Will SRK Ever Be Able To Regain The Top Spot

Shahrukh Khan's box office standing has taken a beating due to a string of flops. Can he make it back to the very top of the bollywood table? Read our article to find out!

Shahrukh Khan - All of Bollywood once bowed to this one name. Every director worth his salt wanted to cast him in his/her movies. The King Of Bollywood, the King Of Romance, girls went weak on their knees whenever he spread his arms in his signature step. But what started as a smooth journey to the very top turned out into a bumpy ride over the last few years.

King Khan who ruled the box office and people's hearts has not had a good run at the box office in the recent years. In fact he has received heavy criticism for his choice of roles. The actor who had blown the audience's minds with his queer choice of roles as an anti hero in the late 90's now stars in movies as bland as Zero. His unique style of dialogue delivery & sheer acting prowess won him legions of fans & spawned many actors who copied his style - Shahid Kapoor, Mukul Dev to name a few.

Shahrukh,at the beginning of his career did some hilarious comedies and also stunned the audience and won over the critics with his turn as the bad bad boy. The new genre of anti hero was born with his avatars in Anjaam and Baazigar. But just when the audience had finished applauding this baddie, he again swept them off their feet with the cult Bollywood romance Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The movie became a record breaking blockbuster and was loved by one and all. It was so huge that it ran for 20 years every day at Maratha Mandir in Mumbai. Raj became every Indian girls’ dream boy. Boys tested their love with the chants of ‘palat’. The world believed as did his senorita when he said “bade bade deshon mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain”. Thus emerged the The King Of Romance. He went on to star in more such major blockbusters like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham.

The early 2000s saw a different kind of SRK with him doing more practical cinema that pleased the critics as well. Whether it was his Aman in Kal Ho Naa Ho who won hearts and managed to please the viewers in tears even today or his Veer in Veer Zaara who made people realise the meaning of true love. However his most appreciated work was Swades. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker the movie touched hearts and instilled patriotism in a non preachy way. Though the audience back then didn't seem to enjoy SRK shed the lover boy image, he received huge praise for his portrayal of Mohan Bhargav. He literally had a Midas touch in the early 2000s with churning out gold with movies like Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om.

Next he starred in movies like Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna,Chak De! India and My Name Is Khan. He also featured in Don and Don2. These movies cemented his standing as the biggest overseas bollywood star ever. His popularity abroad is still unparalleled. But the problem began with movies like Chennai Express and Happy New Year. These though amassed huge profits,failed to leave a mark in the audience's mind. For the past few years he has been doing nonsensical comedy roles which have not done him much good. In fact movies like Raees and Zero indeed stumbled at the box office. The formula of anything ‘sex and Shah Rukh sells in Bollywood’ failed, not once but multiple times.

He was loved for his relatively squeaky clean image. Apart from linkups with Karan Johar, SRK was never linked to any of his heroines. Sadly that changed when he had an affair with Priyanka Chopra on the sets of Don2. He & his wife are also rumored to have picked up a drug habit. The pressures of bollywood seemed to have gotten to the Khans. The once affable Khans were now getting spoken about for their drug fueled parties & extra marital affairs. The rumors of AbRam being SRK's grandchild didn't help either.

On the other hand, his contemporaries like Salman and Aamir were faring well with movies like Dangal and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. His juniors, like Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh,have surpassed him with ease and not only impressed the audience but the critics alike with performances like Barfi!, Rockstar, Bajirao Mastani and Padmavaat. In the year 2008, when they had that infamous fight at katrina Kaif's birthday party, the world bet on SRK. Sadly, SRK seems to have lost to Salman. Coincidentally Katrina met Ranbir for the first time at that party!

Truth be told, SRK, irrespective of the charmer he is, is way past his prime to play a 20-30 year old protagonist. It is just absurd and on some levels unfair to the younger lot. Or maybe he could pull it right off he chooses the roles that are a bit more sensible. He is known to often say yes to movies even without reading the script if his friends ask him to. We wish he chooses his scripts a little logically instead of emotionally.

If he wishes to dethrone the current numero uno - Salman Khan & regain his position, he has to reinvent himself. He will have to either bet big on comedies like Chennai Express, Happy New Year etc which worked in a big way. But sticking to one genre too won't be enough. His contemporaries especially Akshay Kumar - is adept at adapting to patriotic movies & scoial dramas. What is commendable is that Akshay started off as an action hero, then transitioned to comedy & has now pivoted again to social dramas. Can SRK do an Akshay? Or will he do a Amitabh, wherein he stars in character driven roles & cedes space to younger superstars? That is the big question.

Well, he either has to do one of these or face getting thrown out of the bollywood A-list & labeled a one trick pony. His legions of fans would hate to see that, especially when his contemporaries are still killing it!