Indeed. It’s Shahrukh Khan’s world and we are all living in it.
Two years ago, on a chat show with David Letterman, Shah Rukh Khan said, “I am an employee of the myth of Shahrukh Khan.”
He calls our reality a myth, yet works every day, painstakingly, abiding by the reality it is for us, and keeping it alive. “There’s this the idea Shah Rukh Khan has come to symbolise in a rapidly globalising young India – of love, hope, and respect. Now, as the country goes through another phase, the Dilli wala ladka has to defend, and uphold, the idea that is Shah Rukh Khan,” like Aaqib, a Shahrukh fan says.
I cannot write about Shahrukh Khan. What is there to say that’s already not been said? His candour and unabashed honesty about his talent, wisdom, misery and life form the tenet of the fandom of Shahrukh Khan. Yet, I am writing this article that could’ve just been my 5th Instagram post about the legend of Shahrukh Khan.
In short, it’s impossible to not write about him, talk about him, think about him, love him, for the legend of Shahrukh Khan is irresistible. In addition to its irresistible nature, the legend is also insightful, like most grand cultural phenomena are.
When Shahrukh sang, ‘Ho na ho, sub raazi, mann raazi, rab raazi‘, I knew exactly what love was worth, and who it was worth.
When he sang ‘tujh mein rab dikhta hai‘, I knew how love was supposed to feel. I knew that love *happens* on earth, but it *feels* heavenly. I finally knew why.
When he sang an entire song that equated love to prayer with utmost honesty in ‘Sajda‘, I saw love in a new, indescribable light.
When he said, “Genius is knowing when to let go”, it was the most comforting hard-hitting truth I was told.
I’ve been single forever and not one day have I felt loveless, a significant part of which I owe to the fandom of that man. In the past year, a friend and I have tried to find the answer to ‘what is love?’, but often, we have found ourselves saying ‘Shahrukh is love’. And frankly, it feels enough. Because that’s all love is, isn’t it? He’s a warm, fluffy and feathery ball full of light and love, and who better to symbolise the idea of love better?
I have always lived my life on the twin fundamentals of love and empathy. And it is magnanimously inspiring to see a man emit love to millions. It is so powerful and moving that he doesn’t have to do a hundred big things to live up to his stardom; the smallest of things is enough to justify his grandeur in my heart.
On top of that, I can never figure out how a person can make everyone feel seen? From his partner to children, to all of his 3 billion fans? What is this superpower in the Shahrukh Khan fandom that every person claims to be his biggest fan and, somehow, everyone is right?
Like the absolutely wonderful Paromita Vora put, “In a recent Twitter thread where people described their meetings with him, each story was on attentiveness, care and affection, soul-deep hospitality. There is no such thing as a boring Shah Rukh interview—because he brings everything to make the moment work, to bring this attentiveness and mehman nawazi to viewers too.”
I always feel that I write the worst when it comes to Shahrukh. But then proudly go all cliche and say that the amount of love I feel for him blots my paper. All you can probably see if you possibly can is love. And it’s a language enough.
So how do I not love this absolutely immaculate, stingingly self-aware, comforting man who’s defined love for generations and will continue to? How do I not love a man who has his own mini love story going on with every fan?
A man who nourishes his relationships with honesty, respect and effort. Heck, even real partners don’t do it.
But why am I writing about this love today, despite having voiced it over and over again through the years? Why am I writing this today, pained, and convinced, that despite SRK being the face, form and speech of love, he’s his religion to the majoritarian government? Why is it that a man who has the power to bind the nation together with his actions, his words, and his mere expressions, is reduced to his religion alone? Or maybe that is exactly why he is.
The fact that the current government is going after somebody who represents the idea of love for the entire country shows more than their Islamophobia. It shows their subconscious hatred for love itself.
It was the Minister of External Affairs, who, in 2014, under BJP, demanded the Bhagavad Gita to be our national scripture. Well, apparently, it doesn’t matter that Shahrukh Khan knows Bhagavad Gita more than an ordinary Hindu; his identity will always be that of a Quran reading Khan.
Or how about the fact that in today’s Hindutva-ridden India, the ideal Muslim is the one who doesn’t express his religion publically? Does SRK break this ‘rule’? Nope. He is a Muslim man, who has hidden his God and is forced to give his children names that fulfil the ego of the majoritarian religion.
Well, surely, the ruling party’s appropriation of our freedom fighters might count for something, doesn’t it? Maybe not. Who cares if his father was a freedom fighter too, merely because he was born with the wrong last name, right? In response to all this, and more, Shahrukh has even had to make a film to ‘subtly’ drive an obvious point home: He is a Khan, and he’s not a terrorist but doesn’t mind talking back at one.
Shahrukh. You say that you like to keep your work outside the dehleez of your home, but you are forced to bring Bollywood into their lives when you tell your children, “You are an Indian first, and your religion is humanity.” I’m sorry you have to tell your children that ‘being’ secular isn’t enough. But in India, you have to shed your personal, religious identity to be secular.
Well, only if you’re Muslim, but you get the point.
“Why should not the love we share be the last word in defining us instead of the last name?” you ask. It is but a poignant question, isn’t it?
It does not matter that your secularism and love for all the faiths is evident from your marriage into Hinduism, because the remaining half of your identity is considered filth by the oppressors. And filth must be stained away.
Your child admonishes you for getting into a scuffle at Wankhede, knowing that the reason for it was your Muslim identity. It shows his secularism, but that’s not enough for him to be kept out of jail.
Being a fan is supposed to be the easiest, right? After all, it’s about love, truth and admiration? But the ruling party, in India, has changed that.
For me, being a fan is complicated, conflicting and tough today. It’s a struggle to not let their oppression taint my love. They say that Shahrukh Khan is a brand, an unforgettable one, and yes, they’re right. Look at the recent Cadbury advertisement. No crackers, no promotion, only a voice: a voice that lends support to all, cutting through all classes, lending his voice for them. That’s Shahrukh Khan.
Yes, he’s a brand- a brand of hope, one that reminds you that you will sail through all tempests. Maybe not with arms widespread, but with fine balance and goodwill. That’s what a good citizen should do: be the torchbearer of hope, light, and warmth; and that’s what true culture is: one that fuels love and brotherhood, filling the cracks of hatred with solidarity and secularism.
To my best man, the love of my life, forever and after, thank you for choosing to be who you are every day.