Shah Rukh Khan birthday: Listen to these 7 lesser-known stories about King Khan

From a careerchanging injury that pushed him towards acting to a love story that defied family opposition and a professional setback that led him to an unexpected new hobby Shah Rukh Khanrsquos journey has been anything but predictableOn SRKs birthday on November 2 discover seven lesserknown stories behind the superstarrsquos rise ambitions and reinventions through Shah Rukh Khan Legend Icon Star that Audible recommends for fans across India and the worldThe Injury That Crushed Shah Rukh Khanrsquos Sporting DreamsBefore he became Bollywoodrsquos biggest superstar Shah Rukh Khan dreamed of becoming a sportsman But a lowerback injury brought those ambitions to an abrupt halt leaving him bedridden for a month and a half Recalling the experience on Big CBS Primersquos Indiarsquos Prime Icon he admitted ldquoFor six to eight months I was extremely depressedrdquo It was his mother who encouraged him to find something to do in the evenings which led him to Annie Get Your Gun a production at Delhirsquos Lady Shri Ram College where he began as a singer and dancer in the chorus What started as a way to help him through a difficult period would become the first step towards an extraordinary acting careerShah Rukh Khan didnrsquot want to play Raj in DDLJIt is difficult to imagine anyone other than Shah Rukh Khan as Raj the charming romantic hero who became a cultural phenomenon Yet when Aditya Chopra first narrated Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge Shah Rukh was far from convinced Recalling his reaction in Netflixrsquos The Romantics he said ldquoI was shocked I didnrsquot know what to sayrdquo He described the story as a ldquonambypamby filmrdquo explaining that the hero falls in love but does not even run away with the girl It was not the kind of film he had expected to hear Nevertheless he took the leap and the film went on to transform his screen image and give Hindi cinema one of its most enduring love storiesldquoAgar selfrespect ko arrogance boltey hai toh haan main arrogant hoonrdquoIn September 1992 Stardust posed a pointed question about the newcomer could the film industry digest Shah Rukh Khanrsquos arrogance One reason for the criticism was his insistence that filmmakers approach him with a complete story and proper dialogues For Shah Rukh the demand was about selfrespect and the work itself Addressing the accusation directly he said ldquoAgar selfrespect ko arrogance boltey hai toh haan main arrogant hoonrdquo ldquoIf they call selfrespect arrogance then yes I am arrogantrdquo He went on to explain ldquoMain stage ka actor hoon aap mujhe character dijiye main play karungardquo ldquoI am a stage actor Give me a character and I will perform itrdquo For Shah Rukh the demand was about selfrespect and the work itself What some saw as arrogance reflected his determination to play fully developed characters rather than simply turn up on set and follow instructionsOne rejection 35 years of loveTheir relationship would become one of Bollywoodrsquos most enduring love stories but Shah Rukh Khan and Gaurirsquos first encounter was hardly a scene from a romantic film When he approached her at a party in Delhi Gauri who was 14 at the time told him she was waiting for her boyfriend It was actually a way of keeping other boys at a distance Their relationship later faced opposition from her family including resistance to her being with a Muslim boy Reflecting on his decision despite advice from film producers to remain single he recalled saying ldquoMushkil se pataya shaadi karni padegirdquo ldquoIt took a lot of effort to woo her I must marry herrdquo When Gauri eventually left for Mumbai Shah Rukh followed her beginning a journey that would lead to their marriage and a life largely lived alongside his extraordinary careerAfter Zero failed Shah Rukh Khan hung up his scripts became pizza makerFollowing the disappointing reception of Zero Shah Rukh Khan stepped back from acting and stopped listening to film scripts for a while Instead he built a small kitchen and began learning how to make pizza As he recalled ldquoI learnt perseverance Because to make the perfect round pizza you have to first make a million square onesrdquo The unexpected hobby offered him a lesson in dealing with failure progress does not always look perfect at first and getting better takes practice He also described his decision to take a break after the film saying ldquoI said to myself that let me enjoy a little bit of unsuccess as I had success for so longrdquo It was a quieter chapter in a career defined by relentless visibility revealing a superstar willing to step back regroup and find his footing againThe man behind Raj was terrified of making Chak De IndiaAudiences had grown accustomed to Shah Rukh Khan as the charismatic romantic lead but Chak De India asked them to see him differently As Kabir Khan a disgraced former hockey captain who returns to coach the Indian womenrsquos national team he played a restrained demanding character whose story centred on discipline teamwork and redemption rather than romance The role marked a striking departure from the image that had made him famous and demonstrated his ability to command the screen without relying on his familiar romantic personaShah Rukh Khan wanted action Aditya Chopra wanted romanceLong before Pathaan made him an action spectacle Shah Rukh Khan wanted to establish himself as an action hero But Aditya Chopra saw a different possibility in him and steered him towards Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge helping create the romantic image that would define an era of Hindi cinema Decades later Shah Rukh finally embraced the largerthanlife actionhero role he had long wanted Recalling his determination to make an action film he described telling Aditya Chopra and director Siddharth Anand ldquoEk action picture banaordquo ldquoMake an action filmrdquo With Pathaan he finally got the opportunity to fulfil that ambition proving that even a superstarrsquos career can take a route very different from the one he first imagined