25 years of SRK: How Darr and Baazigar changed Shah Rukh Khan as an actor
When Rishi Kapoor turned down the negative role offered to him by Yash Chopra and suggested Shah Rukh Khan's name instead, little did he know that he was putting this new actor on the glittering path of stardom.
"I had worked with Shah Rukh in Deewana (1992) and knew that he was smart and capable. I don't know what happened thereafter because I heard that Yash ji offered the role to Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgn. But ultimately he did go to Shah Rukh and the rest is history," narrated Rishi Kapoor in Khullam Khulla, his candid biography.
Rishi was then offered the role played by Sunny Deol in this film which too he refused as he felt it would mean "playing second fiddle to the villain, who was clearly the pivotal character in the film".
It was really very early in his career that Shah Rukh accepted Baazigar and Darr, the two films that cast him as an anti-hero. He had played an impressive role in Deewana opposite Divya Bharti. He was Raja, innocent but rebellious, full of life and love. He made a stormy entry (riding a motorbike) straight into the hearts of the audience with his "Koi na koi chahiye, pyaar karne wala". However, at that time, the journey towards becoming King Khan had just begun. It was his first baby step to becoming the phenomenon he went on to become.
SRK has said many a time that he did not think he was doing something "gutsy" by taking on these negative roles. He just wanted to act and as long as he could do that, he did not mind whether the role was positive or negative. He thought he was not good looking enough and just wanted to be an actor. Both films, huge box-office hits with beautiful songs, showed him as a villain and yet lodged him firmly in peoples' hearts. His endearing charm was so strong that the negative shades of the characters could not hide it. As the mentally disturbed, obsessive lover (Rahul Mehra) in Darr, he gets our sympathy despite his bad intentions.
In Baazigar, as the revengeful Ajay Sharma (Vicky), he has many moments where we get to see him as a romantic hero, singing Anu Malik's melodious duets. Those moments, along his villainous scenes, show how he could shift from being one character to the other so effortlessly.
This film was Kajol's first commercial success and also the first in which SRK and Kajol were paired. Remember, this was before the great milestone called DDLJ! The music of Darr and Baazigar was lilting and heart-warming, giving both films an ambience that overpowered the negative strains of the stories. Twenty-five years later, songs like "Jaadu teri nazar", "Tu mere saamne, main tere saamne", "Aye mere hamsafar, aye meri jaane jaan", "Baazigar o baazigar, tu hai bada jaadugar" and "Chhupana bhi nahin aata" are as loved as they were then. Darr had music by the famous Shiv-Hari, Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia, the great maestros.
When SRK has to take a beating in Darr and Baazigar, our hearts go out for him. Despite the obvious black shades in the characters he plays, we cannot help sympathising with him. That is the power of his personality, his childlike charm and mesmerising smile. When I saw these films back then, I felt all this. He was not King Khan then! But the qualities and mannerisms that made him rule the film industry subsequently were all there. He was born to win hearts. Deewana had already shown us how much attraction he could exude through his innocent and straightforward manner of playing a character. The personality of this youngster was clearly reflected in his roles and gave them a dimension which made them rise above the script and helped us see the warm and spontaneous person behind the actor and the role.
Many years ago, SRK had said in an interview that he had been inspired by Shammi Kapoor's vibrancy and exuberance greatly. This can be seen in his energetic performances.
Besides Darr and Baazigar, another SRK film that was released in 1993 was Maya Memsaab, a Ketan Mehta venture based on Gustave Flaubert's famous novel Madame Bovary. The film was very different from the two crime (psychological) thrillers of SRK that year. It was not successful at the box-office but did win a Special Mention Award at 1993's National Awards. Shah Rukh and Deepa Sahi's explicitly bold, intimate scene in the film was the talk of the town.
In all these three films, Shah Rukh was far from what Indian audiences accept as the perfect hero. Far from it. And yet, his magic worked and how. And just two years later (in 1995) came the landmark Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) to establish this young star forever as one that shone the brightest.
It is indeed an enriching experience to watch these films of King Khan once again, 25 years after they were made. In them, one can easily sense the impact which would multiply over the coming years to create the persona of a star who would be King Khan, the one and only Shah Rukh Khan.