As filmistan gears up for the release of the next SR film, in the wake of the untimely death of Sri Yash Chopra, we look at the trailers and ponder over the age old question that each one of us (including you) would have raised at some point of time in your life (specifically yesterday), Why does Shah Rukh Khan play the same romantic role over and over again for the past I don't know how many years? (Ask the manager of Maratha Mandir)
Also, why does he have the same pose in every film?
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| Something like this |
But then, here we are to prove that SR is not unidimensional (sic) at all, and in fact he has done a variety of roles that Johnny Depp would be almost proud of.
Consider this -
1. Acted in a short film written by Arundhati Roy
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| Art house SR |
2. In the beginning of his career, acted in three films as an anti-hero and villain, with a habit of terrorizing women with dazzling smiles
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| He liked to bleed |
3. Worked with Ketan Mehta on weird projects
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| It had an awesome song featuring Javed Jaffrey |
4. Made a beautiful film in which he starred as a lovable loser
5. Returned to being a troubled anti-social anti-hero
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| He dressed up for 'Contra' |
6. Worked in a movie about Terrorism before it was mainstream
7. Played mute in a movie
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| Contra Too |
8. After having reached a peak in popularity, readily played a supporting role in a Kamal Hasan film
9. Produced and acted in a film that portrayed what News Channels in India would become a few years ahead of its time
10. Helped an artist achieve his dream of making a film which no one quite understood
11. Produced and acted in a film about one of India's best known kings
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| Although the result was...unfortunate |
12. Despite his 'Romansak' tag, always tries to make films with a focus on guns and explosions
13. Effortlessly played 'Geek who saves the world'
14. Brought back the 'stache' from the 80s (years before it was made a pre-requisite for the 100 cr mark)
15. And most recently, played an Out and Out villain, with not a shred of 'Positive character'
And the main thing is, he is not even done yet! If you look back, you will see an actor who has tried a lot of different roles (although the results were mostly not good, but then you can't say that he didn't try).
Hence, the next time someone tells you that SR is not a versatile actor, show them this list, and see them wilt.
Disclaimer - We at Filmistani, do not endorse any of the movies above, please watch at your own risk.
14 comments:
The best part of the article was the Disclaimer :)
The disclaimer was a bad attempt at humor coz many of the movies mentioned above are pretty much watchable.. Dil Se, Swades, main hoon na, kabhie haan kabhie na, Dar, etc.. They are really good movies
where is "chak de india" and "badshah" and "karan arjun" and "shakti" and "devdas" and so on... :P
No list can be complete without a mention on Ra.One
off late he has been quite boring :|
used to be a big fan... can't say that any more!!
Disclaimer ... super lol .. hahahaha .. !!
yes..how about Chak De..superb movie..the guy is a good actor without a doubt, it is just his attitude and public disposition which makes him hateworthy at times..
and i will be laughed upon for this..but Ra.One was a very bold movie and I liked it! There was no reason to not like it - it was a superhero movies for families with great CGI - first time in Indian cinema. Nobody in India has tried making superhero movies of this sort yet..in some years they will..and they will all look back at Ra.One and learn a thousand things. SRK was courageous to have done it.
A lot of really innovative things happened before he was star. I am glad Arundhati short film is mentioned here as it is hardly known to ppl. Most believe serials like Fauji and circus were his first involvement with camera. Kabhi haan kabhi naa happened before DDLJ. DDLJ made the romantic brand of SRK...also made him star.
No one accuses him of being repetitive before the film. So anti hero examples, and films like Maya memsaab have to be kept aside.
Imp thing: He tried certain things but except for CDI, his attempts at doing sth different could not see much success. Even Swades failed. Fir bhi dil hai hindustani was a really good aconcept, Ashoka was a brave attempt but did not work...but as fara as his acting goes, these two films very much have the cliched SRK typical acting by him, so plot does not mean he was doing sth different in these films.
Paheli, hey ram are brave attempts I must agree...but again did not work.
a film like DON or Mai hoon na, irrespective of the plot still hav the very very typical srk in them...no credits for being diferent for these films.
Add to this, what you would observe when you interact with SRK fans...they love him for that particular image of his...they do not want him to do MNIK also...they wud rather watch him in the second half of RNBDJ in the typical avtar rather than his good attempt in the first half.
So basically it is the audience that has created this caricature out of SRK, and not an actor as we could have had. He is a person with good theater backgrnd..has immense ability as an actor...with so many awards, one has to look at his response on getting filmfare for Chak De India (watch it on utube those who dont remember), to realize dat sumwhere in his heart he does miss doing roles which would give greater satisfacn to the actor in him :)
I so wish article went on to explore these ideas rather than just talk about some examples and end it with a non joke (disclaimer). I know people would say it will become preachy and all, but then it will be insightful and would have explored sth out of cinema and acting using the example of SRK
Indeed we should have mentioned Chak De India in this list.
Also, a disclaimer about the disclaimer - It does not mean that all those movies were bad. Most were, admittedly, but not all. And to clear up the confusion, this article is Pro-SR, and does not intend to mock him. He has tried a lot of different stuff, and it is kind of sad when he is type-casted.
Also, the mention of films pre-DDLJ because they show that he always had a mindset of taking the (for want of a better word) offbeat path.
sahi baat hai ! and add to these Chak De ! and Ra.one ! (as an experiment ofcourse :P)
It's human nature to build up a hero and then bring him down.
SRK is suffering the same fate...although Bollywood progressed and reached international audiences due to him, his own country fails to support him now.
He was and is a fantastic actor who has been the most versatile amongst all the heroes...it's just that people like to label him as the romantic hero to belittle him.
I've watched all of the above films and enjoyed them - the only one I disliked was the recent jab tak hai jaan...which was ruined by katrina, anushka and the poor plot.
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