Shah Rukh Khan's Burden

The bad boy SRK of Darr and Baazigar fascinated us. Lover boy Raj/Rahul enthralled us. Don disarmed us with his charm. The NASA scientist in Swades touched us. The Muslim who is also 'The Bhai’, however, raises nationalistic hackles.

- Maithili Rao

“ Main dharam ka dhanda nahin karta.” Unlike other punch lines in Raees, this dialogue comes only once, as if the makers of the film are challenging you to remember the almost throwaway words in the context of a loaded controversy, set off in many quarters. I can’t recall any other film in recent memory generating so much speculation and theorising by all and sundry… TV anchors, journalists who don’t write on cinema, academics and political columnists. The central question here is this: is Shah Rukh Khan underlining/reasserting/ proclaiming his Muslim identity with extra emphasis? Is Raees the culmination of three films — made by directors of different sensibilities and on totally different themes — where he plays a Muslim? Is this mere coincidence or by design? Is there a hidden political agenda? The direct questions alternate with innuendos, heating up the poisoned atmosphere in our country, where everything is measured in terms of loudly proclaimed nationalism, and any dissent is equated with being anti-national. Intolerance is a word that acts like a red rag to raging nationalistic bulls — and Shah Rukh Khan was persuaded and prodded into uttering the provocative word on TV, letting loose not only the rabid Hindu tv a brigade but also the so-called rational apologists of RSS ideology, in the name of cultural nationalism. The irony is tragically funny. Across the border, Pakistani Censors want to ban Raees for portraying Muslims in a bad light.

The eponymous anti-hero proclaims that koi dhanda chota nahin hota and pursues the dhanda with a baniye ka dimaag and miyanbhai ki daring. Elsewhere, he justifies his unlawful trade: