Shah Rukh Khan once faced death like a true ‘Pathaan’: ‘I am not scared…'

Shah Rukh Khan was once as dramatic off-screen as he was on it. The Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge star once told the Mumbai underworld to “shoot” him if they so want. When SRK’s star was rising in the 90s, Bollywood was ruled by the underworld. In a recent interview, director Sanjay Gupta revealed how the ‘Pathaan’ star bravely faced the mafia.

During a podcast on Hussain Zaidi's files, Gupta said Khan refused pointblank to work for the underworld and that he was not going to budge from his opinion, and he was willing to risk losing his life.

““The only guy in the film industry, Shah Rukh Khan, when he was threatened, said, ‘I will never do the film or show; I am a Pathaan, just shoot me if you want.' I am not scared of you, but I will not work with you and not do shows for you. He actually earned their respect. They also must have felt that there’s at least one person…”


However, SRK was put under heavy police protection for the next three years.

In her book King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema, film critic and author Anupama Chopra also detailed Shah Rukh Khan's interactions with Mumbai's underworld. Her story highlights the security issues that surrounded the actor in the early years of his career and details his purported encounters with infamous gangsters like Abu Salem, Chhota Rajan, and Chhota Shakeel.

Chopra claims that concerns for Shah Rukh's safety first arose in 1997 while he was filming Duplicate, a movie starring Mahesh Bhatt. According to reports, Bhatt was warned that the actor would be in danger by Rakesh Maria, a senior Maharashtra police officer who had been instrumental in the 1993 Mumbai explosions. Shah Rukh received personal security to keep him safe after the warning.

Chopra disclosed that Abu Salem allegedly made direct phone contact with Shah Rukh. The actor had apparently turned down a role with a producer who was thought to be close to Salem, which infuriated the mafia.

Shah Rukh claimed that his career decisions were his own when Salem allegedly insisted on the star accepting the gig.

In his memoirs An Unsuitable Boy, filmmaker Karan Johar also described a similar incident. He remembers Shah Rukh's brave response to threats he received from the mafia prior to the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Shah Rukh reportedly faced the issue head-on and assured Johar and his family that he would support and defend them like a brother, instead of letting fear rule the situation.

Johar reminisced how the superstar assured his mother: ““I’m a Pathan. Nothing can happen to me and nothing will happen to your son. He’s like my brother. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

Bollywood was once under the control of the underworld. Their influence reached a peak during the ‘80s and the ‘90s. The dons were alleged to finance the films, threatening movie stars. Music baron Gulshan Kumar’s murder in 1997 also brought limelight to the dangers the industry was undergoing.