Shah Rukh Khan : Masculinity, Religion and Global Stardom

In this unique study of the star, Sunera Thobani unpacks Shah Rukh Khan''s unlikely and yet unparalleled rise to fame, set against the backdrop of India''s evolving socio-political landscape.

Thobani provides close readings of key films from across Khan''s three-decade-long career, including Darr (1993), Swades (2004), Om Shanti Om (2007), My Name is Khan (2010) and his most recent work Dunki (2023), examining his depiction of a ''desirable masculinity'' and how this differs from notable predecessors like Amitabh Bachchan and his ''angry young man'' persona during the 1970s. Through the lens of Khan''s Indian-Muslim identity, she analyses his often risky role choices, arguing that he is able to simultaneously embody hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourses, while staunchly resisting the relegation of Muslims to the margins of Indian nationhood since the earliest stages of his stardom.

She goes on to explore Khan’s popularity amongst diasporic communities in South East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, considering how his cultural politics, both on- and off- screen, embody the dichotomies of majority and minority, nation and diaspora, and tradition and modernity, arguing that it is this dynamism that bolsters his lasting cultural influence and transnational stardom.