Introduction
A Scorpio by sign Shah Rukh Khan was born on the 2nd of November 1965. Popularly referred to as King Khan this actor has literally ruled Bollywood for the last 15 years and is still the reigning king as most would put it. Be it a good guy or a bad guy, a game show host or a stage performer, a producer or even a singer, Shah Rukh has done it all.

Family Tree
Born to a Muslim family his father’s name was Mir Taj Mohammad Khan and his mother’s name was Fatima Begum. His father was a freedom activist of Punjabi Pathani background. His mother was the adopted daughter of General Shah Nawaz who served in the army of Subhash Chandra Bose. Shah Rukh’s father was from Peshawar in Pakistan from where he moved to Delhi where as his mother’s family was from Rawalpindi which was also in Pakistan. Shah Rukh is not the only child as he also has a sister by the name of Shehnaz also known as Lalarukh.

Kick Starting His Career
His career actually started out in the year 1988 with the super hit TV series Fauji. He gained fame almost instantaneously with his character called Abhimanyu Rai. What followed after that was another successful TV series called Circus in 1989. So his acting career started with a bang on the small screen and with a bigger bang on the big screen with his first film titled ‘Deewana’ co starring Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti in the year 1992. He won the Filmfare award for best debut for that film as well. What followed there on was a spat of hits one after the other. He confirmed his foothold in the industry with his film ‘Baazigar’ where he played a negative role. It was almost like with that film Shah Rukh made a statement loud and clear that he was here to stay. But what was good about Shah Rukh was that he never got complacent with the roles he was doing. After negative performances in films like ‘Baazigar’ and Yash Chopra’s ‘Darr’ he went ahead and did an absolute light hearted film like ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhie Na’. Till today many believe that film was one of Khan’s best till date. He also won the critics award for that film.

Reaching New Heights
He came into the A league with Aditya Chopra’s directorial debut ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ that has till date been one of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters in the history of Indian cinema. Shah Rukh won accolades for his performance from critics as well as the audiences. He got both critical as well as commercial success for the film. After that he had a couple of mediocre hits like ‘Pardes’ and ‘Yes Boss’ which was later followed by Karan Johar’s directorial Debut ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ in 1998 which went on to be the biggest hit of that year. Shah Rukh starred opposite Kajol and Rani Mukherjee in that film, Salman Khan also had a gust appearance. After this film it was like Shah Rukh was not just a star anymore, he was one of the most sought after superstars of all times. He had fans not only in India but overseas as well, and a fan base that was growing rapidly. The Year 2000 saw a clash of the titans where the Baadshah and the Shahenshah of Bollywood came together to make history in Mohabbatein. Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan were both present in this film and what a viewer’s delight it was. This film was not the last where these two superstars were seen together, as 2001 brought them together once again in Karan Johar’s next larger than life film ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’.

New Avenues
Shah Rukh also started his own production house in partnership with Juhi Chawla called Dreamz Unlimited but alas their first film as producers titled ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani’ flopped at the box office.

Die Hard Romantic
Shah Rukh was known to be one of the best romantics that Bollywood had ever seen, and in 2002 with his heart rending performance as the drunken lover in ‘Devdas’ he proved beyond a doubt that he is the best there is, was and would be for a long time. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s award winning saga called ‘Devdas’ took Shah Rukh also known as King Khan to a new level altogether. The film was inspired from Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's renowned novel titled Devdas as well.

Sweet Taste Of Success
Although Shah Rukh’s first film as a producer didn’t do well that didn’t stop him from trying his hand again at production, only this time it was opposite Rani Mukherjee and film was called ‘Chalte Chalte’. The film was a runaway hit. It was a huge success all the way. Once again what followed was another huge hit in the form of Karan Johar’s Kal Ho Na Ho that was directed by Nikhil Advani. The film was inspired by the Amitabh Bachchan Rajesh Khanna starrer ‘Anand’. King Khan was no where close to being content yet. He started another production company called ‘Red Chillies Entertainment’ in 2004 with Farah Khan directing her first film titled ‘Main Hoon Na’. The film was a hit and so was Shah Rukh’s next film with Yash Raj opposite Preity Zinta called Veer-Zarra. As was expected Shah Rukh once again won many an award for the film.

The Icing On The Cake
In 2006 Karan Johar released his third film with Shah Rukh Khan titled ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’. The film in spite of being hit by criticism in India for its bold subject was a success and a blockbuster overseas. 2007 saw Shah Rukh as the new host of Kaun Banega Crorepati’s third season taking over where Amitabh Bachchan had left off. He brought immense life and exuberance to the show and gave it a new look altogether. But the icing on the cake for SRK has been his last two releases which rocked the box office and how. Yash Chopra’s ‘Chak De India’ and Farah Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’. Both films went on to be super duper hits. ‘Chak De India’ got Shah Rukh all the awards where as OSO got him huge collections. 2008 has seen the king in a new avatar as the host of another game show, only this time with little kids called ‘Kya Aap Panchvi Paas Se Tez Hain?’ Where as his fans all over the world can expect to see Shah Rukh team up with Yash Chopra and Karan Johar once again in their forthcoming films titled ‘Rab Ne Banadi Jodi’ and ‘My Name Is Khan’ respectively.

Immortalized
Shah Rukh along with Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan also has his statue at the world famous wax museum Madame Tussauds in the United Kingdom which was set up in 2007. Shah Rukh Khan has also been recently chosen for the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" award by the French government for his exceptional career as an actor in the current year 2008.

Now that’s what you call the king of Bollywood…

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