Aryan's arrest hits SRK's USP — champion of family values

When he was trying to convince Shah Rukh Khan to act in his debut film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Aditya Chopra told the actor that he was indeed a star, but he could never be a superstar unless he became every girl's fantasy lover, every sister's brother, and every mother's son. Till then, after the success of Baazigar (1993) and Darr, he was merely "the autorickshaw driver's hero".

Indeed, the 1995 film made him a superstar, a middle-class hero, and the darling of Non-Resident Indians with his Hindustani emotions and English money. It is the template of the romantic partner and dutiful son, crafted by Chopra and his protégé Karan Johar, that has served Shah Rukh well for almost 30 years. It has also become a trap. It is the lens the world has seen him through and though he may be cleverly trying to send it up in a new series of ads for Disney+Hotstar, it will remain his gilded cage.
Unlike his fellow Khan superstars, Aamir and Salman, who have achieved success on different terms — the former primarily as an actor playing a character and the latter as an action star — Shah Rukh has always been seen as a middle-class hero. The house may be big, the parties lavish, and the friends high profile, but Shah Rukh has always reiterated his humble origins, his education, and his work ethic. He has also always celebrated his children, doubtless because he misses his own parents, neither of whom saw the massive success he has become.