You have to agree, that the kind of superstardom that’s been enjoyed by actors like Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan or back in the day by Rajesh Khanna and Dilip Kumar is somewhat missing in the present generation of actors. There was a kind of mystery and reverence attached to the likes of the above-mentioned actors that is unimaginable today.
The kind of love that SRK or Salman Khan receive on their birthdays, with thousands of people arriving in front of their homes, or even the celebrations that take place on the first days of their films is not something that is experienced by, say actors like Ranbir Kapoor or Deepika Padukone. And Karan Johar highlighted this fact recently.
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The Indian Express quoted him saying:
“The magnetism, the aura, the mystery, I don’t think this generation has it. When I was at a party, and Mr Amitabh Bachchan, Mr Dilip Kumar walked in, Mr Shah Rukh Khan walked in, there were heads turning everywhere, I have seen it. That aura, everybody feeling their presence, that was power, that was stardom. That was glory.”
“Today, everybody is much easier, more casual, more accessible, more available. I know which gym you go to, which Pilates class you go to, I know what you eat, I know who you meet, I know everything about you, how can there be any mystery about you?” he asked.
Karan Johar went on to give an example about Shahrukh Khan, how despite not appearing on the red carpet on KJo’s 50th birthday, people instantly felt his aura the minute he entered.
“When Shah Rukh Khan came to my party, you could feel the thumping energy of the younger generation. You know that SRK is SRK, that kingdom that he has, that feeling that he evokes, it’s true. If he walked in right now, you would feel his energy even if you didn’t see him. You can sense Shah Rukh. He was the only one who didn’t walk the red carpet and came from the other side at my party. So I could see that from the younger movie actors, maybe from as young as Ananya Panday, right up to his peers, everybody felt that aura.”
Do you think that SRK is the last of the ‘superstars’ in the Hindi film industry?