Why people in south love Shah Rukh Khan

Rana Siddiqui Zaman | NT

Bengaluru: This is the power of patience, forgiveness, foresightedness and marketing strategy.

How SRK adopts it, perhaps parallels no one in the Hindi film industry. Khan is like that politician who prepares a strategy to kick out his opponent 15 years in advance, without anyone knowing except his loyal public relation aide and wife Gauri.

Just sample this. Khan’s super praises about the south, largely begin with him openly hailing Rajnikath as his master, from whom he learnt so much and yet feels like a child.

In his 2006 film “Don”, Khan had picked up some of his swag, especially his cigarette smoking flair.

Not new to the North Indian audiences, this was, but noticed. In 2011 in an interview, Khan again hailed Rajnikath. In 2012, in “RA-One” directed by Anubhav Sinha, Khan imitated Rajnikath’s style to the hilt and kept on giving interviews about “no comparison between him and ‘Sir’ Rajnikanth”.

With his immense bonding with Rohit Shetty, Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment made Chennai Express in 2013. Though the film largely tried to have a funny association with lungi/mundu-wearing south Indians, a touch of tradition through Deepika’s character as a true, devoted south Indian wife, was hailed by the audiences.

Khan had made a nice move. The songs of the film were a hit too. South of India nearly worships Rajnikath. Anyone hailing these actors, will never go unnoticed, more so when it is SRK himself.

The love for actors such as Kamal Haasan, Suriya, Prabahas, Allu Arjun, Karthik and Ajith etc., seems never-ending among the southern audiences. Khan had to make an entry into this fleet of people-backed actors hailed in the entire southern states.

“Jawan” was just the right choice! The strategy to make the film, take Atlee as its director, build a bonding with Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani and Yogi Babu through the film as co actors, promoting the film with them and releasing it in Hindi, Tamil and Telegu languages, Khan made another timely choice, a perfect marketing strategy.

The south Indian society is largely secular. Their films raise issues and also solve problems by hitting politician-corporate nexus below the belt with a pro-people approach.

The film “Jawan” that not only picks up issues of health, disability and orphans but also hits with socio-politically charged dialogues that Khan could never express whenever he was embroiled in the controversy over his religion and political ideology.

The film has Khan almost in every frame with the dual role of father (Azad Rathod) and son (Vikram Rathod). For a normal audience who hail their own south Indian stars, Khan has come as a welcome change. His role as a soldier, notwithstanding.

Cinema lover and a diehard Rajnikath fan, Augustine from Chennai sums it up.

“For us Tamilians, Rajnikanth will always be the super star. He has risen from the rank. For us he is a total package. But we had accepted Shah Rukh Khan ever since he came as a hero in ‘Uriye’, directed by Mani Ratnam; ‘Dil se’ in Hindi. The song Chaiyya Chaiyya that was shot in Ooty still remains among our favourtes of hi among us Tamilians.”

But here is another one that wins Khan a hysterical fan following in the south and that has also contributed to his success in the south; his power game of entertaining people.

“Nine years ago he came for a function of Vijaya TV from Mumbai, where actors Suriya and Vijay were also there. The two just spoke about the show for a few minutes and sat back but Shah Rukh Khan came, spoke and started dancing too. This swept the audience away. Never ever in any events or television or public show, any south Indian stars dance. They wave, talk and go. They keep reserve. But each time SRK comes, he sends flying kisses, talks humility and dances,” Augustine explains.

It is new for the audiences in the south. Not only this gesture but also Khan’s typical style that no south Indian stars have, wins him accolades. It converts into hysteria after he encourages the audiences to sway along with him.

Since January this year, Khan had often took over twitter to praise his Jawan co-actor Vijay Sethuapthy and his great equation with Rajnikath ‘sir’, especially during around the release of his last film Pathan. No wonder, on the first day of “Jawan” release, it is known to have earned Rs.75 crore in India for all the languages, 65 crore in Hindi, and 5 crore net each in both Tamil and Telegu.

Notably, Rajnikath’s “Jailer” was on its fourth successful week on September 7 when “Jawan” saw its first day in the cinema hall. By