Our favourite Khan, Shah Rukh Khan has completed 30 extraordinary years in the Hindi film industry, and the enigma doesn’t stop. One of the star's most popular movies– Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is set to be screened in theatres across the country on King Khan's 57th birthday. And the world can't keep calm.
But what is it about this actor that has enraptured generation after generation? What is it about him that has international celebrities swooning over him? There’s just one simple answer – he is a true king. He is humble, honest, kind, empathetic, and every bit a true gentleman.
But there’s more than just that that his female fans see in him – he knows how to treat women without consuming them. He doesn’t want to overpower them, nor control them; they’re not a mountain waiting to be ascended. He wins them over, almost praises upon them and that is more than apparent in his soft gaze.
While the actor has delivered soul-stirring performances in every project, here are his best films that have struck a chord with his female audience. Sit back, and enjoy the warm hug that these SRK movies are.
SRK movies that women love
1. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
K3G is the movie that has reigned over Bollywood as one of the most spectacular movies of all time. You cannot watch this movie just once. The antics, the emotions, the love, the distance – you want to take it all in. The movie, in all its grandeur, touches upon Rahul’s relationship with Anjali, the woman he falls in love with, but also explores the heartwarming dynamic he has with his mother. “Dekha tennu pehli pehli baar ve” much?
2. Chak De! India
While the film industry trembles at the thought of a female protagonist taking up screen space, this movie witnessed an entire team. Ex-captain Kabir Khan has returned to hockey, this time as the coach of the National Women’s Hockey team, to help them bridge socio-cultural differences and emerge as women of mettle. When the team wins, he does not take up centre stage; that is for the girls to take.
3. My Name Is Khan
Despite his many phenomenal performances, the ‘king of romance’ has long been cast in a mould. His impeccable acting acumen has escaped so many because of his eclectic charm, until My Name Is Khan changed it all. Rizwan Khan suffers from Asperger’s (a form of autism), and falls in love with Mandira, a salon owner. He visits her every day, just to be around her, just to love her for existing.
4. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
If you mention Shahrukh’s movies, it’s almost criminal to leave Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge out of it. Years after its release in 1995, the movie continues to be a favourite among the masses. Whether it’s Raj hugging Simran in the sarson ke khet, him winning over his mother with his lucid charm, or getting beaten up by Kuljeet for his love, we’re all hearts for him.
5. Kal Ho Naa Ho
Kal Ho Naa Ho is a journey – you come for the ‘boy enters girl’s life and changes it’ story, you stay for the ‘girl loves boy’ narrative, but you leave with so much more. It’s a total sob fest! Rahul goes ahead and sets up the woman he loves with his friend so she can have a fulfilling life . One of the most pertinent scenes in which Shah Rukh’s awe of women is pronounced is when he reads out from Aman’s blank diary: “Mere naina meri Naina ko dhoondhte hain”.
6. Veer- Zaara
Bollywood is no alien to inconsequential love and incomplete love stories. Veer-Zaara is almost that, but wait till you let your heart break. Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh rescues the beautiful Zaara from Pakistan. They come to his village and fall in love, until Veer is arrested and put in the confines of a jail. For 22 years he must hold his silence to protect the woman he loves, until fate brings them back.
7. Om Shanti Om
There’s drama, there’s music, there’s romance, and there’s King Khan – the perfect recipe for a hit Bollywood movie. Om falls in love with Shanti, dies trying to save her from her tyrant husband, is reincarnated at the same time as her to fall in love with her again. Om’s courtship of Shanti gives us a beautiful insight into how he sees women – with sheer love and devotion.
8. Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Shah Rukh Khan has done a number on his audience with his charming portrayal of Samar Anand in Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The simple, uncomplicated man falls in love with Meera, who then leaves him in a sacrifice she thinks she’s making to God for his life. Until the tragedy sets in, we get to watch Samar getting serenaded by Meera, him accepting her as the one thing that truly matters in his life.
9. Main Hoon Na
Major Ram Prasad Sharma is returning to college in the guise of a student, and he has a mission to complete. After rejection and humiliation, he is accepted, loved, and cherished by his half-brother Laxman. But the heartbeat of the film is the Major falling for Miss Chandni (literally). He does not employ tactics to win her over, he simply loves her from a distance and waits for her to love him back.
10. Mohabbatein
Imagine a class where you get to watch Shah Rukh Khan in his truest romantic element, and you get to learn from it! How we wish! Mohabbatein witnesses Raj Aryan coming to Gurukul to change the way students live and love theirs. His lessons on love, the quest to win the battle of love vs fear, and the remembrance of the woman he loves (even after she has passed away) have tugged at our hearts for years.
Shah Rukh Khan has been defying patriarchal norms through his grounded, unadorned love for women. In a world where women are persistently asked to bow down to the men, he not only returns them to their original stature, but raises them above it. He does not fall short of change (in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), of effort (in Deewana), or of one-sided love (in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil). It’s almost like he’s the nacheez waiting to be serenaded, wanting to love, wishing for his love to be accepted.
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