I don’t even care, I’m just doing posts that are fun for me! We all know Shahrukh’s top TOP movies, but what are the lessor known films that are still surprisingly decent?
So, I’m not including the record breaking hits like DDLJ and K3G. And I’m including the fan favorites like Paheli and Chalte Chalte and K3G. Or the critical favorites like Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa or Darr. No, these are the really obscure ones that you only stumble across if you are a TruFan, and then go “hey! This is kind of a fun movie! I bet even people who aren’t TruFan’s might enjoy it!”
Koyla! The thought of Shahrukh in a mullet playing a mute stable boy is not exactly a natural winner, but as a film, it’s surprisingly good! Shahrukh commits to the whole physical rather than verbal performance, and the plot and characters are well-developed and interesting in an action movie kind of way. The Johnny Lever part isn’t great, and the mullets never really get any better, but it is a movie worth watching.
Chamatkar
Such a cute film! Not really a “Shahrukh” movie, more a Naseeruddin Shah movie with bonus Shahrukh. And also bonus Shammi (SHAMMI!). And Urmila Matondkar being aggressive awesome going after cute little baby Shahrukh. It’s based on a Disney live action movie and it feels like a Disney live action movie, very sweet and happy and a little surreal (Naseeruddin plays a ghost, he’s awesome).
I whole-heartedly love this movie. But I still wouldn’t put it on the A or B list for Shahrukh. The plot is really wacky and random. And the cast is very odd, Jeetendra and Shatrughan Sinha and Raveena Tandon and Shahrukh and Anupam Kher in drag (at least, part of the time). It’s still worth watching though, even if you don’t end up loving it as much as me, for thinks like the surprisingly good Raveena-Shahrukh chemistry, and a great spoof of the typical romance film, and did I mention Anupam Kher in drag?
Trimurti
It’s a movie with three heroes and Shahrukh is just one of them. But it’s still a decent movie. Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor and Shahrukh have really good chemistry as brothers. And it’s a decent Subhas Ghai plot, great villain in Amrish Puri, great visuals, and some nice twists along the way to the brothers finding and recognizing each other.
Baadshah
First, because I have to say it, “Baadshah Oh Baadshah, Baadshah Oh Baadshah, Baadshah Oh Baadshah, BAAAAAAAAAAD-SHAH!” With that out of the way, let’s talk about this film! It is very very silly, definitely more on the lines of a spoof comedy than anything serious. Go into it with that attitude, and you will really enjoy it. Go into it trying to find plot and logic, and you won’t. Oh, also the songs are great. And Shahrukh and Twinkle have decent chemistry, not great, but decent.
Josh
Imagine West Side Story (yes!), in Goa (perfect!), with Shahrukh playing the bad boy gang leader (really? That doesn’t seem right), and Aishwarya Rai playing his twin (yes, this is definitely not right on so many levels). Shahrukh does a decent job with his role, and Aish even does with hers, but it is really really hard to accept them as siblings. And Aish’s guy, the “hero”, is super unattractive in basically every way. And the plot is way way too complicated. But I am still going to recommend it, because the soundtrack is decent, and Goa looks good, and there are definite moments of entertainment.
Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam
So much wrong in this movie!!!!! It took years to film with money running out and scheduling delays, and you can really feel it as they struggle to maintain character and so on. But Shahrukh and Madhuri have some really decent chemistry, and Shahrukh goes to a darker place than he usually lets himself reach. If you want a total melodrama with jealousy and misunderstandings and so on, this is probably the best in Shahrukh’s career.
Love Breakups Zindagi
Of the “Shahrukh does a cameo” performances, Luck By Chance and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil get plent of attention. But this one is surprisingly worth watching. Shahrukh plays himself, and he gives avuncular advice to a nice young couple. It’s a good look for him, a star and special and all that, but connecting on a human level with “average” people too.
Fan
This is just such an odd movie, SUCH an odd movie. It came out recently, and yet it is almost never talked about, even in the SRK fandom (so far as I can tell). It’s a brilliant performance, but its not a lovable performance, or even a lovable film, it’s much to smart and difficult to be lovable. Watch Raees for sexy dangerous SRK, watch Jab Harry Met Sejal for romantic Shahrukh, watch Dear Zindagi for wise Shahrukh, watch Zero for leaving-it-all-in-the-floor actor Shahrukh, but watch Fan for “giving everything over to the director’s vision” Shahrukh.
Gaja Gamini
Another Shahrukh cameo, an amazing one. MF Hussain made a movie that was as surreal and image driven as his paintings, and he wanted to throw Shahrukh into the middle of it, and Shahrukh said okay. He and Madhuri flirt and dance for just a few minutes and then the film moves on in a new direction. But it is well worth tracking down as one of his lessor known performances.
dontcallitbollywood 
English Babu Desi Mem — Shahrukh in a triple role (yes!) hams it up, but Sonali Bendre is the soul of the film in a heartfelt performance. Good example of “old style” Hindi film making.
Maya Memsab — SRK in a supporting role, and the opening credits acknowledgement of the novel it’s based on immediately gave away the whole thing to me, including what character SRK plays, but still worth watching for Ketan Mehta’s direction.
And speaking of Ketan Mehta, Oh Darling, Yeh Hai India — I rate it as one of SRK’s top three performances (up to about 2006 — I haven’t really kept up with his later films), along with Asoka and Dil Se, so you can watch it for that, as well as a biting satire on then current social and political situation in India. (Incidentally, SRK in an interview or award show banter with KJo — about 2002-2004 said he wants to forget he ever made this movie, which considerably lowered my opinion of him, for focusing only on box office performance and not recognizing the artistic merit of the film.)
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Also One Two Ka Four. Another film that had financial troubles and took years to finish (during which time the child actors who had important supporting roles grew up), but great performance from Juhi (she deserved the Filmfare award that year for her awesome Punjabi act a lot more than Kajol’s OTT portrayal in K3G), and lovely songs from A. R. Rehman.
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Also One Two Ka Four. Another film that ran into financial troubles and took years to complete (which mainly shows in the child actors growing up and some having to be replaced), but a great performance from Juhi and lovely songs by A. R. Rehman.
I always thought the Juhi – SRK jodi was far better than the Kajol – SRK jodi, and Juhi’s performance here as the loudmouthed Punjabi woman deserved the Filmfare award that year, and not Kajol’s much more stereotypical and OTT performance in K3G.
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Good to see you Moimeme!
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Thanks, MKP!
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Thanks, MKP!
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I have a hard time with One 2 Ka 4 just because that final third kind of loses it’s way. But that’s just me, the rest of the movie is well-made and entertaining, and if I could let my problems with the logic of the plot go, I’d enjoy it.
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Yes, make yourself happy, Margaret (and in the wake also me…and others!) :-)))
I agree with both your choices, Margaret and Moimeme, I just would include RamJaane and Duplicate.
RamJaane was a success at the time but it is rarely named on todays ShahRukh movie lists.
Duplicate isn’t loved by many, it seems to me, but I love it as the comedy it is…it is the only pure comedy and I like everything – from his silly faces to the silly story and the silly chaos.
Moimeme, moi aussi…uppps…me, too, I think it was a very good performance in ODYHI, but at the time I watched it, I maybe didn’t know enough about India to really enjoy the movie as a whole. I didn’t like at all that Amrish Puri’s character was named DonQuixote for whom I have a soft spot. I will have to rewatch it. Btw, ShahRukh has bought the rights for the movie which now belongs to his production house.
And then there is Guddu, rejected by so many because of the story…still I like it for some scenes/songs (i.e.in the grot) and for the coupling of Manisha-ShahRukh…and I rarely have qualms with filmi stories (I’m more taken aback when violence gets too heavy).
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One of my friends looooooves Duplicate to distraction, which makes no sense to me, but there is at least one person in the world who considers it her favorite SRK movie.
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Yeeeaaahhh! Give her/him a hug from my side 🙂
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I too like Duplicate and Raju Bangaya gentleman than SRK’s recent ones (post 2010). I’d also add Yes Boss and Chahat (with Ramya Krishna, mother in Bahubali)
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I meant to include Duplicate, too, which I think has a tour de force performance by SRK. So thanks for mentioning it, Claudia!
I bought Ram Jaane, but never got around to watching it. Guddu I could never find to buy, and I wasn’t motivated enough to hunt for it. 🙂
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Moimeme, if ever you want to take a look: Guddu is on Einthusan (with subtitles and free watching).
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I meant to include Duplicate, which I think has a tour de force performance by SRK (and apparently he directed some portions of it). So thanks for bringing it up, Claudia!
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Yay for this post! The ones that came to my mind on reading the headline were Raju ban Gaya Gentleman, Deewana, Koyla, Ram Jaane, and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani.
You’ll note a common theme in these, I’m sure. Shah Rukh and Juhi are by far my favorite jodi. I put them up there with the greats of Hollywood screwball comedies–Tracy and Hepburn, Grant and Hepburn, Estaire and Rogers, Gable and Colbert.
I couldn’t agree more that Juhi should have gotten the Filmfare for her triple role (Geeta, femme fatale/gangster’s moll, and cop) in One 2 Ka 4.
I’ve watched Raju ban Gaya Gentleman, Koyla, and PHDHH with non HIndi and non-Shah Rukh fans with decent results (in each case, I knew the films would fit with other films they like). Ram Jaane might be more of a TruFan love. I’m a sucker for the character, Juhi’s ok, and I love to hate the sanctimonious best “friend”–who never fails to ask for horrible sacrifices from both Ram Jaane and Juhi while somehow considering himself morally superior to both. ugh. Shah Rukh disappears into the character in ways that can’t have been easy for him personally.
I find him super charming in Deewana, especially once he becomes part of the household. I re-watch just for his interactions with his mother in law (can’t believe it’s the same lady who later plays the world’s meanest grandma in KHNH!), and his joy when his wife finally loves him back. It’s fun seeing Rishi and him play against each other too.
I like everyone else’s suggestions too, except for EBDM. I just can’t forgive his terrible English accent or the character’s extreme cruelty toward Sonali in the beginning.
I wouldn’t have thought about FAN. It gets a fair amount of love from SRKian Twitter. For the story and the double role, but also for the very gif-able Aryan Khanna! 🙂 I can see why you chose it though, Margaret.
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I find him super charming in Deewana too! The only problem with that movie, is that you really need to start in the second half when he shows up. Not just because SHAHRUKH, but because the whole plot starts getting better and better at that point. The first half is really a fairly standard love story with nothing interesting, but the second half is great.
I considered PBDHH for this list, and rejected it because I think it gets a fair amount of love, at least more at the B level. The songs alone get a lot of play. Well, and also because I was trying to keep the list to ten (I started with 15). Same with RBGG, both critical and popular love. But poor Koyla, no one wants it. The mullet of movies. And then Ram-Jaane, yeah, that’s a “TruFan” kind of film. Although I will show “Pump Up the Bhangra” to ANYONE, ANY TIME.
EBDM, there is just so much wrong with it, versus right. Chemistry between the leads is good, most of the songs are good, the triple role is fun, the kid is cute, and the overall plot (rich uncle feuding with poor auntie over custody of kid, they fall in love) is good. But Shahrukh is just way too jerky and Sonali way too good for him to make the plot as fun as it should be, and the ending goes far into tragedy, and not all of the songs are great. It’s in that tipping point where it is too good in parts to be a total “so bad it’s good”, and yet really bad in other parts.
What I’m noticing with Fan, is that no one really recommends it, right? I mean, I would recommend it 100% to anybody who is interested in seeing a high quality movie. But I would never suggest it to a casual SRK fan, or to someone who I want to love SRK. It’s just a completely Other kind of movie, doesn’t fit in his filmography quite right. Although I think Billu, OSO, and Fan are a fascinating trilogy to consider in terms of his stardom and struggling to come to terms with it.
On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 9:10 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m glad PBDHH gets love. 🙂
It’s true. It’s not thriller-y enough for Andhadun fans, doesn’t have songs, has a little bit of an uncanny valley thing going on with Gaurav. And is also heartbreaking. I think an equivalent film in the US might become a cult classic. Hope FAN does too.
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I watched Fan recently with my sons, at my older son’s request, and they were into it. They like all of SRK’s action movies and I think it was action-y enough for them, plus the good guy/bad guy SRK, plus the ending. They missed all the meta star stuff and it didn’t matter. My husband also liked it when I made him watch it with me. It might actually be easier for non SRK fans to enjoy, because they don’t take script’s twisted version of fandom personally.
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That’s a good point. My daughter watched it with me one day and liked it ok, aside from the sad ending!
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I really want to show fans to film geeks who aren’t Indian movie people. Unfortunately, I don’t know any film geeks who aren’t Indian movie people! But it’s such a brilliant movie, as a movie, even if it is completely unlike the usual Hindi film or the usual Shahrukh film.
On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 1:21 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Two others that I would add to the list are King Uncle (such a ridiculous and campy movie very loosely inspired by Annie but still really enjoyable) and Dil Ashana Hai (for basically the same reasons as King Uncle plus Dimple – LOVE – and Hema directing and producing and taking a chance on a very young and inexperianced Shah Rukh).
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I love both those movies, and you know what I find fascinating? Way way early in his career, Shahrukh was already playing second fiddle to a female lead in a non-romantic way. King Uncle is about Pooja Ruperal’s journey, and Dil Aashna Hai is about Divya Bhattia and Shahrukh is just there to like help out in the fight scenes and do some investigating. It’s really very similar to the role he ended up playing recently in Dear Zindagi. Not really romantic, but concerned and helping the young woman find her own way.
On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 9:21 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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This post is perfectly timed, I’ve been staring at the SRK movies I haven’t watched yet on Netflix and trying to decide where to go from here. Love the mini reviews and all the comments!
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So glad it was useful for you! There are some stinkers in his filmography, and none of these are like totally awesome. But I find them all really pleasant to watch!
On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 1:24 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’d like to second or third the motion on Duplicate. It was the first time I saw him change completely from one persona to another. Remember that moment in Dilwale when Varun is in the hospital and he is waiting outside for his henchmen? He stands up and you watch him become Kali again without moving anything? He does the same in a comic way in Duplicate. Its worth it for that. I happen to love Josh as well; he does a great job as the bad boy with a broken heart, not from a girl but from life. I could watch his entry in Deewana daily. When I think of past moments I’d like to be at, second to being at the Globe Theater the first time Shakepeare’s Romeo and Juliet was played is being in a Mumbai movie theater when Shah Rukh Khan roared into the world of Hindi film for the first time on his motorcycle singing.
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Josh and Duplicate both have the same problem for me, the Shahrukh bits are great, but not quite in synch with the rest of the film. Duplicate is way too serious in certain parts, and then Shahrukh’s comedy parts are so great. And Josh, I love Shahrukh as the broken hearted troubled guy, but the Aish romance is too light and just doesn’t fit with his performance.
On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 7:20 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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