Think of Shah Rukh Khan and the spontaneous reaction is “K.. K…Kiran”; Don ko pakarna mushkil hi nahin, na mumkin hai’’ and “Haar kar jeetnay walon ko baazigar kahte hain.” And in the days ahead, we just might add these lines from his film Fan which released on Friday: “Main hoon toh tu hai” and “Pehle star ke peechay fan bhagata tha, aab se fan ke peechay star bhage ga” to the list. Quite ironically, the above lines by the King of Romance are all from his villainous roles in films such as Darr, Don, Baazigar and Fan.

Others like “Barre barre deshoon mein aisi choti choti baatain hoti rehti hain”; “Hum aik baar jeetay hain aur aik baar martay hain”; “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist!” from his romantic films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Lejayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and My Name is Khan are also oft-repeated. Even his famous pose of widespread arms has become synonymous with romance. But for reasons best known only to him, SRK is naturally attracted to negative roles.

There are enormous expectations for SRK’s Fan, which has an unusual subject. In it, he plays the double role of star Aryan Khanna and Gaurav, his obsessive fan. Gaurav is essayed as an innocent young fan who fancies himself to be a lookalike of Aryan Khanna. He becomes so obsessed with his idol that he not only imagines himself as Aryan, but also starts expecting the star to shower him with love and time. When Aryan refuses, the young man gets agitated and decides to settle the score with him. This is where the negativity creeps in, and comparisons are ultimately drawn between SRK’s other negative roles and his latest one.

There is something quite mesmerising about Shah Rukh Khan in a negative character

So the question remains: which is better — the romantic or the badmash SRK? Judging by the current mood of his fans, they want to see Khan in a very different role. In fact, in his 2015 film Dilwale, as he mouthed the dialogue: “Hum sharif kya huay puri duniya hi badmash ban gaye…” the Hindi film audience throughout India shouted in unison: “Aab se humain sirf badmash Khan hi ko dekhna hai!”

One could have understood the phenomenon if it was an all-women audience (for reasons best known to them, they are drawn to bad boys). In fact, one can say that if Darr, Baazigar and Anjaam hadn’t happened in the initial days of his career, he probably wouldn’t have been crowned as the King of Romance either.

There is something quite mesmerising when you see Shah Rukh as a negative character. Without resorting to any gimmicks in make-up, wardrobe or stance, the way he utters dialogues or looks piercingly at his victims is enough to strike terror in all our hearts. Add to it the fact that he had beautiful and extremely talented co-actors such as Juhi Chawla (Darr), Kajol (Baazigar), Madhuri Dixit (Anjaam) and Priyanka Chopra (Don).

Interestingly, a negative SRK isn’t the only one hugely admired in the world of Hindi cinema. Many of us now in our 50s swooned when Shatrughan Sinha boomed in “Khamosh” or Vinod Khanna’s “Dosti bhulaai ja sakti hai dushmani nahin.” These veteran stars too were loved for their negative portrayals. In Hollywood, we also loved to hate Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), Robert De Niro (Hook), Al Pacino (Scarface), and Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), among others.

In pre-release interviews of Fan, Shah Rukh denied any resemblance between Gaurav (Fan) with Rahul Mehra (of Darr), or even Vicky Malhotra (of Baazigar). “The genre may be the same, that of an anti-hero or a bad guy, but as a film and as a character it’s different from the two,” he said.

There can be no doubt about the huge fan following of the other two Khans — Aamir and Salman Khan — but none of them have attempted to portray a completely negative character. In fact, credit should be given to Aamir for trying out different roles but he has so far never played a totally negative role. The closest he came to playing such a character was that of a spy in Fanaa, a thief in Dhoom 3 or a victim of Anterograde amnesia in Ghajini. Meanwhile, Bollywood has had its share of negative portrayals by leading actresses — Kajol (Gupt), Priyanka Chopra (7 Khoon Maaf), Kangana Ranaut (Krrish 3) etc.

If Fan becomes a hit, then Shah Rukh Khan will also be given a new title and crowned the King of Villains. But wait, what does that make us, his fans? Lovers of bad boys, of course!

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, April 17th, 2016