Shah Rukh Khan’s journey from ‘Baazigar’ to ‘Joan’: An anti-hero who first became a ‘King of Romance’ and then a superstar
In the year 1992, when TV’s new hero Shah Rukh Khan’s film ‘Deewana’ came out, it seemed that a talented actor had knocked hearts. With his reckless and rebellious attitude, Raja (Shah Rukh) was not only introduced to the’madman’ but also directly entered the hearts of the people.
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But the hero really hit the box office in 1993 when Shah Rukh’s ‘Bazigar’ and ‘Dur’ were released back-to-back.
Today, Shah Rukh is called the King of Romance, but Shah Rukh climbed the first ladder of success not through romance but as an anti-hero.
The journey of ‘Bazigar’, which started as an anti-hero in the year 1993, has now reached ‘Jawan’ in the year 2023.
Global Romantic Hero:
Senior film journalist Nimrata Joshi says that Shah Rukh’s anti-hero sentiments in ‘Bazigar’ and ‘Dur’ were due to his love for a girl. But later, he left the role of a villain and established himself as a cool and romantic hero.
Despite all his efforts in the last few years, his films failed, and he could not reinvent himself. In the year 2023, we can say that through ‘Pathan’ and ‘Jawan’, they have been able to make themselves prominent again.
It is a new thing for Hindi cinema that, in the state we are living in, Shah Rukh openly challenges power in a film like ‘Jawan’.
Taking such an anti-establishment stance is remarkable. Being an anti-hero for a girlfriend in ‘Bazigar’ and then being an anti-hero against all the power and the system in ‘Jawan’ is a fundamental difference and reflects Shahrukh’s journey.
Abbas Mustan’s film ‘Bazigar’ was released 30 years ago, on November 13, 1993.
Perhaps no one expected that a new hero who has only done a few serials and a couple of films would play the role of a killer who commits murder after crime without even a wrinkle on his face.
In the beginning of the movie ‘Bazigar’, two romantic songs were filmed by Shah Rukh and Shilpa Shetty. Then both go to court to get married, and suddenly Shah Rukh brutally throws Shilpa Shetty down from a tall building, which in English is called a ‘cold blooded’ murder.
This scene comes so suddenly in the middle of the romance that the moviegoers are almost taken aback. It was quite a shocking moment at the time.
In this era, where Salman Khan goes through every test for love in ‘Maine Pyaar Kya’ and where Aamir dies for love in ‘Qiyamat Se Qiyamat Tak’, Ajay Sharma, aka Vicky Malhotra (Shah Rukh), has played the role. played the role of In this, the character of this Bollywood hero goes through different stages.
Try to break the stereotype:
Film historian Amrit Gungar says that Shah Rukh made his unconventional debut with Mini Cole’s ‘Ahmaq’, and while he did films like ‘Maya Meem Sahib’, he also did serials like Circus. ‘Bazigar’ turned out to be a huge commercial hit and earned him fame in the role of an anti-hero.
I see this as a testament to Shah Rukh Khan’s acting ability; it shows his range. It also shows Shahrukh’s ability to break stereotypes seen in Bollywood casting. Even in ‘Dhar’, Yash Chopra gave him a negative role, which was considered taboo for a hero at that time.
The role of ‘Bazigar’ was so negative that many big heroes refused to play the role. Despite being new to the industry, Shah Rukh was the hero who took this gamble.
Yash Chopra’s film ‘Dur’ was released on December 24, 1993, about a month after ‘Bazigar’, in which Shah Rukh Khan played the role of a boy whose mental health is not good; his one-sided love drives him crazy. It takes them to the point where they become a danger to themselves and those they love. In today’s terms, the Rahul of ‘Der’ was a stalker.
The role played by Shah Rukh in ‘Dar’ was earlier given to Rishi Kapoor by Yash Chopra. Rishi Kapoor writes in his autobiography ‘Khalam Khula’ that ‘When Yash Chopra gave me the role, I told him that I could not do justice to the role of the villain.’
I just did Chandni with you, which was a romantic film. I played a negative role in the film ‘Khoj’, and then it flopped. You can take Shah Rukh; I have worked with him, and he is a capable and smart guy. Then that film went to Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgn. Neither of them did it; eventually Shah Rukh did the role.
Whether it’s Vicky from ‘Bazigar’ or Rahul from ‘Dur’, what Shah Rukh does in both roles should normally make you feel disgusted, but these two films were different. Here, instead of the hero, all the sympathies and love of the audience are with the negative character Shah Rukh Khan.
You can give credit to the screenplay writer or the director, but what people remember is Shah Rukh on screen.
A decade of change:
Amrit Gangar says that the 1990s was a decade of change, and people connected with Shahrukh’s personality. These negative characteristics of Shah Rukh were mixed with feelings of love and erotica.
‘There was a kind of madness in these characters, which the youth looked for. For example, ‘Dhar’ showed an emotion not seen in Hindi films. Shahrukh’s boyhood on screen became a mystery.
Remember the scene in ‘Dhar’ when the silent Rahul (Shah Rukh) talks to his mother on the phone, who has died long ago? ‘Karan’ tattooed on his chest with a knife, or the scene when Sunny Deol, Juhi Chawla’s fiancé, sees Shah Rukh as a rival and runs after him. When he chases them for almost three minutes, even though Shah Rukh Khan’s character is negative, the audience sympathizes with him.
Although many criticized the film for calling the role ‘toxic’, in both Dhar Ho and Baaziar, Shah Rukh carved out a script for himself by playing the role of an anti-hero, especially when all the heroes had refused these roles.