I popped awake at 3am this morning and could not get back to sleep. So, I am not thinking very straight and I want to put up a discussion post to save myself from having to write stuff. Save me! Respond! Even if you aren’t an SRK fan, you can still have an opinion so long as you have seen at least one of his recent movies.
Shahrukh’s great decade of popularity was the early 2000s, that sweet spot when the global market was exploding. But I think the past 10 years have been perhaps his most artistically fulfilling decade. And certainly a very varied one! Let’s take a look at every movie he has made since 2010 and pick from these 5 categories:
1.Objectively Highest Quality Film that You Would Recommend to Film Critics
2. The Film(s) You Absolutely Fell in Love With and Were Obsessed With
3. Your Comfort Food Movie That You Put On When You Want to Be Happy
4. The Film You Really Wish He Hadn’t Made
5. The Film You Really Wish He Had Made Better
My Name is Khan
Ra.One
Don 2
Jab Tak Hain Jaan
Chennai Express
Happy New Year
Dilwale
Fan
Dear Zindagi
Raees
Jab Harry Met Sejal
Zero
For me,
1.Objectively Highest Quality Film that You Would Recommend to Film Critics
Fan. Not even close, the script and directing and special effects and (most of all) the central performance in that movie is just jawdropping.
2. The Film(s) You Absolutely Fell in Love With and Were Obsessed With
Jab Harry Met Sejal, of course, saw it soooo many times. But also Chennai Express. I know it is a silly action movie, but it just made me happy! I saw it in theaters, and then streaming, over and over again.
3. Your Comfort Food Movie(s) That You Put On When You Want to Be Happy
Two very different movies, Dear Zindagi and Happy New Year. Dear Zindagi for the nice Shahrukh speeches that make you feel good about your life choices, and Happy New Year for the wackiness and great songs.
4. The Film You Really Wish He Hadn’t Made
Zero I guess. It’s a close tie with Jab Tak Hain Jaan, with both of them my issue is that he wasted so much time making a flawed product. And with Zero, it was more time than JTHJ, so I guess Zero more than JTHJ is the one I wish he hadn’t made.
5. The Film You Really Wish He Had Made Better
My Name is Khan. It is so close to a great movie, but just barely not there.
dontcallitbollywood 
I think, you know by now that I can’t do these kind of ‘ranking’ with ShahRukh’s movies…he almost always invest so much of himself that I have difficulties to blame ShahRukh as he trusts the respective director.
I genuinely think that all his directors of this decade tried to do gripping movies and to showcase ShahRukh’s acting abilities…the only one I would blame (slightly) is Karan, because he wanted to make a serious movie (Farah didn’t have this aspiration with HNY, neither had Rohit Shetty).
My feelings about JTHJ and Zero are – contrary to yours – very positive.
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Forget the rankings part, which one is your “I have a cold and it’s raining out, I just want something cheerful” watch?
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 12:21 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Everyone of them…
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1. Fan of course
2. Jab Harry met Sejal
3. None of them, because I rarely rewatch movies but JHMS is my favourite movie from the list and the first choice for rewatch.
4. Easy! Zero
5. JTHJ
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Look at that! We almost completely agreed. And I could maybe be convinced to switch my vote for 5 to JTHJ from MNIK. I love the SRKajol in MNIK, but then JTHJ had such a great soundtrack, location shooting, and even cast. The only thing wrong was a few tiny parts of the script. While MNIK needed way more over haul than that.
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 1:13 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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What do you think about changing the director of MNIK?
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I don’t know, Karan did so good drawing out the performances from his leads. Maybe keep Karan but transport him back in time from the future? I feel like he grows by leaps and bounds film to film and year to year, I want to see what a post-ADHM Karan would do with MNIK.
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 1:20 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think Karan still has a lot of confusion in his head (see: Kalank) so in my opinion he should have somebody who guides him and tells him the truth when he needs it.
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Hmm. You may have convinced me. Maybe Aditya Chopra to direct MNIK instead? Kind of a companion piece to DDLJ’s consideration of the NRI romance and lifestyle?
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 2:33 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Interesting idea, but maybe I would prefer Karan as the director and Aditya as his supervisor.
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Maybe once the kids get married and the movie studios merge.
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 2:42 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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1. Fan, after an explanation on film and star fandom in India
2. Jab Harry Met Sejal and Chennai Express
3. Jab Harry Met Sejal and Dear Zindagi
4. Happy New Year I guess, not one of my favourites.
5. Raees deserved better.
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Awww, don’t cut Happy New Year! It’s so cheerful.
But I am glad someone out there cares about poor Raees. So much good in that movie, and then it kind of got wasted away.
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 1:44 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I agree almost 💯 with you Margaret.u comfort food movie is always gonna be HNY – I always want to laugh when I need comfort. Although I like JTHJ so I’ll leave Zero as the zero of my list. Just didn’t like anything about it. MNIK would have been a LOT better without the ridiculous time collapsing history piece. But they were superb in the film.
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What’s your feeling about Chennai Express? It was his last box office record breaker, but I don’t find people talking about it that much any more. And I really love it!
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 9:39 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I actually really like Chennai Express. I wonder if it doesn’t get as much talk BECAUSE it was a hit. People want to beat up on his films. Not us. I’m officially adding CE to the films I watch when I need a laugh. But also I think the chemistry w Deepika (here, in OSO and HNY) is more sibling-ish. Maybe that’s it? The outside world wants Shahrukh to be the same Shahrukh he was in DDLJ forever. So they want explosive chemistry, they want him to be youthful, they want him to be having fun. When he acts as a real human with feelings or darkness they don’t want it.
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Thank you for pointing out that CE has a dark SRK! It looks like this happy silly romance, and it is that, but it is also one of his most honest characters he has played in recent years.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 3:35 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes! He’s selfish, annoyed at her, scared of being in danger…all real stuff
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And there’s the very delicate handling of his midlife crisis, resistance of growing up and taking responsibility.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 3:49 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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1. Fan
2. JHMS, and Fan after I went back to it
3. Pieces of JHMS, Dilwale, and Raees, I think because I like those characters best, they’re the ones I want to hang out with.
4. Happy New Year
5. Zero first, because I think he carries the biggest share of responsibility for that one, and MNIK in terms of potential for greatness if its problems were fixed.
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Awww, you can’t get rid of HNY! That’s my comfort movie!
And now I am picturing the heroes of Raees, JHMS, and Dilwale all hanging out together! I think they would get along great. And they could commiserate about the difficult women they were all in love with.
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 11:15 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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1. Fan (MNiK is close but Fan is perfection)
2. JHMS
3. Chennai Express, HNY
4. None
5. Too much screen time for artists that aren’t Shah Rukh Khan or Kajol.
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Woot, another Chennai Express lover! Although in your comfort area not your “I fell in love with it” area, but I’ll still take it.
Fan really is perfect, seems like that is the universal choice.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 7:06 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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1. Don 2
2. Dear Zindagi
3. Dilwale
4. Zero
5. Raees (I hate the ending of that movie so damn much).
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Wait wait wait! JHMS is NOT your “absolutely fell in love” movie??? What are you even doing on this site! Joking of course, in fact you are a very interesting person bucking the trend with DZ as your “absolutely in love with it” movie.
Did you see Emily’s comment about Raees being one of her comfort movies because she just likes the characters so much? It’s true! Shahrukh and Mahima and Zeeshan in that movie are just such nice people. And then horrible things happen to them for no reason, blech.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 8:42 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I did and completely agree about Raees. I love everything about the movie besides the STOOOPID STOOOPID ending. So, if the ending was fixed, it would be one of my comfort movies.
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To me, DZ was so radical while still being so entertaining. Plus, Shah Rukh’s character in it was just so swooney.
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So swoony! And he has a beach house!
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The swooniest
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It wouldn’t have the depth if Shahrukh pulled off another neat trick and escaped, but it would be a great comfort movie.
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But killing SRK the way he did is just so completely out of character for Nawaz that it just brings me right out of the movie.
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Just cut the whole depressing “we are suddenly out of money all of a sudden, oh oops terrorism!” part I think. Have Shahrukh be elected, have the state powers go after him even harder, have it appear that Nawaz is working with them, and then at the last minute have Nawaz reveal it was all a plan to help Shahrukh and have them make a deal to help Shahrukh be CM, although Nawaz promises to continue trying to take him down in order to balance power. Kind of like Guru.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 10:59 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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YES!!!!!! I love your iterations of movies soo much better than the actual movies. Thoughts on moving to India and working as a director? I would totally come visit!
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But India is so hot….
Plus, I feel like I am too good for Indian film. They don’t deserve me.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 12:00 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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So very true on both statements. The industry needs to woo you like Raj wooed Simran. Or just have ShahRukh ask you to move to Mumbai and direct his next movie.
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And then buy me air conditioning. Lots and lots of air conditioning.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 1:46 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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1.Objectively Highest Quality Film that You Would Recommend to Film Critics
Fan, JHMS
2. The Film(s) You Absolutely Fell in Love With and Were Obsessed With
JHMS
3. Your Comfort Food Movie That You Put On When You Want to Be Happy
JHMS
4. The Film You Really Wish He Hadn’t Made
Ra one – or maybe I wish they had marketed it better, so that people understood what they were getting into. This is the first of the high concept movies that became his hallmark in the 2010s, but the Bollywood audience wasn’t ready for high concept yet.
5. The Film You Really Wish He Had Made Better
Zero
JHMS
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But, JHMS is also your objectively highest quality film! How can it be made better? Or is it another marketed better issue?
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1.Objectively Highest Quality Film that You Would Recommend to Film Critics
Well I DID recommend Dear Zindagi to my film editor sister-in-law and dance hating brother.
And I finally fully watched FAN with my mother and sister and children on my father’s huge TV, and was so happy that it was such a GOOD movie.
But I think that JHMS is a perfect movie, though it is small, it is still perfect, so if there was a critic I might recommend that.
2. The Film(s) You Absolutely Fell in Love With and Were Obsessed With
JHMS
3. Your Comfort Food Movie That You Put On When You Want to Be Happy
Dilwale / JHMS
4. The Film You Really Wish He Hadn’t Made
I am grateful to SRK for making all his films and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them.
5. The Film You Really Wish He Had Made Better
Dilwale – The cars are so fun, the former gangster plot is so fun, I just wish there was more meat to the movie.
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You watched Fan with your children???? It’s so dark! I don’t think I would ever do that.
Interesting that your #5 movie is also your #3 movie! Although I guess that makes sense, comfort food can still be food that might be better.
On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 11:14 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I watched Fan with my children. They don’t really get all the psychological stuff, it’s just an action movie to them (and the action sequences are really good).
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I watched Fan with my parents and it was too scary for them. But it might be the kind of movie that is scarier at age 65 than at age 5.
On Wed, Jan 1, 2020 at 12:30 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The hardest part of Fan for the kids was the lack of a hero and lack of a full villain. But when movies are in a different language (and you can’t read the subtitles, my 8-year-old can only read Spanish), they don’t have the same intensity. The action in FAN was often more realistic than other Hindi films, BUT they are primed to think of Hindi action as unrealistic. So no, they weren’t scared, but also, they didn’t love it.
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1.Objectively Highest Quality Film that You Would Recommend to Film Critics:
Fan
2. The Film(s) You Absolutely Fell in Love With and Were Obsessed With:
I was really really into Jab Tak Hai Jaan when I first got into Hindi movies around 2014-15 ish
3. Your Comfort Food Movie That You Put On When You Want to Be Happy:
Chennai Express and now maybe some parts of JHMS
4. The Film You Really Wish He Hadn’t Made:
This would probably be Zero for me.
5. The Film You Really Wish He Had Made Better:
Dilwale, I think this will always be Dilwale for me. That was as close to a dream cast as you could have gotten for me, especially at that time and they totally blew it.
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Zero is a universally reviled movie. Most of the time I end up liking SRK’s flops but this one is unbearable. It’s not even bad in a good way like Dilwale. I can watch crappy Dilwale sometimes and still enjoy parts of it. Zero is unwatchable for me. I watched it only once and I feel like it would be punishment to have to watch it again. One of the most frustrating, boring and irritating experiences in movies I’ve ever experienced.
I still don’t understand how all those people came together and thought Zero was presentable in any way. How?!
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Yes! It’s one thing to look at a movie and say “I can see what they were going for, but they made mistakes”. With Zero, you can’t even see what the goal was!
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Dilwale is so frustrating! It could have been such a fun light passing of the baton film, and instead they somehow lost the point of it all in the middle of the SRKajol drama.
Maybe they just shouldn’t have cast Kajol? I love the little SRKajol stuff we get between them, but it should have been a movie setting up Shahrukh and Varun as the old and young star, and that got lost.
On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 9:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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1. Highest quality movie: Fan
2. Movie that I fell in love with: JHMS
3. Comfort food: Happy New Year. So stupidly fun.
4. The film he shouldn’t have made: Zero. No redeeming factor in this movie.
5. Made better: Dilwale. Hate this movie but the ingredients were there for something better. But alas. I also realized that I just cannot stand Rohit Shetty. I don’t like any of his movies, whether they star SRK or not. I know people love Chennai Express but I would take Happy New Year over it any day.
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