30 Years of SRK: What are some of his most indelible celluloid introductions?

Once an actor transforms into a star the onus of his introduction scene falls on the writer and the director It cannot be ordinary or odd it has to be largerthanlife and overthetop especially if hersquos acting in a film thatrsquos largerthanlife and overthetop Shah Rukh Khan whose film career completes 29 years of fame fortunes frustrations and failures has been introduced in every way possibleA herorsquos entry should be celebrated with catcalls coins and cacophony Khan has given us all three of them in his 30year old and counting career Here are some personal favouritesDeewana 1992Where it all began lsquoDeewanarsquo was the debut of SRK and director Raj Kanwar The biggest stars of this tragic romance were Rishi Kapoor Divya Bharti and Amrish Puri Khan entered the frame post interval It was a song It was on a bike It was watching Amitabh Bachchan in lsquoMuqaddar Ka Sikandarrsquo all over again The only difference being that Bachchan was celebrating his destiny alone Khan cheered for love with his friendsDilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge 1995Itrsquos almost stale to inform that Khan was not too keen to sign on the dotted lines His skepticism stemmed from his desire to be an action star and not a romantic hero Aditya Chopra convinced him about the power the story of Raj and Simran has Kajol was his Simran She was introduced first in a song thatrsquos about the man of her dreams and the first verse of this track introduced Khan playing football At this moment we knew they both were made for each other even before they met each other The iconic success of this romance made Shah Rukh Khan a blazing sensation He has often confessed about being shy and reclusive and yet could charm all his ladies he says hersquos uncomfortable doing romance and has yet redefined the genre His success isnrsquot just iconic but rests on being ironic tooBaadshah 1999Seven years into the business and Khan already began to mock his legacy AbbasMustan maybe tired or bored of their thrillers with twists and turns tried their hands at comedy and comedy that rested on timing performances and camaraderie A lot of the stuff in this cracker of an entertainer seemed improvised even if it wasnrsquot Khan owned a car that had Baadshah written on it he entered a casino and the first thing we saw was his silhouette his face being introduced only when he lit up his cigarette lsquoBaadshahrsquo introduced us to XRay shades casino goggles toffee bomb Lizard shoes a hitech ingenious car and Khan at his parodic best Never before never againMohabbatein 2000Aditya Chopra loves to create conflicts in his love stories all love stories have conflicts so Chopra is no exception In this the conflict was Narayan Shankar Amitabh Bachchan and his three principles that are too famous to be repeated here Gurukul didnrsquot allow its students to fall in love All led loveless charmless life Enter Raj Aryan Malhotra Khan at his charismatic best Even before we saw him we listened to his music and that too in the collegersquos campus As Shankar was on the brink of reprimanding him we saw a close up of his violin and intoxicating eyes It was a very cool intro shot so much so that one even forgot to ponder how did that little girl he was playing the violin for enter the campusKabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham 2001Karan Joharrsquos sappy stylish family saga is largely remembered for the throwaway performance of Kareena Kapoor Khan as Pooh short for Pooja but one shouldnrsquot forget to remember what Johar did with his favourite costar SRK in this film There was a grand Pooja at home and Jaya Bachchan was celebrating the occasion with her entire family crooning the tile song in Lata Mangeshkarrsquos legendary voice And then came this star carrying all his aura and swag He got down from a helicopter and began to run in slow motion towards his sprawling mansion Even before he could arrive the mother was waiting with the Thali at the doorstep Here Shah Rukh Khanrsquos entry was elevated by Jaya Bachchan He may be King Khan but nobody can beat mothersKal Ho Naa Ho 2003Nikkhil Advanirsquos directorial debut had stamps of Karan Joharrsquos brand of cinema all over The story was based in New York the leads were immensely attractive and the narrative had all the elements of melodrama and mush A family with terrible issues prayed for an angel in their lives Cut to Shah Rukh Khan as Aman their new neighbour Itrsquos flimsy but how do you expect realism when you get an angelic introductionDon 2006The original was written by SalimJaved the remake was directed by Farhan Akhtar the son of Javed Akhtar There was hardly any actor who could have accepted this uphill task of filling in the shoes of Amitabh Bacchchan Big B as both Don and Vijay was a riot The new Don was leisurely paced Khan dressed in all black flamboyantly flaunting his black shades in a darkened room too performed ballet with the ballerinas before he proceeded to eliminate his first enemy It was narcissistic nonchalant and nostalgicOm Shanti Om 2007Farah Khanrsquos love for Hindi Cinema is known to all her fans and friends in the industry This was an ode to the cinema of Manmohan Desai illogical yet infectious The opening credits of this reincarnation potboiler saw Rishi Kapoor shooting for lsquoKarzrsquo with Subhash Ghai behind the lenses A sea of junior artists filled the arena as they cheered for the thenSuperstar dancing thunderously on the song whose title inspired the name of this movie One of them was Om Prakash SRK of course beaming with gleam A Superstar in the disguise of a struggling actor rooting for a Superstar of the yore was a classic masala momentFan 2016The masala trope turned into metaness in Maneesh Sharmarsquos lsquoFanrsquo Khan played both the fan and the phenomenon More than Gaurav the fan the introduction of Aryan Khanna the star felt real It was his birthday November 2 thousands of people gathered outside Mannat his residence and one of the faces was of Gaurav and his scream after seeing him was the loudest In this moment Shah Rukh Khan was standing outside and at the balcony of his house And this was the only moment in the film where Aryan Khanna seemed more like Shah Rukh KhanZero 2018Love knows no bounds so do dreams Bauua Singh was vertically challenged but his aura knew no heights He hated his father and in a fantastic opening stretch we saw Tigmanshu Dhulia Bauuarsquos father yes threatening a poor little girl Came Bauua standing tall and walking into the frame as heroically as possible We knew this was a dream sequence since this wasnrsquot someone who was dwarf Shah Rukh Khanrsquos first dialogue in lsquoZerorsquo was in French Why Because as stated above dreams know no bounds This was a film that was heightened by fantasy and audacity wish it could fly higherAlso Read Shah Rukh Khan responds to Loki aka Tom Hiddlestons recent appreciation for him