I like Shahrukh month because it gives me an excuse to write out my feelings in little beautiful thought posts. And no one can speak out against me, because it’s Shahrukh Month! The Holiday Protects!!!!
This was a surprisingly hard post to start. I guess because “happiness” is one of those things you can’t really explain or describe, it just exists. Some people, for whatever reason, can bring happiness with them where ever they go.
Maybe the simplest way to describe this is to retreat to the simplest version of people, little children. When I am spending time with a group of small children, they are all wonderful, and special, and fascinating. But some of them have a strange gift of bringing happiness as well. You can see that even with babies. Some babies, whether they are laughing or crying or thinking or pooping, you look at them and it makes you happy. Other babies, not so much. There’s something inborn, some light in there that just brings more joy to the world.
It’s not “fair” of course. There are any number of actors who are talented, hardworking, well-trained, and so on, and are overlooked in favor of actors who just make people smile. Why do we love Sridevi? Madhuri? Rishi Kapoor? Hrithik Roshan? They have talent of their own kind, they work hard (it’s how they lasted so long in the profession), but the down deep answer is that they make us smile when we see them, they have a light inside that brings joy to those around them.
Somehow in recent years the value of being a happiness-bringer has been lost in critical discussions of pop culture. You have to be a good person, you have to be a talented artist, you have to have a “message”, you have to be all of those things. Someone being a success just because they make a lot of people happy isn’t enough. But I think that is wrong. We should be grateful for the gift God gave us in this person who was born with happiness inside. And we should be grateful to this person for sharing their happiness as much as they can with the people of the world. Elvis Presley may not have been a deep thinker, an educated man, a faithful husband, or a trained musician. But he had something inside of him that was amazing and, with great love, he brought that to as many people in the world as he could. Can’t we simply appreciate that?
That is something Shahrukh Khan has as well, and I think, in our discussions, we may not have given proper appreciation to it. Yes, he is an intelligent witty man, someone with a fascinating personal life, and a brilliant actor. But he also just purely makes us happy, makes all people happy. Because he was born that way, being someone who can spread happiness.
So I am going to say, “I watch Shahrukh Khan movies because they make me happy”. That’s the primary reason, and I think it is the primary reason for all of us. Forget the arguments about the hidden messages, the acting ability, all the rest of it. He makes me happy when I see him. That’s enough. And it would still be enough if he were a lazy talentless serial divorcer. Remove the Shahrukh Khan we know and love from the Shahrukh Khan we see in films, and happiness remains.
During Shahrukh Month, I want to take a moment to celebrate that. Celebrate that there is a person in the world with this enormous ability of happiness about them. That alone is reason to be thankful, reason to celebrate this person. He has brought happiness to billions, and happiness is a blessing.
dontcallitbollywood 
There are a lot of people who he can’t make happy because they did not come into contact with him – being it only a glance of a film snippet… There a a lot of people he could make happy for a certain time and then they just shut themselves to the positivity he can spread and focussed on what they (or others) perceived as negative….
I’m not sure at all about the amount of happiness he feels in himself but I’m absolutely sure that making others smile had become a goal…maybe even the main goal of his life…it’s up to the recipient how much he or she connects with this wish, I think.
ShahRukh came into my life in a crucial time and from grey my life got colourful again…he did that for many, many lives, even prevented people from commiting suicide or totally abandon themselves to depression…each person who came in contact with him has an own story to tell…it’s simply fascinating and all those stories make me very happy š
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Yes! It’s an amazing ability to just make folks happy. Underlying everything else he does and is, there is that magical power.
On Fri, Oct 9, 2020 at 11:40 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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There is a lot to be said for making people happy.
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And yet is sad so infrequently! All of the various conversations all over The Internet about pop culture, and the simple “because it makes me happy” almost never comes up.
On Fri, Oct 9, 2020 at 6:51 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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To let you know, Margaret, for me, here, this is a place, too, that makes me happy…and it isn’t important if ShahRukh is the topic…it’s you and the commentators/comments. My only regret is the lack of time to enjoy or ‘profit of’ everything written or discussed…
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Agree. And I don’t know if you’re just a happy-making person, but I definitely appreciate all the work you put into this blog.
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I very well may just be a happy making person. I know I was an extremely adored and charming baby/toddler (my sister is less than two years older than me, so I have a direct comparison, and while people liked her, those same people were over the moon about me).
Anyway, whether it is inborn or not, I certainly put in a lot of work here to keep it up and thank you for noticing!
On Sat, Oct 10, 2020 at 2:49 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I am so glad! I just want people to be happy.
On Sat, Oct 10, 2020 at 1:47 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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From the title alone, I was somehow still expecting a discussion of works that make us happy instead of people. In fact, that may be one of the reasons why I kind of like SRK, after all: He tends to make films that make me happy. And in a way, I appreciate that more than simply being a happy-making person, because people put conscious effort into those films to make us happy.
But the gist is the same: Being happy has value in itself. Even for the recipient. Finding ways to be happy is knowing how to take care of yourself. And you can’t take care of others, or even do your “duties”, when you can’t take care of yourself.
Wanna go really deep into the morality of this? I read the argument somewhere that simple entertainment, making people happy, is the most moral thing anyone can do. There is basically no downside. But the topic also made me think of a beloved German classic, “Die Feuerzangenbowle”. It’s usually shown around Christmas, served with the strong, hot drink from the title, and comes with its own set of audience participation. Here’s the thing though: It was made in 1940s Germany. With no bigger objective than to help people get through those trying times. From the perspective this year has given us, I can totally see the value in that. And it still succeeds with today’s audience. But in retrospect, you kind of wish people hadn’t held on quite as long in those particular trying times. I guess there really are no clear right and wrong answers anywhere.
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That’s an interesting argument, that making people happy has no downside. Because yes, there can be a downside.
Perhaps we should talk about “pure” happiness versus “inpure” happiness, like fat and trans fat? Pure happiness, a baby’s smile, Shahrukh dancing, that feels different from impure happiness, like eating junk food. And for your example, I would suggest that people need strength to break inertia. If you are doing something wrong or bad, or your situation is wrong or bad, having that moment of pure happiness maybe what is needed to snap you into making a decision to do something else. Does that make sense?
On Sat, Oct 10, 2020 at 2:46 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I wonder what it’s like to be a happy making person. Is it something that happens without effort? Is it something he feels an obligation to put work into, to make it work all the time? When people come to you in search of happiness, are you allowed to sad, or angry, or bitter? Does it ever feel like cheap tricks? Do you ever just want to pull up a hood and hide? Maybe that’s the introvert in me projecting.
My smaller son has a bit of this golden boy glow, and I watch him learn to deploy his dimples and cute his way out of trouble or answering questions. Though with his peers he seems to mostly use his powers for good.
Anyway, definitely agree about the happiness factor, though for me it’s character dependent.
Also would put Juhi in the happy making person category.
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I think of it as something that has to be inborn, but that doesn’t mean it is effortless. With Shahrukh in particular, and a lot of celebrities now that I think about it, you hear stories of extreme need for isolation sometimes, just as much as they need companionship.
Yes, Juhi is definitely also happy making! Good actress and beautiful woman, but most of all she just makes you happy to see her.
On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 10:42 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I agree with you, and as I read it I thought it applies to one more person, but one from Hollywood: Chris Hemsworth. He’s far from being a great actor, but I think he attracts audiences by making people happy, especially with his off-screen persona. There’s a video about it.
I would also place Will Smith in the same category. Doesn’t anyone like Will Smith?
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Yes! That is great. He is just a very happy-making kind of presence. And 100% Will Smith, I think he is an extremely talented person, but what made him break out of the pack was his enormous onscreen happy-making ability.
On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 1:13 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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