KING KHAN

Shahrukh Khan (Hindi: शाहरुख़ ख़ान, Hindko/Urdu: شاہ رخ خان, Pushtu: شاه روخ خان), born 2 November 1965, is a highly acclaimed Bollywood actor, producer, and recent host of the game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati. Khan started out his career appearing in several television serials in the late 1980s. He made his film debut with the hit Deewana (1992), and has been part of numerous commercial successes, delivering a variety of critically acclaimed performances as well. During his career years, he has won six Filmfare Best Actor Awards, and has had significant box office success, with films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), being some of Bollywood's biggest hits, while films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Veer Zaara (2004) and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006) are the biggest Bollywood hits in the overseas market. Since 2000, Khan branched out into film production and television presenting as well.

Biography

Khan was born to parents of Pathan ethnicity.^[1][2] Khan's family was Muslim, and he was raised by Hindus for most of his life.^[3] His father Taj Mohammed Khan was a freedom activist. His mother Lateef Fatima was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan, who served as a General in the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose.^[4]

Khan's father came to Gurgaon from Kissa Kahani Bazaar in Peshawar before the Partition of India,^[5] while his mother's family came from Rawalpindi, also in present-day Pakistan.^[6] Khan has an elder sister named Shehnaz.^[7] Khan attended St. Columba's School where he was accomplished in sports, drama and academics. He won the Sword of Honour, an annual award bequeathed to the student who embodies most the spirit of the school. He later attended the Hansraj College (1985-1988) to earn an Honors degree in Economics. After this, he studied for a Masters Degree in Mass Communications at Jamia Millia Islamia University.^[8]

Shahrukh with wife, Gauri Khan at the launch of FHM (2007).

After the death of his parents, Khan moved from Gurgaon to Mumbai in 1991. In 1991, he married Gauri Khan in a Hindu wedding ceremony.^[9] They have two children, son Aryan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000).

Nasreen Munni Kabir produced a two-part documentary on Khan, titled The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan (2005). Featuring his 2004 Temptations concert tour, the film contrasted Khan's inner world of family and daily life with the outer world of his work. Another book Still Reading Khan was released in 2006 which details his family and his life. In 2007 another book by Anupama Chopra King of Bollywood "Shahrukh Khan" and the seductive world of Indian cinema was released. This book described the world of Bollywood through Khan's life.

Khan's life-size wax statue is available in Madame Tussauds wax museum, London, installed in April 2007.^[10] Khan has been chosen for the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Literature) award of the French government for his “exceptional career”.^[11]