‘Don't want to play mean characters’: When Shah Rukh Khan admitted having kids made him careful about roles

At the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in 2007, Shah Rukh Khan said he didn't think about the impact his roles had on the audience before he had kids.

There was a time in the 1990s when Shah Rukh Khan became famous for his portrayal of grey characters. Be it Baazigar (1993) or Darr (1993), his roles as the anti-hero made the audience sit up and take notice. However, in 2007, at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the star admitted in a conversation with Karan Johar that things had changed since the birth of his children.

Suhana Khan, Aryan Khan, AbRam, Gauri Khan and Shah Rukh Khan at the premiere of The Ba***ds of Bollywood. (PTI)

Shah Rukh Khan on his roles changing due to kids

At the HT Summit in 2007, Karan asked Shah Rukh if he was careful about what he did on-screen, given the potential impact films have on society. The Bollywood star said, “I don't like to use bad language in my films. Before my kids, I was a little more relaxed. I'll be very honest, I didn't think about other people. But now that I do have kids, I think there are a lot of things I should not do. But whatever I do, I stand by it.”

He also added, “I don't like dark films, I don't want to play very mean characters. I like films to be pleasant and nice and show some good things.” However, Shah Rukh added that banning smoking or drinking on-screen might be a step too far: “On the other hand, banning smoking or drinking on screen is not such a great idea. I think it's narrow-minded.”

Recent work

In 2023, Shah Rukh starred in Pathaan, Jawan, and Dunki, as well as making a cameo appearance as Pathaan in Tiger 3. He took a break from films and was most recently seen in a cameo in The Ba***ds of Bollywood. On his 60th birthday, the title of his next film, King, was officially announced. The film also stars his daughter Suhana, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan and others.

Shah Rukh dated Gauri for six years before marrying her in 1991. Their first child, son Aryan, was born in 1997. Suhana was born in 2000, and in 2013, they became parents to AbRam through surrogacy. Aryan recently debuted as a director with the Netflix web series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, while Suhana debuted as an actor with the 2023 Netflix film The Archies. After debuting as an actor in the 1988 TV show Fauji and achieving fame on television, he made his film debut in 1992 with Deewana.