Why is SRK doing a potboiler?
The imminent collaboration between Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Tamil director Atlee made big news this week. Rumours that Nayanthara and music composer AR Rahman may also be a part of the project has fuelled anticipation among fans. This isnt the first time SRK is teaming up with a Tamil director. He has worked with Mani Ratnam ('Dil Se'), Priyadarshan ('Billu') and Kamal Haasan ('Hey Ram'). But that was at the peak of his career, when his mere presence was enough to set the box office ringing. In a career spanning 30 years, SRK has seen his fair share of hits and misses. The last five years, however, have been particularly disappointing. He has delivered flops like 'Fan' and 'Jab Harry Met Sejal'. His last big release was Aanand L Rais 'Zero' in 2018, which also tanked at the box office. The repeated failure of his films has forced the 55-year-old to introspect. For actors, time and age are silent thieves lurking in the dark and, it appears, they have now stolen the thunder from SRK. While he continues to rule for many as a childhood hero, sensitive actor and feminist father, he has been all but dethroned on-screen. SRKs superstardom has been threatened by several factors, including a poor choice of scripts, the rise of younger actors and a disconnect with new audiences. A massive reinvention was inevitable, and the collaboration with Atlee points to that. The actors journey began just as Hindi cinema was pivoting from the angry young man trope of the 70s and 80s to the charming lover boy hero of the 90s. While his initial roles as an anti-hero in 'Baazigar' and 'Darr' established his career, it was 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge', in 1995, which made him a romantic hero and catapulted him to stardom. He became the ultimate poster boy for 90s Bollywood romance, an image he steadfastly held on well into the noughties, serenading actresses across three generations, from Divya Bharathi to Deepika Padukone. He also worked with the biggest directors, such as Yash and Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and then with a newer crop like Imtiaz Ali, Farah Khan, Rohit Shetty and Farhan Akhtar. He laughed and cried, sang and danced, fought off the baddies and romanced his way into the hearts of Bollywood lovers. And whether it was Raj, Rahul, Devdas, Don or even Asoka, SRKs characters retained some of the actors personality, something the audience craved and had come to identify his films with. He was Shah Rukh Khan, the star, the performer and all-round entertainer with an iconic wide-arm pose and the inimitable heyyy-hmmm-haan. But the thinking actor in him knew that that just wasnt enough. He constantly reinvented himself and experimented with genres, donning a six-pack look for 'Om Shanti Om', superhero robes for 'Ra.One', embracing his age as a hockey coach in 'Chak De! India and playing a psychologist in 'Dear Zindagi'. After 2015, especially, it seemed like he wanted to shed this superstar image and make films for the actor in him. Interestingly though, it was the more formulaic films, like 'Raees', that struck gold at the box office, and not the ones where he experimented and strayed from his own brand, say, as an anti-hero in 'Fan' or a dwarf in 'Zero'. Rejected by the audience time and again in the last six years, King Khan seems desperate for a commercial hit. His collaboration with Atlee then is an attempt to recreate the box-office success of films such as 'Chennai Express'. Atlee is a director known for churning out star vehicles like 'Bigil', 'Mersal' and 'Theri'. His scripts are steeped in excess, and rely heavily on hero worship. They are formulaic mass films with dazzling action sequences and dance numbers. They pull in the crowds, make money and keep the producers happy. On the flipside though, his storylines are unoriginal and predictable. There is a thin line between grandeur and excess, and one wonders if Atlee can strike the balance to give SRKs sagging career a boost. The SRK-Atlee combination is the choice of a star under pressure to bring in the numbers, not an actor at peace with his craft and career. (The author is a Bengaluru-based freelance writer)