Shah Rukh Khan has been one of the biggest stars in the Hindi film industry for close to three decades now. While he found immediate success with his first few films becoming blockbusters, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the actor. Shah Rukh started in TV in the late 80s and had to audition a lot before getting his first break in films. In an old video, he had once recounted how producers would often be unimpressed with his skills. Also read: Shah Rukh Khan hides face under hoodie, mask at Hyderabad airport with Atlee, fans wonder why he’s hiding his Jawan look
Shah Rukh made his TV debut in 1988 with he successful show Fauji. He worked in a few other shows for the next few years before moving to films in the early 90s. The first film he signed was Aziz Mirza’s Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman but it was Deewana that released first. But all that came after considerable amount of struggle.
In an old video, apparently from an award function from 1995, Shah Rukh is seen on stage recounting these days of struggle. The video has been shared by Bollywoodirect on Instagram. In the video, Shah Rukh recounts, “I went to meet a producer and he asked me ‘you want to be a hero’ and I said ‘yes sir’.” Shah Rukh said the producer asked him if he could dance and Shah Rukh mimicked how he performed an energetic dance number for him in his office. The actor said the producer told him, “Rehne do. Yeh to Govinda kilo ke bhav karta hai (Let it be, Govinda does it a lot).” Shah Rukh then said he performed a fight scene for him and the producer again said, “Rehne do. Yeh to Sunny Deol ton ke bhav karta hai (Let it be, Sunny Deol does it a lot).”
Shah Rukh said the producer discouraged him a lot. “He told me I wouldn’t work at the box office, that me working at the box office was impossible. I heard that and I decided that if I can’t succeed at the box office, I can at least try and fail,” he said. Eventually, Shah Rukh found phenomenal success at the box office, starting with the 1995 release Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. By the late 90s, he established himself as arguably the most bankable star in Bollywood.
The actor was last seen on screen in the 2018 film Zero, alongside Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. He will next be seen in Pathaan in January 2023. The film also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. Shah Rukh also has Atlee’s Jawan and Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki in the pipeline.
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