He told you “Love is friendship"; when he danced in the rain, your heart did too; his tears made you realize what a broken heart feels like. Quite literally, he taught you how to love. For most of us, even our parents, elder siblings, friends our age, and even people born after us, in other words, for the Babyboomers, Gen X, Millenials, Gen Z, and even Gen Alpha - love means Shah Rukh Khan.
Today, on the occasion of love, let's revisit five of SRK's most romantic films that defined love for us:
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, or Love 101
Released in 1995, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge united the love rebels with family. It taught us that the joy of finding love is even greater when you have your family by your side. Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) promised to never elope with Simran (Kajol) but win her hand from her family and successfully did that in the end. With laughs, tears, and promises that were kept – Raj Malhotra contributed to our idea of what a true Romantic, boyfriend and husband is! Can you even imagine anyone else as Raj?!
Dil To Pagal Hai, or the founder of our faith in love
As one of the first Bollywood films to have introduced the concept of “Valentines’ Day”, Dil To Pagal Hai played a massive role in shaping the Romantics that we are. It was released in 1997 and it made our hearts dance with its lovely music and asthetics. The film affirmed “Someone, somewhere, is made for you”. With eyes wide open, we witnessed it coming true when Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) and Pooja (Madhuri Dixit) confessed their love for each other on the stage in the final scene! Rahul’s charm and charisma could never be matched by anyone but Shah Rukh Khan!
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, or the first love you will never forget
Rahul returned to us a year later in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998. This time, we saw Rahul coming of age. In college, he made a mistake in love (choosing the pretty girl he did not really love over the tomboy he actually loved), which he fixed years later when he met Anjali (Kajol) again – meanwhile giving us the whole story of the film. We believed Rahul when he said “We live once, we die once, we love once and we marry once”; we believed him again when he did just the opposite! That is the power of Shah Rukh Khan that he channels into his characters.
Mohabbatein, or the chapter on love you wouldn’t want to skip
Raj Malhotra came back as Raj Aryan Malhotra (Shah Rukh Khan) to Gurukul and to our lives in Mohabbatein, released in 2000. With a violin in his hands, a sweater wrapped around his shoulders and that ever-mesmerizing-enchanting-captivating smile on his face, Shah Rukh Khan as Raj A. Malhotra taught his students that there is no greater power in the world than love. There will never be a better teacher and an advocate of love than him!
Veer-Zaara or the greatest ode to love
A Pakistani girl named Zaara Hayat Khan (Preity Zinta) came to India to perform her nanny’s last rites and met Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, an Indian Air Force pilot. They fell madly in love but parted ways because it wasn’t destined for them to unite… yet. The lovers finally saw each other for the first time in twenty-two years in the heart-wrenching court scene, where we cried our eyes out, while our hearts ached with a beautiful melancholy. Veer painted a majestic picture of what love is on an otherworldly level, and Shah Rukh Khan exhibited that painting through his eyes. The film haunted us with its artistic portrayal of love when it was released in 2004 and continues to do so till today.
The man who made generations fall in love with love, deserves to be celebrated everyday - but a little more today, on the day of love. For us Bollywood kind of lovers, it's not Cupid that strikes us with the love-arrows, but Shah Rukh Khan.
