Shar Rukh Khan - Acting Style and Analysis

Acting Style and Analysis

Khan is often considered as an instinctive and spontaneous actor. Aziz Mirza described Khan as a "natural" explaining that he had "a rawness in him" and "a crowd appeal, even when he was just with friends." He is also known to committing heavily to each role and doing monumental research for his characters. Commenting on this, director Karan Johar said: "He has no limit and no limitation. He can give a role much more than what you can dream of. He can do anything and be anyone. Also, what really makes him stand apart is the fact that he goes by the tonality of the character. He is somebody who has no boundaries."

During the span of his career, Khan has played an array, of roles from various film genres; romantic dramas, comedies, action thrillers, horrors, sport films, period films and Sci-fi superhero films. Following the success of Baazigar (1993) and Darr (1993), Khan's film roles were subject to wide critical analysis. His performance in the early stages of his career has often been described as "spontaneous", "energetic", "intense" and " honest". The Daily News and Analysis wrote:" then he came, sliding down stairs on a slab of ice, cartwheeling, somersaulting, lips trembling, eyes trembling, bringing to the screen the kind of physical energy not seen since Shammi Kapoor in his heydays. This was a totally different kind of acting from we had ever seen – visceral, intense, maniacal one moment and cloyingly boyish the next." He was also praised for being a risk taker by "pushing the envelope" playing characters that were considered taboo at the time. Khan was credited for changing the image of the typical conventional Indian hero; being one of the pioneers of returning the romantic boyish character to the Indian screen. Harish Dugh from The Indian Express noted: "The die was cast when Khan replaced the Bachchan bravado with the portrayal of a very humane and likeable, simple and feeling young man." and added: "Welcome to a new-look Bollywood. Today, it stands virtually transformed by SRK single-handedly into an entity that caters to people's desire to see their superstar reflect their own weaknesses, pain and anguish."

With the release of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Khan began his long lasting foray into the romantic genre which will continue with numerous films such as Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Devdas (2002), Veer-Zaara (2004) and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012). Due to his appearance in these films, he has developed a "romantic lover" image and has been often tagged as an icon of romance in Hindi cinema. An image that has been met with polarizing reactions; while some argue that he "became trapped in the conventional romantic lover-boy image, continuing to essay, over the years, a series of roles that were mind-numbingly alike" others debate that "it is the romantic SRK that |I] connect with the most" and that he "plays the romantic man with such pizzazz and in the old-world style that he is treat to watch, as he woos the hearts of his co-stars and his audience!". Anupama Chopra further noted: "You have to admire his ability to play the romantic hero. We've seen him do it for two decades but he still makes it compelling."

Following his portrayal of such characters as those in Dil Se.. (1998), Swades (2004), Chak De! India (2007) and My Name Is Khan (2010) and Don 2 (2011), Khan was recognized for his versatility. In 2010, Filmfare Magazine included two of his performances—from Swades and Chak De! India—in its list of "80 Iconic Performances". The Indian Express noted: has tailored and leveraged his acting skills in such a versatile manner as to impress a demanding audience world-over with his ability to change his acting in a manner unforeseen in the annals of Indian cinema."