Bollywood King Shahrukh Khan

We all are very familiar with Shahrukh Khan and his struggle to success, how he was cast after working in theatre and for the television industry, giving shows like Fauji. Here’s a list of  Ten unusual facts about Shahrukh Khan you probably would not have heard before.

10. Heights of fandom

Celebrities in India often have huge fan followings and we come across some or the other fan gone crazy story every other day but Shahrukh Khan fans have breached all heights of excessive obsession in establishing a very special and unique Shahrukh Khan club. It was founded by a huge admirer of Shahrukh, Arnab Roy on 13th December 1995 after the release of DDLJ in the same year. What’s more surprising is the club has established an exclusive Shahrukh Khan museum in January 2002. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by King Khan and he visited the club and the museum on 7th August the same year.

9. Secular in true sense of the term

Shahrukh has been hailed as one of the most secular celebrities of Bollywood. Both of his children, Aryan and Suhana have been taught to revere the co-existence of Ganpati and Allah in the Khan household. How exceptionally they are being brought up resonates in the fact that when Shahrukh had undergone a critical neck surgery Aryan had gone to a temple and said an Islamic prayer so that his father my recover faster. Khan is a staunch believer of Islam but celebrates all the religious festivals including, Diwali and Christmas along with Eid every year. There’s a Lakshmi puja organized both at home and his office and each year a Christmas tree is revered, though the children have been heard favoring Christmas over everything else. In the prayer room at Khan’s place Holy Quran is placed along with the Hindu Idols and the kids pray to both simultaneously.

8. He’s extremely possessive about Gauri

Shahrukh khan was possessive to the point of insanity about Gauri, whom he lovingly calls Gaurima, during their courtship years. So much so that he would throw a fit and pick a quarrel with Gauri if she let her hair down! And it so happened once that Gauri losing her cool, without informing Shahrukh flew off to Bombay. Shahrukh soon followed her to the city and kept looking for around the beaches of Bombay since he knew that Gauri loves beaches! A cab driver advised him to go to the Aksa and Gorai beach and so Shahrukh finally tracked her down standing midst the water. Now, isn’t that filmy?

7. Shahrukh is very close to his school friends

When in school Shahrukh Khan was part of a group which christened themselves the “c-gang” on account of all of them being from the C section. And what’s more interesting is that all of them married among each other. Like, Shahrukh married Gauri while Gauri’s best friend is married to Vikas. These three continue to be his closest friends. And when in school all of them considered themselves to be ultra-cool, liked American music and movies and had a very Yankee spring when they walked in their Nike sneakers.

6. He’s working on an autobiography

Shahrukh is currently working on a writing project, one that includes his own autobiography. He has been asked about it many a interviews and said that the process has been very enlightening for him and he has realized very important pointers about life. Like what hurts you is for that moment only and later on in life when you are looking back through the glasses of memory it hardly matters. But he further says that he doesn’t forget anything but rather doesn’t hold it against anyone. The book is almost complete and is due for launch anytime in early 2014.

5. Mischievous Childhood

Shahrukh has often said that he was very mischievous as a kid, but his father would always make it a point to punish him in ways which instilled him values which he still treasures. Once when he was just four or five years of age, he had thrown a rock at the neighbour’s son breaking one of the kid’s teeth. Later at night the neighbor knocked on Shahrukh Khan’s door in a very drunk state with a knife in one hand. Shahrukh’s dad has opened the door and very calmly called out for Shahrukh and after confirming with him that he had infact hurt the neighbor’s kid, Shahrukh Khan was asked to go and explain himself to the neighbor who was not only very drunk but was armed. Shahrukh went out and cordially apologized for his actions, and the neighbor after a little screaming calmed down and let it go.

4. He’s an avid reader

Shahrukh is a very avid reader, and can be found reading more than four to five books at a time. He says whenever he goes to London he can be found roaming around at the bookstores with a coffee in his hand just going through the stacks for hours at an end since this is not something he gets to do in India. Eventually he says he ends up getting loads of books home and is often stopped at customs since they think there’s some electronic device considering the heavy weight of the bags.

3. He’s one of the first to open the  industry to advertisements

Shahrukh was the first celebrity to enter the world of advertising for the consumer goods, thus earning certain respectability for the celebrities in this field. He has endorsed a range of products like Pepsi, Hyundai Santro, Smoodles, Mayur Suitings, Cinthol, Bagpiper, Clinic All-Clear, Omega, Sunfeast, Dish TV etc. He has been least bothered by all the criticism his advertisements, or social appearances which he does for money, get. Being utterly unapologetic to all the claims he has that , In the world of entertainment, not getting the recognition you deserve is worse that dying of over-exposure. It is better to burn out than to rust out.

2. He shared a very cordial relationship with his father

He shared a very healthy and lively relationship with his father, Mir Taj Mohammad. Both called each other ‘yaar’ and did a lot of activities together. His parents weren’t particularly strict or restrictive and he was allowed a lot of liberties as a child. He used to sit with his father and discuss philosophy for hours. His father used to say that he could never make money at someone else’s expense and thus had tried hand at a various number of small businesses like the chola-bhatura stall, where he distributed all his profit among the workers, then he started a transport business but he was cheated by his partner. Shahrukh certainly has inherited his ethics and integrity though without doubt he is a better businessmen then his father.

1. He was a brilliant student.

Shahrukh khan was always a brilliant student throughout his school and college years. Even though he was often uncomfortable with the education system and used to get frustrated with the repetitions of coursework. This made him quit St.Stephens after just a year of joining in, and later he joined Hansraj College. Similarly he joined Jamia Milia for a course in mass communication but left it after a year because he got bored. In his school, St.Colombia, he was hailed and awarded the sword of honor, an annual award given to the student who best represented the spirit of the school.