Why Shah Rukh Khan?

For all those who know me, know that I am absolutely in love with Shah Rukh Khan(SRK). Undeterred and unabashedly, I am in love with him. There have been a gazillion times when friends have tried to argue with me about him, how he is ‘gay’ or that he is effeminate and other such things. How he is actually a person who plays around with women and how he has all these mistresses around the world. How he always does the same thing in every movie. My answer to all of this is always, I still love him.

Here’s the thing, for every person who hates him there are 4 who love him. A lot of people love him because of his business acumen, others for how he loves on screen and some for the way he looks. These are my reasons too, but I have a lot more reasons and they have changed through the years.
As a child, I loved his songs and his dancing, his hair which is incidentally how my hair was. He shook his head and I did too; it was this weird connection we had. I didn’t know what love was, what romance was or what those googly eyes would do to me in the future, I just knew I liked this man on the TV.

As a tween, I loved his songs and of course his romance. He was Raj and he was Rahul, he was my perfect man. I wanted someone like him, someone who could stop time, play music in thin air, dance like a dream, pour his heart out, shower me with presents, cry for me; he was the epitome of my prince charming. He probably was also the reason why my dating life had a beautiful zero written in its logs; no one matched up to him. Unfortunately, the ones who did didn’t see me as the Kajol or Madhuri in their life.

 As an ‘adult’ [read: 18 year old], I was forming an opinion about everything, love and life and everything in between. This was when I started to keep my love for him a secret. Most of my friends were guys and well they thought he was ‘gay’, which then apparently was a huge thing. So I secretly loved him, he was my guilty pleasure.

After that there came a point where I decided to start finding myself, hearts broke, they patched up and broke again, I fell down a million times and stood up a million and one times. I didn’t like the same things I did then, but one thing was constant, SRK was still on my mind. The stage of introspection was there and I finally sat down to figure out why this undying love.

I was never a fan of good looks; don’t get me wrong, I appreciated a Milind Soman and the likes. I swooned when I saw a good looking guy, and I fell when the guy looked back at me. But, if I had to be interested in someone for more than a fraction of a second, it had to be something more. I realised then that it was never about his looks, however hard he tries; SRK was never and will never be the conventionally good looking chocolate boy/man. It began with his eyes, the way he would look at you, be it in a movie or while giving an interview. His eyes were animated, there was passion and respect and he was conveying all of that just by looking at you. His eyes were never sleazy or vulgar, him looking at anyone never looked cheap. I learnt that men are supposed to look at women like that. That was about as physical as it got.

I love him for showing me how women are supposed to be loved. No, I am not talking about his onscreen romancing skills. He taught me that a woman is supposed to be loved for who she is and what she is. If there is a condition, it can never be love. His love story is a testimony to this. I love him for showing me that love is a feeling that needs to be spread around but you will always have that someone special who will hold your heart and that one person’s love is something you will never disrespect. I still remember in an interview when he said, “yes, my kids will be asked about my romantic dynamics and chemistry with all my female co-actors and I want them to say that yes my father loves all those women, but he hasn’t and he will never disrespect my mother.” This line by itself taught me all I had to learn about love and relationships that last. He taught me that if a person forces me to lose my dignity and integrity then that person is not the right one. I got over the on screen love, romance and dancing and all the gestures (except the look, you can’t take that away), but I realised love and respect surpasses all.

SRK is timeless, for different ages through my life he taught me something, he grew with me and so did my love. I love him for his wit, his smart alecs, his charm, his understanding of his business and a lot more. At any and every age in my life, SRK will always have what I am looking for in a man. He always made sure I knew that I will never have to settle for something that I do not deserve. He reminds me that people will say what they want to say about you, but what you think of yourself is all that matters. He reminds me that following your heart is important, even if it makes you fall flat on your face. He reminds me that wit and humour will get you everywhere when your looks don't. He teaches me that age is just a number, you can graciously accept it and still be young for as long as you want.

SRK, you’re timeless to me…
 

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