. One might argue that it is a bit rich for a Hindu book critic to dictate how a Muslim actor should align himself politically. Of course, he can face consequences for taking an anti-establishment stance (Perhaps Aryan Khan’s case was one) and he is wise to avoid stepping on powerful toes. Given this, the general precarity of his position, it seems utterly over the top and more than a little blind for his fans to anoint him as the harbinger of political revolution.
But back to the book. Mohar Basu is so star struck that her work entirely lacks objectivity. It doesn’t once scrutinize Khan’s public persona and instead reads like an adulatory fan letter. The problem really isn’t who is being profiled but the way he is profiled. The author dons the rose-tinted glasses of an ardent fan instead of the watchful eye of a rational journalist. Perhaps this is the result of her being an entertainment journalist who cannot afford to rub powerful subjects the wrong way. Access is denied to those who are critical, especially in this age of unquestioning adulation.
But how much appreciation is too much appreciation? Imperfections exist in all humans and a good book should present those too. The rather endless praise of SRK made this reviewer roll their eyes on more than one occasion.
In the end, Shah Rukh Khan: Legend, Icon, Star can best be described as a hagiography. It isn’t the first and it certainly won’t be the last.
Deepansh Duggal writes on art and culture. Twitter: @Deepansh75.