Shahrukh The King Khan

                                                        The King Khan

The King began his journey by landing the lead role of a commando in 1988 drama series fauji (1988). He was much applauded for his work and soon became the heartthrob of teenage girls bagging roles in other serials as Circus (1989) and 'Dil Dariya', the former being delayed due to various reasons. He also had a minor role in a made for television film called In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989).
His big screen debut came in the form of Deewana (1992) where he acted alongside the then top actress of Bollywood Divya Bharti and won the prestigious Filmfare award for Best Debut Actor Male. He had also starred earlier in a small role in 'Dil Aashna Hai'. This was followed by another hit in the form of Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992).

After a few more films which did average or less at the box office, Khan made the unique choice against all advice to opt for negative roles and played obsessive, somewhat psychotic characters in Darr (1993) and Baazigar (1993). To everyone's surprise the films were massive hits and Shahrukh earned his first Best Actor award and was also nominated in the villainous role category. His acting was applauded by all in the film industry and carved a niche for future King. The same year he bagged the Critics Award for best performance in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994), a film he often recalls as amongst his favourites.
A series of hits followed to what would be remembered as one of Khan's most iconic performances; a film which is arguably India's biggest blockbuster and truly complete with the very best of drama, comedy, romance, thrills and a bit of action as well. The epic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) was released on 20th October 1995 and as of 2011 still plays in a Mumbai theatre, thus being the longest running film in the history. Coincidentally Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise was the initial choice as the main lead but the role went to Shahrukh who is now nicknamed 'Tom Cruise of India'.