Shahrukh Khan Acting Life Biodata

  

1998–2002: International recognition

In 1998, Khan appeared in three films. His first release was Mahesh Bhatt's action comedy, Duplicate opposite Juhi Chawla and Sonali Bendre. The film, which saw him portray a double role, marked his first of many collaborations with Yash Johar's production company, Dharma Productions. The film however, failed to do well at the box office. He then won critical praise for his performance in Mani Ratnam's acclaimed Dil Se... The film was the third in Ratnam's trilogy of terror films that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics, after Roja (1992) and Bombay (1995). Khan played the part of Amarkant "Amar" Varma, an All India Radio correspondent, who develops an infatuation for a mysterious terrorist, played by Manisha Koirala. Rediff.com published, "Khan delivers a compelling performance. He plays the part with taut restraint, and expresses exasperation superbly." The film,which failed financially in India, however, emerged as a commercial success overseas,becoming the first Indian film to enter the top 10 at the United Kingdom box office.

His final release of the year was Karan Johar's candyfloss romance, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which paired him with Kajol and Rani Mukerji. The film was declared an "all time blockbuster", with a worldwide gross of over 1 billion.Khan played the role of Rahul Khanna, a college student, who falls in love with his best friend (Kajol) after the death of his wife (Mukerji), years after breaking contact with her. His performance won him the Best Actor award at the Filmfare ceremony for the second consecutive year. Khan's only release in 1999, Baadshah opposite Twinkle Khanna, was an average grosser, for which he earned a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Performance in a Comic Role. In the same year, Khan set up his own production company, Dreamz Unlimited with actor, Juhi Chawla and director, Aziz Mirza. (see below). In 2000, the three collaborated on their first film, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike and failed to emulate the commercial success of the trio's previous films, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Yes Boss.

Khan's next release was Mansoor Khan's action drama Josh. The film starred Khan as the leader of a Christian gang in Goa, with Aishwarya Rai playing his twin sister. The film emerged as a box office success in both India and abroad. Vinayak Chakravorty of Hindustan Times wrote that Khan "basks in his tailormade role, donning with panache the garb of a streetsmart tough. "He next played the role of a Muslim archaeologist, beaten to death during the unrest following the partition of India in Hey Ram. Directed by and co-starring Kamal Hassan, the film was critically acclaimed and was selected as India's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars that year.Additionally, for the Tamil version of the film, Khan dubbed for his own lines. His final release of the year was Aditya Chopra's romantic drama, Mohabbatein, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan. The film was a major financial success, and Khan's performance as a music teacher was acclaimed by critics; Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama mentioned him to be "outstanding as Raj Aryan." He was awarded his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film.

In 2001, Khan essayed the titular role in Santosh Sivan's historical epic, Asoka, a partly fictionalised account of the life of Ashoka the Great.The film was screened at the Venice Film Festival and the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival to a positive response. The film, which also featured Kareena Kapoor received generally positive reviews with Khan receiving favourable reactions for his performance; Rediff concluded that "he puts in a strong performance, in this well defined role."He next collaborated with Karan Johar again in the family drama, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, in which he featured as a part of an ensemble cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan.

The film was a major financial success in India and the top-grossing Indian production of all-time in the overseas market until 2006, earning over 1.17 billion worldwide. Khan's portrayal of Rahul Raichand, an adopted son of Bachchan's character, who disowns him for marrying a girl belonging to a lower socio-economic group than his family, played by Kajol, met with wide public appreciation. Khan described the character of Rahul by saying, "I love the vulnerability and the honesty in his eyes. He has the appeal of a boy next door. Besides, his intensity and ability to convey emotions without words is amazing."Taran Adarsh reviewed, "Khan sparkles yet again", noting that he performed the part "with amazing poise, class, honesty and maturity". It garnered him another nomination for the Filmfare Best Actor Award. Khan termed Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham as "a turning point in his career".

 In 2002, Khan played the titlular role, The role of Devdas in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romance, Devdas, which was the most expensive Bollywood film ever made at the time.This was the third Hindi film adaptation of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name. Featuring opposite Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, Khan's performance as a rebellious alcoholic was well received and he won yet another Filmfare Best Actor Award. The film surfaced as the highest-grossing film of the year in India and overseas, earning a revenue of 39 million (US$709,800) domestically. Devdas won numerous awards, including 10 Filmfare Awards and received a special screening at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. It received a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Language Film as well and was India's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. In an interview with Rediff.com, Khan commented, "We stars live in this bubble where everyone is smiling at you, where everyone loves you. Somehow, you lose touch with real, deep down sadness. Working on this film put us in touch with that emotion. "After the release of the film, Khan took a six months break from acting. He explained that during his break, he "just enjoyed the feeling of being sad". Khan also starred alongside Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan in the family-drama Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. The film, which took six years to make, due to unending production problems,emerged as an average grosser at the box office.

2003: Spine injury and subsequent surgery

In December 2001, while filming a special appearance for Krishna Vamsi's Shakti: The Power, Khan suffered a spine injury while doing one of the action sequences. He flew to Lucknow a week later for a series of stage shows which led to further aggravation of his condition. By the time he returned to Mumbai, Khan was experiencing severe pain.He was subsequently diagnosed with a prolapsed disc between vertebrae six and seven.Khan is one of the few celebrities worldwide to have had the problem.Hoping to avoid surgery in a bid to not delay his pending projects, and based on his former experience with a failed knee surgery three years earlier, Khan tried multiple alternative therapies from homoeopathy to Reiki but nothing offered a permanent solution. He eventually shot Devdas (2002) and Chalte Chalte (2003) in acute pain and continued with the shoot for Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) until the day he left for London. He reached the point where he had doctors and ambulances on standby on the sets.

 By the beginning of 2003, Khan's condition severely worsened.The slipped disc was eventually touching his nerves which put pressure on his legs and neck.It also presented the risk of paralysis of his arms. In February, Khan was told by doctors that he had to undergo an urgent Anterior Cervical Discectomy.The main concern was the possibility of irreparable nerve damage during surgery which would have left him with a permanent weak left side. During his acceptance speech for the Filmfare Best Actor award he received for his performance in Devdas (2002), Khan stated that emotionally he was a bit shaken as he was going in for a surgery that was described by him as a “not a very good thing to go in for. ”The surgery took place on 24 February in Wellington Hospital, London and lasted for one hour – a titanium disc was inserted in his spine and he was discharged after two days.

Khan faced several post-operative problems including hoarseness, weakness, pain and high risk of infection. In an interview with Rediff four months after the surgery, he said "I am supposed to be on the road to recovery. For a year, I have to take things easy. I have my good and bad moments. Mornings aren't good. Till about 2 pm, I feel a lot of pain. When I bend down or play with my kids, I get some pain in the neck (...) For now I have to go to London every month for a checkup. " He resumed shooting Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) and Main Hoon Na (2004) in June of the same year however, the songs sequences in those films had to be postponed to late October.The injury resulted in Khan cutting down noticeably on work and reducing his number of films per year.