Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 138-139 | Added on Sunday, 27 February 2022 06:51:38

Because only the deepest dissatisfaction with reality drives us to dwell in fantasy.

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 280-281 | Added on Sunday, 27 February 2022 15:21:37

She is desperately seeking Shah Rukh, desperately seeking an escape from this landscape of endless romantic disappointment.

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 383-386 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 01:48:12

There is the anxiety of navigating tradition and romantic freedom as a non-resident Indian (NRI) in DDLJ, the anxiety of an adopted child unsure of his elite father’s love in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) and Pardes (1997), of being a single parent in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and the anxiety triggered by imminent death in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003). Shah Rukh’s anxious oeuvre extends well into the new millennium. Refined

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 383-390 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 01:48:30

There is the anxiety of navigating tradition and romantic freedom as a non-resident Indian (NRI) in DDLJ, the anxiety of an adopted child unsure of his elite father’s love in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) and Pardes (1997), of being a single parent in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and the anxiety triggered by imminent death in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003). Shah Rukh’s anxious oeuvre extends well into the new millennium. Refined as his clothes and body become, bearing all symbols of globalized wealth, he still suffers the anxiety of marital infidelity in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), of nation-building in Swades (2004), Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000) and Main Hoon Na (2004), of being Muslim in My Name Is Khan (2010), Raees (2017) and Chak De! India (2007). The past few years have seen unusual films, where the actor no longer plays the undeniably desirable male. Instead, his characters are brimming with the anxiety of falling for spirited women who outrank them in terms of social status or accomplishment in Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017) and Zero (2018).

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 470-478 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 01:52:17

In Kochi, at random, I walked into a canteen managed by the state government of Kerala as part of a public digital literacy initiative. It was full of men using the free Wi-Fi to browse YouTube videos and job advertisements on their smartphones. Under the guise of research, I asked some of them about their favourite actors. No one mentioned Salman. This was the first time I had ever visited a place where there were no Salman Khan fans. I asked them why this was, and one of the young men grinned: ‘In Kerala, we Malayalis watch good movies with good stories. People in the north like Salman for his muscles and being manly. But here we have actors like Mohanlal and Mammootty. Even for muscles we have Rana Daggubati and Prabhas from Telugu films. No need for Salman.’ The men started to laugh—southern muscles for southern men. I asked them about Shah Rukh and they said they ‘respected him’ but enjoyed watching his interviews more than his films. They felt the way he presented himself was instructive and watched his media interactions for tips on how to impress themselves upon job recruiters. And ‘women like him’, they all agreed.

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 617-619 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 02:03:13

Behind me, an army of south Delhi’s ubiquitous designer-labelled aunties assembled themselves. They’d arrived with their shimmering honey-golden hair and shimmering honey-golden bags, mildly drunk from wealth and brunch. There’s probably a higher concentration of bleached blonde hair in some south Delhi neighbourhoods than in many American suburbs.

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 664-665 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 02:05:12

Because Hindi cinema reaches more people than theatre or literature, these images tell us something significant about what is permissible to depict and imagine at any given moment.

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 703-706 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 02:07:25

They embrace, and the camera zooms in on Saba’s look of pure contentment. Ayan’s mere physical presence and embrace are enough to satisfy this savvy and independent woman. The film never reveals any redeemable qualities that make Ayan adequate, let alone ‘enough’, to meet Saba’s relational needs. He seems selfish and emotionally stunted, boorish and silly at times. And magically, the women in this film think his selfishness is charming. Saba is totally out of Ayan’s league.

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 720-722 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 02:08:18

If New York is the city for epic encounters with strangers, New Delhi is the city where one avoids them in drawing rooms. Life in Delhi can feel like living in a Victorian novel, hoping to be announced and introduced to another. New spiritual practices and businesses are tapping into the city’s market failure for connection by allowing people to ‘network’ and mingle through apps,

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (Shrayana Bhattacharya) - Your Highlight at location 720-723 | Added on Saturday, 5 March 2022 02:08:24

If New York is the city for epic encounters with strangers, New Delhi is the city where one avoids them in drawing rooms. Life in Delhi can feel like living in a Victorian novel, hoping to be announced and introduced to another. New spiritual practices and businesses are tapping into the city’s market failure for connection by allowing people to ‘network’ and mingle through apps, chanting groups and paid membership clubs.