Will the real SRK please stand Up?

10

Tweet

I watched him without blinking an eye lid. It was the best I had seen of the actor. Everyone adored him as the rich NRI romantic boy in "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge", he was quite cute and believable in "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na", but in Ashutosh Gowarikar's tale of a predicament of an NRI, Shah Rukh Khan was the normal next door guy who pines to comes back to his desi land. I again liked him in the Manmohan Desai kinda inspired "Main Hoon Naa" as Major Ram. Then I saw him again this tuesday as the failed hockey Captain Kabir Khan who comes back as the coach of the Indian woman's hockey team. It was one of those rare occasions when Shah Rukh Khan-the actor surfaced and allowed the star to step back--the forced stammer and the crazy hamming tendencies left forgotten somewhere, thankfully allowing us to enjoy what this guy with his 'normal' performance, can emote without his usual histrionics.

I was glad that sometimes SRK gave way to what he can do and forgets what producers and fans expect him to do. He then stands tall as his charachter demands of him without carrying with him the mantle of being one of the most popular Bollywood stars of all time. It was one of those very few times, when you say to yourself "Man this guy can act!". I absolutely believe that there can be no better example of sheer hardwork and perserverance than SRK, his rise in the industry today can be attributed to him only. But beneath the rise of the star, the 'actor' of Circus, Fauji, Doosra kewal disappeared. What remained were just snippets of what he actually is and could do. With Devdas he made sure that his over the top-Dilip Kumar inspired act, continued.Did you feel sorry for the loverboy? the answer is a resounding no...but then that could be attributed to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's direction, but it also doesnt say much about the actor himself.

Somewhere under wafer thin scripts and loosely etched out roles, Shah Rukh Khan metamorphosed into someone I could'nt identify with, someone I could'dnt watch. He then turned into a metrosexual wearing designer clothes and looking totally like he was from another planet, Don was another example where it was the pyrotechnics of great editing, camerwork, action sequences that again pushed the actor into some corner, and made him a caricature in the end. Maybe I expect too much, but if there can be a Swades or a Chak De why cannnot there be many more of such roles that befit the actor that is in SRK. So is the industry itself limiting what the actor is actually capable of? Is the industry ensuring that the real SRK lies latent somewhere under over the top, forced humourous roles, or empty but really stylised action seqeunces? I would like the real SRK to stand up and take charge of what is there in him.