Shah Rukh Khan: 10 essential films

There’s no consensus in Indian cinema except about the abiding virtuosity of Shah Rukh Khan. Bollywood royalty since the early 1990s, Khan is one of the globe’s biggest film stars, with more than 90 films to his name. His stardom is mercurial, spectacular and undeniably sensual. It is also transnational – having its roots in his Muslim heritage, his seemingly impervious body and that unwavering hairline.

His latest film, Dunki, is a comic drama in which Khan plays one of four Punjabi villagers who dream of journeying to England. Released in the UK this December, it caps off a monumental year for Khan, following two blockbusters – Pathaan and Jawan –  that have helped keep alive the commercial fortunes of a latent mainstream Indian film industry.

Forged in the tail end of the oppositional Indian Parallel Cinema movement of the 1970s and 80s, Khan’s charismatic screen presence is comparable to the trajectories of prior icons Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar. It commands our affections, while also reminding us that Indian cinema finds its broadest appeal when it’s at its most syncretic, secular and cosmopolitan.

Director: Kundan Shah

Part of the steady rise of Shah Rukh Khan (also known as simply SRK) in the early 90s, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa has taken on cult status over the years and features Khan in one of his earliest leading roles. This bittersweet take on youthful aspirations, music and friendship may seem familiar enough, but the unconventional treatment of such run-of-the-mill themes in the hands of writer-director Kundan Shah is both sincere and endearing. Khan’s Sunil has a fresh-faced innocence that beguiles and charms. The ultimate SRK comfort film? Quite possibly.

Director: Aditya Chopra

Popularly known as DDLJ, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge remains very much a cultural phenomenon. Part of the tapestry of 1990s Indian cinema, it transformed both Khan and Kajol into two of the biggest stars in the film industry. It has a banger of an opening, segueing from the pigeons of Trafalgar Square to the fields of Punjab, evoking the longing to return home juxtaposed to the melancholy of the song ‘Ghar Aaja Pardesi’. Khan is a ball of energy as Raj Malhotra, a cocky young NRI (non-resident Indian) living in London who falls for Simran (Kajol). Their courtship builds to one of the most celebrated endings (on a train in Punjab) in modern Bollywood history.

Director: Mani Ratnam

SRK’s back catalogue is full of moments that we latch on to and eulogise. Here is one of them: Khan on top of a train joyously dancing to A.R. Rahman and Gulzar’s infectious ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’. It brought him international success, with Dil Se.. becoming the first Indian film to break into the top 10 at the UK box office. However, director Mani Ratnam’s fatalistic political romance – following Khan’s lovestruck journalist as he pursues a mysterious woman (Manisha Koirala) with ties to Assam liberationists – was a subversive side step for the actor, an attempt to undo the heroic star image he’d cultivated. It pointed to the darker, more oppositional terrain he was willing to explore.

Director: Santosh Sivan

Among Khan’s best, if more neglected films, Asoka is a visually disarming historical epic, made on a relatively moderate budget by award-winning cinematographer Santosh Sivan, who had shot Dil Se.. Khan stars as Emperor Asoka, who ruled over the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BC and later embraced Buddhism, renouncing violence. Khan’s performance is anchored in a spectacle of physicality, brought to life by Sivan’s tactile blend of Akira Kurosawa-style action and Indian musical tradition.

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker

This Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan, 2001) epic fell short of expectations at the box office in 2004, which is perplexing as it boasts one of Khan’s most critically acclaimed performances. His character Mohan Bhargava is an NRI working at NASA in the US, who returns to India, reconnecting with his ancestral homeland while questioning his diasporic identity. Mohan’s interactions in a rural village provide the perfect showcase for SRK’s comedic mannerisms and natural charisma, but these are all reigned in here to produce a richly nuanced performance. Swades is a cathartic work about belonging and community, with a stirring denouement.

Director: Yash Chopra

Yash Chopra’s impressively mounted throwback romantic epic was made in an era when Indian-Pakistani relations were altogether more congenial than they are today. It’s a meditation on the wish to erase borders and a heartfelt tribute to the unanimity of the people of Punjab. The role of Veer Pratap Singh, an Indian soldier imprisoned in Pakistan, seems tailor-made for SRK, providing him with one of his classic leading man roles – though Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji both provide noteworthy support. Chopra’s film draws much of its emotional resonance from a memorable soundtrack based on music by the late, great Madan Mohan.

Director: Amol Palekar

Khan’s affiliations with Parallel Cinema resurfaced in the masterly Paheli, a reinterpretation of Mani Kaul’s haunting 1973 classic Duvidha. Helmed by the multi-talented actor-director Amol Palekar and co-produced by Khan, it’s a beautifully crafted supernatural folktale and feminist fable set against the enchanting backdrop of Rajasthan. Co-starring Rani Mukerji, it represents the kind of alternative fare that exists alongside SRK’s more conventional output. His portrayal of Kishan stands out as one of his most subtle comical performances, and the film remains one of his hidden gems, awaiting rediscovery.

Director: Shimit Amin

Chak De! India is one of the more unconventional mainstream ventures from the Yash Raj studio. Director Shimit Amin uses the sports film genre to deal with broader (and prescient) socio-political questions around Muslimness, nationalism and exclusion. This was one of the first occasions where SRK’s Muslim identity became a site of struggle in an India increasingly suspicious of Muslims. Kabir Khan’s (SRK) quest to coach and lead the Indian women’s hockey team to victory becomes a journey of personal redemption but also explores the ongoing rhetoric of religious hatred and vilification often perpetuated by a xenophobic right-wing media.

Director: Farah Khan

Om Shanti Om is popular Indian cinema at its most playful. Choreographer turned director Farah Khan’s stylish ode to the magic and fame of the film industry is a brilliantly self-reflexive spectacle. With imaginatively choreographed song and dance sequences that provide a glittering showcase for SRK’s stardom, the film sees the actor take on a dual role – a classic trope of Bollywood cinema – as he is reincarnated from lowly wannabe to superstar. The film draws on a rich history of Indian film mythology, also launching SRK’s co-star Deepika Padukone – here making her Hindi debut – as a major star.

Director: Rahul Dholakia

Raees finds SRK stepping outside of his comfort zone, but the results make for an altogether sobering commentary on the contemporary state of Muslims in India. The film takes place in a studio-created Muslim neighbourhood in Gujarat, with conventional Islamic imagery. Director Rahul Dholakia paints the story of Raees, an Indian Muslim gangster, as a traditional rise and fall narrative. Yet, SRK’s Raees stands as a liminal figure of proletarian/secularist ideals entangled in the corrupt interplay among the police, politicians and the state. There are subversive, symbolic references to Modi’s Hindu-first India (notably the violent Yatra/Chariot sequence), which Raees queries, even resists, transforming him into a rebel and, ultimately, an enemy of the state. A substantial genre work with a very dissident political edge.

Dunki is in UK cinemas from 21 December 2023.