The Indian Psycho: From Darr to Raees, Shah Rukh’s dark side

Releasing this Friday, Fan will feature Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) in a double role, including a negative character. As Bollywood’s king of romance, there are plenty of movies SRK has delighted us with. But the actor’s psychotic skills have also impressed. From Anjaam to Darr, we take a look at Shah Rukh’s dark side.

As the king of romance in Bollywood, he defined ‘prince charming’ for a whole generation of females. Still very much reigning hearts, Shah Rukh Khan belongs to a small company of actors that producers bank on for a hit.

Shah Rukh made a name for himself in Bollywood with negative roles.(AFP)

But aside from movies like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) and Dil to Pagal Hai (1997) where his characters were too good to be true, Shah Rukh also gave us movies that were so real, we didn’t want them to be true.

Read: Guess who’s Shah Rukh Khan’s biggest fan. Here’s a hint

Some of Bollywood’s most twisted characters are from Shah Rukh’s filmography, and largely from the beginning of his career. In fact, he kick-started his Bollywood journey with Deewana, starring opposite Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti in 1992. The role earned him the Filmfare award for best debut. Shah Rukh continued the trend in his next few films, essaying pyschotic, twisted minds of the fanatic kind.

Watch: Shah Rukh Khan’s famous K, K, K Kiran dialogue from Darr

In his latest, Maneesh Sharma’s Fan, SRK plays Aryan Khanna, a superstar, and his fan Gaurav. Produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Maneesh Sharma, Fan traces Gaurav’s fixation on Aryan that turns nasty when his hero ignores him.

As the movie hits theatres on Friday, here’s a recap of Shah Rukh’s finest anti-heroes.

Darr (1993)
Shah Rukh was Juhi Chawla obsessive lover who didn’t shy away from violence as he attempted to ‘acquire’ his beloved. “K..k..k..Kiran” is still among Bollywood’s top movie quotes. The movie also starred Sunny Deol.

Baazigar (1993)
This was a clever movie that didn’t portray Shah Rukh as the villain, but still had it’s share of villainy. In this Kajol-Shilpa Shetty-Shah Rukh triangle, one heroine is killed and the other befriended before the truth surfaces. As the duplicitous Ajay/Vikky, the nerdy romantic and murderer out to avenge his father, Shah Rukh shone. He bagged that year’s Filmfare best actor award.

Watch: Shah Rukh Khan’s fantastic dialogue delivery in Baazigar

Anjaam (1994)
Taking his deranged act to the next level, Shah Rukh played an out-and-out maniac in this movie. As he tries to win the object of his affections, Madhuri Dixit in this case, he goes to any length to make her his own. He picked up yet another Filmfare, this time for best performance in a negative role.

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (2002)
Though the late 90s saw Shah Rukh blossom as the ultimate chocolate boy hero, skipping across green meadows with a loving dame in tow, he returned to his manic roots in Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. As the psychotic, loser of a husband, Shah Rukh starred opposite Madhuri Dixit. The movie also featured Salman Khan in a pivotal role.

Read: Fan: What makes Shah Rukh Khan a marketing genius

Raees (2016)
To come later this year, what we know of Rahul Dholakia’s film is that it stars Shah Rukh as the liquor baron Miyaanbhai in Gujarat. Teasers show a grittier-avatar of king Khan, and we’re betting it’ll have many complicated layers to SRK’s character.

Watch: Shah Rukh Khan in Raees teaser

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