Author Shrayana Bhattacharya met countless Indian women over 15 years. They all had one thing in common.
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00:00He always kisses the neck.
00:01So a lot of women would say that, you know,
00:03when men don't know what to do with women's bodies in bed,
00:07but they should learn from what Mr. Khan does,
00:09at least in his movies.
00:10In DDLJ, he's peeling carrots.
00:12He's not a feminist icon, but he's a female icon.
00:16Hello?
00:16Yes, Papa, Shah Rukh.
00:17Actually, I'm Shah Rukh Khan.
00:19♪♪
00:23They love him for the comfort, entertainment,
00:26and fun that he's provided them.
00:28Amongst women, I heard his name, Mr. Shah Rukh's name,
00:32much more than I heard many other actors.
00:35I don't think anyone has embodied romance,
00:39the sort of alternative masculinity, right?
00:42A softer, kinder, more vulnerable masculinity
00:46in his films, in his interviews, in his songs,
00:48in his performances on stage as well, more than him.
00:53And there are so many stories I felt that about India
00:57and really Indian women as well that he could tell.
01:00And, you know, he was our first post-liberalization superstar.
01:04He's ridiculously sexy,
01:06according to all the women that I spoke to.
01:09I contend that he's been making South Asian men
01:11feel inadequate since 1992.
01:14♪♪
01:21I realized that each time these women would talk about
01:25they would also immediately start talking about
01:28the men in their real lives.
01:30And in a way, his icon allowed for a safe way
01:34to critique masculinity, men, and very oppressive,
01:39interpersonal, and intimate relationships
01:41that these women were in.
01:42♪♪
01:50One of the themes that's running through the book
01:51is it's because they feel so disappointed
01:54and unloved in their real lives
01:56that the fantasy of Mr. Khan starts to compensate for that.
01:59Everyone would always point to the fact
02:01that he speaks so well of womanhood.
02:06And in his interviews, in his movies,
02:08there's a kind of kindness, the way he speaks to women.
02:12And I even interviewed lots of film critics for the book,
02:14and they also highlighted that it was a way of speaking
02:18to women that they just had never seen a man on screen
02:21speak like that before.
02:22The second was everyone would talk about
02:25how he was in the kitchen,
02:26how he was always helping women in the kitchen.
02:28So in DDLJ, he's peeling carrots.
02:30Even in his last public interview,
02:32the last big interview was with David Letterman.
02:34He was cooking for David Letterman in the kitchen.
02:37And then the third thing, which in fact has been mentioned
02:40by a few people who write about Mr. Khan,
02:42but I heard this time and time again,
02:45is that he always kisses the neck.
02:47So a lot of women would say that, you know,
02:49when men don't know what to do with women's bodies in bed,
02:52but they should learn from what Mr. Khan does,
02:54at least in his movies.
02:55And then it should hardly be surprising to any of us
02:58that, you know, we lap up this romantic feast
03:01of selflessness, right,
03:02that Mr. Khan's characters provide on screen.
03:12He's not a feminist icon, but he's a female icon.
03:15And the difference there is that women are drawn
03:18to the fact that even though he played these characters
03:22in the early part of his iconography,
03:24and I think we should be very conscious of that,
03:26I think, you know, there was definitely a shift
03:29in the latter part of his films.
03:31And in fact, off late, he's been doing films
03:33where women play such a central role, right?
03:36Be it a zero, be it Dear Zindagi, there are so many,
03:39or Chak De India for that matter.
03:41I think there was a big shift.
03:43I think women see him as a female icon for multiple reasons.
03:47One is, as I said, he speaks to women,
03:50he listens to women in the films.
03:52There's an acknowledging of female feelings.
03:55I think women really appreciated that.