Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Shah Rukh Khan: Indian heartthrob and King of Bollywood

King Khan – whose moniker reflects decades of box office dominance – is a rare unifying figure across India’s multiple geographic, linguistic, and religious faultlines.

Shah Rukh Khan: Indian heartthrob and King of Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan is Bollywood's most popular star and at 57 still its biggest sex symbol, whose silver-screen repertoire of dance, romance and shoot-em-up heroics made him the cinematic avatar of a changing India.

"King Khan" -- whose moniker reflects decades of box office dominance -- is a rare unifying figure across India's multiple geographic, linguistic and religious faultlines.


His latest film "Pathaan" was an event akin to a national celebration, shrugging off boycott calls by Hindu hardliners and packing out theatres with boisterous crowds.

Fans regularly make the pilgrimage to the gates of his Mumbai mansion and wait through the day to catch a brief glimpse of a man who basks in his status as a public icon.

"I am very happy being a star. I can never be tired of it," Khan told AFP in a 2013 interview.

"I love the amount of people that love me, the crowds that collect, the controversies, the responsibilities I have, the success and even the failure. It's an exciting life."

Khan was born to a Muslim family in New Delhi and did not hail from an established acting dynasty.

His early 1980s TV roles showcased his natural charisma but it took him several years to break onto the big screen, and he risked being typecast as a villain after his riveting performance as an obsessed stalker in "Darr" (Fear).

But the biggest Indian blockbuster of 1995 catapulted him to international stardom and resonated with the profound social changes underway in his country.

"Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (The Big-Hearted will Take the Bride) saw Khan play a Londoner who falls in love with another diaspora Indian while sightseeing in Europe.

They decide to wed -- against the wishes of her father, who has promised her in marriage to another man back in India.

It was released in a decade when the country's economy and its urban middle class were liberalising, with young men and women enjoying a lifestyle more affluent than their parents while chafing against their rules.

The film remains one of the most popular in the Bollywood canon, and it has screened at one Mumbai cinema every day -- except for a Covid interruption --- for the 27 years since its release.

'Feelgood India'

Film critic Namrata Joshi wrote that Khan spearheaded a new kind of "romantic family hero" in Indian cinema, displacing the angry young man archetypes that matched the angst-ridden national mood of earlier decades.

"Many see SRK embodying... the spirit of post-liberalisation, feelgood, ambitious, assertive India," she said.

Along the way, Khan's self-deprecating humour and striking good looks cemented his place as India's chief heartthrob.

The book "Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh", published in 2021, discusses the intimate desires of modern Indian women through their shared fandom for Khan and the sensitive masculinity he represented.

No film in his extensive repertoire has done more to burnish this persona than 1998's "Dil Se.." (From the Heart), in which Khan pursues a mysterious woman across India's most spectacular natural landscapes.

Today it is fondly remembered for its dazzling choreography -- elaborate even by Bollywood standards -- including Khan's serenade to dozens of dancers atop a moving steam train.

'So much love'

Khan's visage on movie posters became a virtual licence to print money and a string of hits over the next two decades made him fabulously wealthy.

His assets include the Kolkata Knight Riders cricket team in the Indian Premier League, and a film production company.

Recent years have seen a string of personal and professional setbacks, including the 2021 arrest of his son in a drug related case that was later dropped.

Khan, like other acting stars from India's Muslim minority, has also increasingly been targeted for criticism by Hindu nationalists.

"Pathaan", Khan's secret agent action thriller comeback after a five-year absence from the silver screen, was the latest of several highly anticipated Bollywood films subject to a boycott campaign.

Ultimately Khan's star power triumphed over his critics, and ticket sales for "Pathaan" smashed India's opening day box office record.

Khan afterwards was lavish in his praise for fans who made the film a success.

"There is so much love from all sides," he said, "and we can never show enough gratefulness".

(AFP)

More For You

HYBE Cine Fest 2025
HYBE Cine Fest 2025: How HYBE Cine Fest 2025 is India’s K-pop soft launch
Instagram/pvrpictures

HYBE Cine Fest 2025: BTS, TXT, and SEVENTEEN light up screens; here’s what it really means

You step into your local PVR today. The smell of popcorn hits you, but instead of previews for the latest Bollywood hit, the lobby is a sea of ARMY Bombs and CARAT Bong light sticks. Fans in TXT tees are swapping photocards. Someone’s already belting out a LE SSERAFIM chorus into a mic at the pop-up Noraebang station. Inside Screen 3? It isn’t a film, but a full-blown K-pop concert. Thousands of voices scream every word of BTS’s Dynamite, and tears well up during Jungkook’s solo. But this isn’t Seoul. It’s Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, all this weekend. And HYBE? They’re taking notes, big ones!

What is Hybe Cine fest?

HYBE Cine Fest 2025 is a three-day cinema event (from 10 to 12 July) that brings some of the biggest K-pop concert experiences to the big screen across India. Organised by South Korean entertainment giant HYBE in partnership with PVR INOX and Trafalgar Releasing, the fest features full-length concert films from BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT, ENHYPEN, ILLIT, and Katseye. Expect stadium-level production with cinematic visuals, surround sound, and collective fan chants, everything fans love about a K-pop concert, recreated inside a cinema.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cierra Ortega

Cierra Ortega addresses her Love Island USA exit in a TikTok video

Instagram/cierra.ortega

Cierra Ortega apologises after Love Island USA exit over resurfaced racist post

Highlights

  • Cierra Ortega has exited Love Island USA after a past social media post using a slur resurfaced.
  • The 25-year-old content creator said she “had no idea” the word was a racial slur.
  • Ortega apologised to the Asian community and said she accepts being removed from the show.
  • She revealed her family has been threatened and immigration authorities were called on them.

Cierra Ortega, a contestant on this season of Love Island USA, has publicly apologised after an old social media post containing a racial slur resurfaced, prompting her sudden exit from the popular reality series.

The 25-year-old Los Angeles-based content creator addressed the controversy in a video, expressing regret for using a derogatory term towards Asian people in a post made last year. Ortega, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, said she was unaware of the word’s offensive meaning at the time but took full responsibility.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rashmika Mandanna joins Allu Arjun

Rashmika Mandanna teams up with Allu Arjun again in Atlee’s next

Getty Images/Youtube Screengrab/Sun Pictures

Rashmika Mandanna joins Allu Arjun and Deepika Padukone in Atlee's sci-fi spectacle 'AA22xA6'

Highlights:

 
     
  • Rashmika Mandanna to star opposite Allu Arjun in Atlee’s big-budget sci-fi project AA22xA6.
  •  
  • The film already features Deepika Padukone, Janhvi Kapoor, and Mrunal Thakur.
  •  
  • Rashmika has completed a look test and body scan in Los Angeles.
  •  
  • Film to release in multiple languages by late 2026 or early 2027.
  •  
 

Rashmika Mandanna is officially part of director Atlee’s highly ambitious sci-fi feature, tentatively titled AA22xA6. With Allu Arjun headlining the project, the casting of Rashmika not only reunites the Pushpa duo but also strengthens what is being called one of the biggest star ensembles in Indian cinema today. The Sun Pictures production already boasts names like Deepika Padukone, Janhvi Kapoor, and Mrunal Thakur, and now Rashmika’s addition has significantly heightened the buzz.

 Allu Arjun teams up with Atlee for 376 million sci-fi  Director Atlee and Allu Arjun brainstorm futuristic concepts with top Hollywood VFX studios in LA  Youtube Screengrab  

Keep ReadingShow less
Kajol

Kajol says star kids face harsher pressure as Ibrahim Ali Khan gears up for Sarzameen

Getty Images

Kajol defends Ibrahim Ali Khan amid trolling, says star kids today face a do or die reality

Highlights:

  • Kajol says today’s star kids face intense pressure to succeed immediately.
  • She compares their experience to her own, where she had time and space to evolve.
  • The actor is starring as Ibrahim Ali Khan’s mother in the upcoming film Sarzameen.
  • Kajol stresses the importance of reinvention and praises new actors for adapting beyond films.

Kajol believes the new generation of star kids in Bollywood are under far more pressure than actors from her era. The actress, who will soon be seen in Sarzameen alongside debutant Ibrahim Ali Khan, said young actors today are expected to prove themselves instantly, and harsh judgement follows if they don’t.

 Kajol  Kajol discusses star kids and the changing rules of BollywoodGetty Images

Keep ReadingShow less
Cardi B wears blooming 3D flowers

Cardi B continues her bold fashion streak with floral runway glamour

Instagram/rahulmishra_7

Cardi B stuns in a 3D floral Rahul Mishra gown at Paris Couture Week

Highlights:

  • Cardi B wore a ruby-red custom Rahul Mishra gown with sculptural 3D flowers at Paris Couture Week.
  • The outfit followed her earlier dramatic appearance at Schiaparelli in a fringe dress with a live crow.
  • She’s currently working on her debut album Am I the Drama? and a beauty venture with Revolve.
  • The look featured diamond accessories, a sculpted bun, and smoky makeup to match the theatrical dress.

Cardi B took her fashion game to new heights in Paris, stepping out in a dramatic Rahul Mishra creation that fused red carpet glamour with runway sculpture. The rapper’s custom-made gown, featuring 3D blooming flowers and a shimmering ruby base, was a highlight at Paris Haute Couture Week, making it one of her most talked-about looks this season.

 Cardi B wears blooming 3D flowers Cardi B's red gown features 3D sculpted flowers and intricate embroideryInstagram/rahulmishra_7

Keep ReadingShow less