’29 years of SRK’, ’29 years of SRK in Bollywood’, ’29 years of King of Bollywood’, ’29 years of SRK CDP (common DP)’, and finally, ’29 years of Shah Rukh Khan’ – these are some of the hashtags that have been trending on social media since last evening and rightly so. Today marks the day that the one, the only, Shah Rukh Khan, officially entered Bollywood (his debut feature film, Deewana, release today in 1992, in case you’re wondering how) and changed the entire landscape of Indian cinema for all eternity, going on the become one of the finest actors and unequivocally the biggest superstar not only in India, but all of world cinema. Also Read – After Circus, another Shah Rukh Khan show, Doosra Keval, to make a comeback on television
Understandably, even I’d like to celebrate the momentous day, but King Khan’s accolades are just too many to list in ten books together, leave alone one article. So, today also being ‘Flashback Friday’, I’ve decided to revisit a piece of trivia on my idol, my hero form childhood to this day, Shah Rukh Khan, that I can guaran-damn-tee very few know about. It occurred in the period after SRK had just finished his second popular TV show Circus (post Fauji) and before he had well and truly made his foray into Bollywood, and it shows what an imperative role Gauri Khan has played her in her husband’s super-stardom. Also Read – Did you know that Shah Rukh Khan had once told his Circus costar, Renuka Shahane, he would jump in a well, if the Director told him so?
Apparently, after shifting to Mumbai (then Bombay) to focus on Bollywood in full earnest, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri were living in a decrepit shanty, and he was anxious to move her into a better home, especially since she was supposed to have hailed from a much more affluent lifestyle than him. Reportedly feeling a bit despondent from the lack of offers in the industry, he jumped at the first proper opportunity he got when a producer (name withheld) offered him not one, but two movies as a hero. Beside himself with joy, the grapevine suggests that Shah Rukh signed on the dotted line without reading either script and rushed home with the fee of approximately Rs. 5 lakh for both movies, thinking of nothing else but to move his beloved in a better home. Also Read – Coronavirus pandemic: Shah Rukh Khan’s 1989 show Circus to re-run on Doordarshan along with Ramayan and Mahabharat during the lockdown
Upon hearing the news, the first thing Gauri Khan had apparently inquired was the story and subject of the films, which was when her man was left stumped. He supposedly told her that the money was very good (at the time) and they needed it, but word is that she asked him again to read the scripts first, and if they had waited this long for a better life together, a bit longer wouldn’t hurt rather than put all their efforts down the drain and for him to jeopardise his career before it could even take off.
That’s when SRK seems to have returned to the producer, requested for the scripts and realised what a huge blunder he was about to make and promptly returned his money. And as they say the rest is history and from thereon began the journey of the “Baadshah of Bollywood”. While we don’t want to adhere to the age-old sexist adage that goes as ‘behind every successful man, there’s a woman’, this throwback story certainly proves that no success in life can be achieved or enjoyed without the right partner by your side.
Reportedly, those films were even made later and miserably bombed both commercially and critically, but it’s been extremely difficult to find their titles. If any of you come to know do tweet and let us know @bollywood_life .
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