Malavika’s Mumbaistan: What Makes A Hero?

‘How much of a star’s popularity is the creation of scriptwriters, directors and the roles he essays? And how much of it is based on the subliminal perception of his real-life persona?’ Read this week’s Malavika’s Mumbaistan to find out What Makes A Hero?

If there were any doubts that Shah Rukh Khan’s sobriquets ‘King Khan’ and ‘Badshah of Bollywood’ were undeserved, Pathaan’s resounding success at the Box Office this week has surely put paid to them.

Khan and Pathaan’s success may lie the answer to that conundrum. SRK’s likeability, decency, his grace under pressure and sheer heroism of standing tall and unflinching in the face of unfair adversity may have also been a significant factor. (HT Illustration)

After all, the definition of a hero is someone who triumphs against all odds and you would not need a film industry insider or authority to tell you just how formidable the odds against the success of the movie have been.

To begin with, consider the climate of vitriol and hate that has been festering around the Hindi film industry in recent times; Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide two years ago which triggered an outsiders- versus- insiders campaign against Bollywood, along with Kangana Ranaut’s clarion call against nepotism and entitlement had lit the fire. The pandemic-enforced hiatus for cinema-going audiences had exacerbated the odds against cinema releases and of course, compounding matters was the platform and voice that social media affords motivated armies of trolls, which resulted in a conflagration of vanities.

But of course, in India where prejudice against the country’s Muslim minorities is unfortunately on the rise, that was not all Pathaan had to contend with. In recent times Khan and the enormous sway he has on India’s masses had become a soft target for communalists and haters, who saw him as a poster boy for all that they perceived as wrong and undesirable in today’s times.

What’s more, unlike many of his industry colleagues, SRK was perceived as one of those rare individuals who had displayed the courage and confidence to refrain from kowtowing to political leaders and jumping onto popular bandwagons.

Where his peers were happy to partake in photo ops and occasions where they could cosy up to the powers that be, Khan had maintained a dignified distance. This and his runaway popularity must have been particularly galling for those used to being on the receiving end of sycophancy and bowing and scraping.

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With all this stacked against it, it is not hard to see why so much hinged on Pathaan’s success: after a terrifying dry spell, not only did Bollywood need a cracker of a box office hit to prove that Bhrahmasthra hadn’t been a flash in the pan, but so did Khan himself.

His last film Zero in 2108 had failed spectacularly leading to a self-imposed one-year sabbatical for the star, in which he didn’t take on any new projects. Then came the pandemic and the rest is history. After four years of absence and at the age of 57, Khan was being put to the test once again with a movie release. So much was riding on Pathaan’s performance, so many careers, jobs, futures and dreams and one could almost hear the industry, his fans and the movie-going public hold a collective breath in anticipation.

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How much of a star’s popularity is the creation of scriptwriters, directors and the roles he essays? And how much of it is based on the subliminal perception of his real-life persona?

Few can define the characteristics of what makes a megastar or what makes a person the object of desire for multitudes. Certainly, in Hollywood, the likes of Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks are adulated not only for their good looks and acting chops but also for their off-screen persona. This might account for the adulation afforded to Khan too. In the groundswell of good wishes and hope for Pathaan’s success in instance after instance, one came across references to Khan’s off-screen ‘decency’, ‘likeability’ and ‘goodness’. “You just want SRK to succeed” is an oft-heard refrain ‘he comes across as a genuinely nice guy.”

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But more than this ‘like-ability factor’ is the fact that through the ages the definition of the hero, be it in literature or mythology, is that of someone who not only triumphs against the odds stacked up against him but does so while demonstrating enormous grace under pressure. As our own mythologies tell us, Ram and Krishna are worshipped not for their great accomplishments alone but for the fact they bore their grave challenges with exemplary fortitude and grace and were devoid of bitterness.

And in this regard, SRK has certainly proven to be top-class. His impeccable handling of his son Aryan’s recent unfortunate tryst with dodgy law enforcement agencies and his incarceration in a trumped-up drug possession case (he has been cleared of all charges, since) has cemented his hero status like no other. While a nation watched in horror as a young man was targeted for being the son of a famous father, SRK and his family had demonstrated exemplary grace and stoicism: no out-of-turn statements, no breast-beating or playing the victim card, no entitled rage or name-calling, they had borne their cross (and what a cross it had been) in silence and dignity, the way a true hero does.

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This subliminal perception that audiences form about which stars qualify as true heroes worthy of their unbridled adulation is not exclusive to Khan alone. Both Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan who wore the mantle of industry superstars and who Khan has been often compared to have also been at the receiving end of unfortunate and undeserved trials, which they too had borne with similar grace and fortitude.

Kumar (Yusuf Khan) throughout his life had to contend with unfair prejudice and bias on account of his Muslim status and was even once shockingly framed as a Pakistani spy (he was cleared of all charges) at the height of his stardom. As for Bachchan, from his near-fatal shooting accident to his tribulations in the Bofors charges (of which he too was completely cleared) to the resurrection of his career and fortune after his company’s bankruptcy, there is no doubt that grace under pressure has been a palpable sign of his mettle.

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So, what makes a star and what accounts for his huge success? Is it only predicated on the roles he essays, the spectacular films he signs and his talent and charm?

Khan and Pathaan’s success may lie the answer to that conundrum. SRK’s likeability, decency, his grace under pressure and sheer heroism of standing tall and unflinching in the face of unfair adversity may have also been a significant factor.

After all that’s what heroes are about.