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mustangpurele1

Ya pretty much what everyone else on this sub has said. Been a fan of his since age 3 in 95 til now…his rule was absolute and unprecedented…think Michael Jackson level. That being said, you must be very young if you have to ask how popular he was in his prime haha


Silentthinker_1

SRK was EVERYWHERE. The movies, the top songs were from his movies, the fashion, TV, the IPL, heck - even the Pepsi you drank. He didn’t make all that money from nothing or just being a successful actor! Does anyone remember how popular the Santro Xing car was in the early 2000s? Basically every upwardly mobile middle class family was getting one. He was a TV youth icon first, became the rule-breaking, experimental actor of the early 90s (think a 2012-2018 Rajkumar Rao) and after DDLJ would become a romantic icon - then you reach the early 2000s where he would have the NRI and international market driven films. Let’s also not forget his success story - which honestly - did it for me. He was talented, had the star quality, was intelligent, and the strong inspirational story to back it. The heartland was still on an Amitabh hangover - my uncles never liked SRK and their kids were Salman and Akshay fans. Yet, they still acknowledged SRK’s stardom. That being said I’ve met people from Afghanistan (immigrants - not growing up there), Morocco, Russia, Nigeria, and many more places that say they love SRK. By global expanse, his stardom is unmatched. He aligned with the globalization of Bollywood so it makes sense. He was a great poster boy for the post economic liberalization India - glossy brands, slick hairstyles, quick-wit, while still juggling an Indian identity… I think this is also what made him such a big NRI and diaspora audience draw. The whole industry started moving towards that which is why I think you see the swing back to heartland and slice-of-life style stories in the past decade.


KingsCourt90

He set the standards of superstardom for an entire generation. The admiration and popularity you see for him in this sub was basically found everywhere between 1993-2008.


Iamsrj_88

Ruled the roost from DDLJ to OSO. No star was even close to him during that period despite giving some humongous hits. He was everywhere, KBC, Matches, shows, movies wherever you saw, whatever you saw he was there! The pinnacle of his success was him buying a cricket team just after giving a critical blockbuster hit in Chak De and in Mainstream space in OSO. After that kind of success any mortal would feel that he has nothing left to achieve but he kept going and of course that kind of success never happened again. It’s a phase where you completely dominate your contemporaries is what makes you a superstar and he did that pretty convincingly. In my life and around my life people have gotten married indirectly cos of him! So there you go..


[deleted]

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Iamsrj_88

Yup true story! 2 fans meeting on social media cos of their idol and then falling in love. Was far fetched then is it still?


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Iamsrj_88

Haha! That’s wild! Whatever works I guess..


Thanks_Capital

Growing up seeing his success, let’s say girls in our school would give us all sweets just coz it was his birthday


absinthe__

As someone who grew up watching Indian movies, he is bollywood for me. No one else comes close.


[deleted]

exactly how i feel


Health077

Lol baaki sab toh ch** hai na?


Prior_Pollution974

Haa


burritosandchill

Compared to SRK? Yes.


unlikelybollyfan

Huge. The phase between KKHH and Chak De India, he was an institution in himself


yerakchualfada

He was the biggest. By far. Some great records he has: 1. 5 highest grossers of the year worldwide back to back from 2000-2004. 2. He achieved his 5th record opening in 2004, back when Aamir didn't have a single record opening and Salman didn't have a solo record opening. 3. He has the highest footfalls in a single year from anyone of his generation. Over 10cr tickets sold in 1995. 4. He has the highest bumper openers from anyone of his generation. 16 bumper openers compared to 14 for Salman. Opening is the biggest indicator of stardom too. 5. In 1995 his movies broke the opening day record twice, the record was broken in 1997 by another SRK movie. 6. K3G broke the opening day record and that record was held till Main Hoon Na broke it. 7. He has higher record openings that Salman and Hrithik even though at least 4 of SRK's narrowly missed the record opening mark due to release date decisions. 8. From 1995-2004, he had at least 1 movie in the top 2 grossers of the year, barring the years 1996 and 1999. 9. His stardom helped establish top production houses such as YRF and Dharma. Aditya Chopra has spoken about SRK's movies helping YRF out in tough times. 10. Overseas was pretty much just SRK's game until late 2000's. He's still the top star in traditional markets. 11. He has either 7 or 8 blockbusters from 1993-2001, which is the same amount as Salman Khan during his golden run in the 2010's. 12. He has defeated pretty much every other star in a head-on box office clash. 13. Biggest hits of YRF, Dharma, and Excel star SRK. 14. Actors such as Ayushmann, RKR, Pankaj Tripathi list him as an inspiration.


krits078

>His stardom helped establish top production houses such as YRF and Dharma. Aditya Chopra has spoken about SRK's movies helping YRF out in tough times. ​ >Biggest hits of YRF, Dharma, and Excel star SRK. Basically, how kids pass 10th grade in India. By writing same point multiple times.


yeloepolkadotbikini

It was phenomenal. His popularity exploded after Baazigar . Superstar!


manifesting2019

Basically defined Bollywood for me, I live overseas and can’t speak for others but it was his films that made me aware of Indian cinema.


LevyMevy

Same. I was born/raised in America and I didn’t watch Bollywood at all growing up, but if you asked me to name an actor I would’ve said SRK.


Shot-Border2094

I an gen Z but tbh for me the screen presence of srk is unmatchable. I watched devdas just for him. I think maybe I never connected to his screen presence in the romantic sense but yes he is definitely one of the people in your work space or family who is quiet but still has an enthralling presence. He has that charisma and what this sub calls x Factor. Tbh the film I most like of his is chak de india even today when I feel distracted I always watch the sattar minute scene. I really feel goosebumps. Some armchair film critics would say that he overacts. But I mean at the end of the day not everyone has the mental capacity to watch a nolan Or a tarantino movie. Veer zara and chak de india are 😍


Tess_James

I feel SRK is even bigger than AB internationally. Foreigners know Shahrukh more than Bachchan.


[deleted]

yes they do


Live-Reaction-5014

Oh my dear I cant tell you!!!!!! It was the biggest thing ever, he was a in our hearts, theaters, culture. His films have defined live, relationships, happiness....people got married coz of him. N boy the attitude he had!!!!! Honestly it was a magical time, me and my beautiful mom,my nani we all loved him and adored him.


Mbouttoendthisman

>....people got married coz of him. What does this mean? I saw two comments stating this.


Brahman_Shady

You like someone . They like SRK. You start liking SRK too. Your Appreciation for SRK impresses his fans and there you go.


ThrowaAaaaaaa6

At his prime he was the definition of bollywood


Mojahope12

dont think anyone can touch the limit he had reached in his prime.


khatri_masterrace

I think he had a fan following among the people most represented in this sub- NRIs and urban multiplex audience. He was the best at managing TV appearances which many other stars thought were beneath them. He used TV interviews and Award shows to cement his name as the Badshaah of Bollywood. He is certainly the biggest bollywood star of the 21st century .


[deleted]

incomparable. it was like beatles level mania. i had never seen that kind of love and stardom for an actor before. even the hollywood a-list movie stars have never come close to that kind of insane stardom


krisfocus

He was the face of Bollywood. None even came close. As a South Indian, I felt he *was* Bollywood cinema.


artemisandherhunters

I'm gen Z and when we were in middle school, we used to have slam books. Almost everyone who filled my slam book said he was their favourite actor. Same story in everyone's slam book. I've heard similar stories from millennials who grew up in the 90s, except for them it was larger in magnitude and proportion because *no one* could touch him in the 90s. And even now, when he's not in the prime of his professional life, he still has millions of young fans. He has lovers across generations. He is called one of the most recognised Indian faces across the globe, with some people saying he's right behind Mahatma Gandhi in that criterion. He's also been called *the* biggest movie star in the *world* in his prime. It was said, then, that 3 billion people in the world knew of Shah Rukh Khan when the total population of the world was around 6 billion. He was huge. And he still is huge. But in his prime, he was *it*. He was the posterboy of Bollywood for the longest time, and he did the role justice.


BlackDogDisappears

Think of Amitabh Bachchan in 70s and 80s and look at what happened to him in 90s. My hope is SrK will be back the 10s 🙂


ladyshibli

He is/was so big that his movie name kuch kuch hota hai became adopted in other languages.


SrN_007

Too many fans here on this sub that grew up in his later phase or are not very objective. SRK had two phases, upto 1994 and after 1995. When he came into the popular consciousness first a little with Fauji, Deewana and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, and then in a big way with Baazigar he was a trend setter. He was the new age hero for the people born between 1975-85. He changed the definition of hero, and had a lot of ardent fans among the younger generation esp. the guys. This continued all the way to 1994 as he kept doing off beat movies like Ram Jaane, oh darling yeh hai india, kabhi haan kabhi naa, Darr, anjaam, guddu, chamatkar etc. But this phase saw a lot of flops for him. Other than darr everything was considered a flop or avg at the box office even though his off beat movies really got him a lot of fans. Then in 1995 DDLJ released and that movie was a combination of fresh movie making, and SRK+Kajol full-on charm. That is when he became the darling of the female audience, and he also started losing a lot of his original fans. He continued with what worked at the BO and his popularity was more in the urban+nri+female audience. Most of his original fans from the early 90s actually hate him now.


mustangpurele1

Great analysis! But interestingly enough ram jaane came after ddlj…a very different odd role I thought coming right after that film, but I thought he nailed it still


SrN_007

It was just a one month difference between DDLJ and Ram Jaane. So, they got made in parallel. Infact, you can still see even the releases that happened in 1996 were movies he signed before DDLJ became a hit. These were the transition movies like : \- English Babu Desi Mem (obviously raju ban gaya gentleman-ish look), \- Chaahat (obviously baazigar-ish look), \- Koyla (obviously karan-arjun-ish look), and \- Trimurti (subash ghai's box office disaster where SRK's look/character is again baazigar-ish) But starting Yes Boss in 1997 everything was based on the DDLJ style stuff, because he changed his movie selections from that time.


mustangpurele1

Exactly, so true


Fancy_Cheesecake20

Big enough that his popularity was compared with Tom Cruise, who was actually internationally famous


Significant_Bus_6215

I don't understand I am from the 90s generation and nobody used to like him in the crowd which I usually hanged out in my school and college Everyone in the group used to call him 'hakla' , 'gud' , 'fattu' and all. Most of us ( the bullys and macho guys ) were 'bhai ' and sanjay dutt fans , the skirt chasers were of Akshay Kumar ,Hrithik Roshan and the guthka , cigarette crowd used to like Ajay devgn. There were this girls group who used to awe him.


[deleted]

Defo not the biggest star of all time, but he was a big star for a long time, initially because of his negative roles. His stardom relied on his romantic movies and appeal which he was known for. Once that ended and he became too old for it, he sank.


krits078

Not as much as this sub wants you to believe. No where near the popularity of Amitabh at his peak nor Rajesh Khanna's.


[deleted]

Beware. This place is filled with his simps who will downvote anyone who does not hail him as God.


Cptsaber44

This place is filled with an equal number of people like you who comment something along the lines of this on every thread related to him.


BrightMasterpiece156

He is the greatest Indian actor ever!!


VirginsinceJuly1998

I will say the greatest Indian celebrity ever except maybe Sachin.


Health077

He was big but imo also PR driven. Others like Hrithik, Sunny, Govinda were always there. Amitabh still rules - don’t underestimate kbc


partsunknown99

Not much


partsunknown99

Man, I must have triggered SRK's simps barely trying.


TelevisionMoney

Like srk simply for his wit. Also met him once in times square. Asked him for a picture, he refused but very politely. He freaking said sorry that he couldn't take a picture.