Hyderabad: Not that he has not seen failure before but the consecutive debacles did make a tiny dent in the massive brand that SRK is. With over three decades of attaining and retaining superstardom, Shah Rukh Khan turns 57 today. The King Khan of Bollywood still manages to keep his fans on bated breath with three highly anticipated films releasing next year.
When megastar Amitabh Bachchan turned 80 last month, SRK penned a beautiful note for the thespian whom he showered with superlatives like "great man" and "superhuman." Khan also revealed the attribute that he derived from Bachchan -- "never back away."
Besides wishing Big B long and healthy life, SRK also said that one thing that he has learned from his co-star of nearly half a dozen films is "Learn….level up and launch again and again….forever." That is precisely what he seems to have been doing to jazz up the second leg of his career.
It's been nearly four years since SRK's appearance on big screens barring a few cameos in films like Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, Laal Singh Chaddha and Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva. All three were released this year. Not until early next year when King Khan will make his return to the silver screen in a full-length role. With three films at various levels of production, King Khan has more than Rs 600 crore riding on him.
The actor, who is inching close to his 60s, will kickstart 2023 with Yash Raj Films' (YRF) Pathaan. The film reunites him with the banner which contributed largely to making him the star that he is today. His collaboration with Aditya Chopra is touted to be a jinx breaker for YRF too as the esteemed banner which celebrates 50th year anniversary has had a bad run this year with four flops in a row. Touted to be a visual spectacle, Pathaan is a part of Yash Raj Films' spy universe and also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham.
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With Pathaan, director Siddharth Anand aims to "give audiences an experience that is spectacular and like no other." So far, there has been positive chatter around the film and it will be interesting to see how it translates in numbers when the film hits big screens on January 25, 2023, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
SRK will remain in the action zone with Jawan which will be his second release in 2023. The actor also donned a producer's hat for the film which is being bankrolled under his home banner Red Chillies Entertainment. The action entertainer is helmed by Arun Kumar aka Atlee who is one of the massiest directors working in the Tamil film industry today.
SRK joining hands with the 36-year-old director had raised many eyebrows but the glimpse of the superstar's first look in the teaser announcing the release date zipped the naysayers. No brownie points for guessing SRK is likely to get a bit Southernfied with Jawan which is amped up by Tamil superstars like Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi and music composer Anirudh Ravichander who is no less a rockstar. Jawan is set to hit the theatres on June 2, 2023, across five languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
King Khan apparently decided to end 2023 on a lighter yet thoughtful note as he will be back on screen with Rajkumar Hirani's Dunki. While announcing the film, Hirani, who in his 20 years career has patiently churned out only five films, had said that he is looking forward to bringing the energy, charisma, humour and charm that SRK brings to a film. Earlier, Aanand L. Rai came with a similar ambition but it turned out to be "ZERO" at the box office.
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Dunki will hit big screens on December 22. As the release date falls on a Friday, the film will enjoy a four-day weekend that trade experts think can give the film a head start to earn a huge moolah at the box office. Well, Red Chillies Entertainment can hope of recreating the success of Om Shanti Om and Chennai Express which the banner clearly hasn't tasted for long.
Half the battle is won for SRK with his choice of directors. While Hirani enjoys an enviable 100 percent success ratio so is Atlee and Siddharth too has not delivered a flop in his career so far. With the three announced films, it is a no-brainer that King Khan is pushing the envelope with all his might to shed the image of King of Romance which at 57 can serve him no good.
On a concluding note, going back to Big B again who is the glorious example of how a waning star clutched in the shackles of Angry Young Man infused a lease of new shine in his career by reinventing himself. SRK is a man of great intellectual acumen and seems to be all set to reclaim his spot at the top where he belongs.
With looking forward to witnessing the unparalleled charm on big screens, Happy Birthday, SRK!
