Diwali is just not the same without a Shah Rukh Khan release. It’s been nine years since we had a SRK to light up the festive season. Now Karan Johar has announced that Diwali 2026 would be special, as he intends to collaborate with his favourite actor targeted at releasing for the next Diwali.
When did Shah Rukh Khan decide to own Diwali as the best occasion to position his films? SRK’s romance with the festive season started with Baazigar in 1993. Shah Rukh pushed Shilpa Shetty off a highrise and never looked back. This Abbas-Mustan directed thriller was “inspired” (read: ripped off) from A Kiss Before Dying. Of course, Shilpa didn’t get a kiss before being bumped off.
Shah Rukh doesn’t kiss his heroines even for Diwali, unless she happens to be Katrina Kaif in Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Baazigar was the first of Shah Rukh’s anti-hero trio of films. It was also his first of many hits with Kajol. It also began his love affair with the Diwali season.
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge in 1995 sealed it. It established Aditya Chopra as a force to reckon with. I remember the proud dad telling me, ‘Maine zindagi mein itne paise nahin dekhe. I have not seen so much money in my life.’
The next SRK Diwali release was Dil Toh Pagal Hai (1997). Though the film was directed by Yash Chopra his son Aditya’s imprint was all over this ‘young’ film about jodis that are made in heaven. Set in the world of dance and theatre, the music and songs by Uttam Singh and of course Shah Rukh’s jodi with Madhuri Dixit played a big hand in the film’s success.
My most favourite Diwali release is Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Shah Rukh Khan’s 1998 Diwali release launched his best-friend Karan Johar as a director with a desi take on the Archie-Betty-Veronica triangle. Set in a Utopian college campus where girls wore micro-minis and boys wore smirks and sighs all the way to the prom night Kuch Kuch Hota Hai remains Shah Rukh’s biggest Diwali hit after DDLJ.
Mohabbatein in 2000 is best remembered for being the Big B’s comeback as a buzurg-superstar. Shah Rukh was guru cool in this arcadian gurukul set in the middle of nowhere. This was one 3-hour-26-minutes marathon torture that put a brake on the audiences’ Diwali celebrations. A hit, nonetheless. When has Shah Rukh and Diwali combination ever failed?
Yash Chopra’s Veer-Zara(2004) was to originally star Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi. An Indo-Pak love story about a Pakistani girl (Preity Zinta) and an Indian soldier (King Khan). One of Yash Chopra’s weakest films propped up by Madan Mohan’s newly-discovered melodious songs.The only time Shah Rukh turned old on screen.
In 2006, the Don franchise took off big-time from where the big B left it off 28 years earlier. Helmed by Farhan Akhtar, Don, brought much cheer to the Diwali season, though Kareena’s item song ‘Yeh mera dil’ just whittled down into a whimper. Why these two good looking people have never made the screen crackle with their chemistry is a mystery which might flummox even Don himself.
A ripoff of Bimal Roy’s Madhumati’s reincarnation theme, in Om Shanti Om(2007) Shah Rukh played debutant Deepika Padukone’s fan (giggle).
Diwali pataka that fizzled out ws Ra.One (2011) . It got mixed reviews. But it nonetheless minted enough money to make is yet another festive success for Shah Rukh.
And who would have guessed Jab Tak Hai Jaan released for Diwali in 2012, would turn out to be Yash Chopra’s swan song? The far-fetched plot may have left the cynics unconvinced. But Shah Rukh’s fans lapped up the film’s over-the-top sentimentality .
Farah Khan’s Happy New Year (2014) was undoubtedly the worst SRK –Diwali release. Thanks to SRK, this too was a hit in spite of the looming absurdities and the clunky ditties. Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was the last SRK Diwali release, and that was five years ago. He had only a cameo to play. But his fleeting sher-o-shayari had the audience in a swoon.
