A Lonely young man from Delhi walked alone in Bombay, crowds followed him and made the king of their hearts

He had lost both his parents before he was sixteen and had to find his own destination. Shah Rukh's father who was a highly qualified man but with little or no ambition gave him lessons for a lifetime before he died and one of the lessons, Shah Rukh remembers is the line, “jo Kuch Nahi Karte, Woh Kamaal Karte hai”. Shah Rukh took the lesson seriously and made a place of eminence and excellence with the first few plays he did and then with the serials for dd like Dil Dariya, Fauji, and Circus. He wanted to play football or cricket but turned out to be an actor par excellence.

- by  Ali Peter John

Shah Rukh was well on top of his world

He was still uncertain about his future when Bombay called. Hema Malini who was making her debut as a director with a film called Dil Aashna Hai needed a young actor and found that actor when she saw Shah Rukh in the role of the son of a circus owner and she called him to Bombay and cast him opposite Divya Bharti in her film.

Some other filmmakers like Aziz Mirza, Saeed Mirza, and Kundan Shah cast him in their small but meaningful and entertaining films and he attained some kind of stardom with Rakesh Roshan's king uncle and then again in his Karan Arjun and he was well on top of his world. He had a time which could have changed all his time when he played extremely negative roles in films like Baazigaar, Deewana, Anjaam, and darr, but his extraordinary talent made him break out of the cage he could have been trapped in and he who was Hated because of his Villanish roles was soon loved, admired and adored as the lover who gave a new definition to love.

He was a star and had to have people he trusted around him. He had a very good friend and advisor in Viveck Vaswani who had given him a place to live in when he first came to Bombay and who later even produced some good films with shah Rukh, films which gave shah Rukh the confidence that he could make it as a hero in what was called mainstream and commercial cinema. His friends from his television days, the Mirza brothers, and Kundan Shah made films with him which proved that he could walk the most difficult and different bridges with ease and excel.

There was Karuna Badwal, the daughter of one of the most efficient

He now needed a Staff to look after his career. He opted for Anwar Khan as his secretary and it was this Anwar khan who taught him what it took to be a successful actor and Anwar took Shah Rukh to a certain level from where he just couldn’t look back. But Anwar was a drinking man and he drank himself to death at a very young age. His death left a certain void in Shah Rukh’s career, but he had some of the best women advisors who guided and looked after his work. There was Karuna Badwal, the daughter of one of the most efficient star Secretaries who was the man behind the success stories of Danny Denzongpa and Manisha Koirala. Karuna was almost like the ideal representative of the star brand called SRK. He had Mandvi Sharma as the head of his PR department and now he has pooja who looks after Red Chillies, the empire he has built.

Kabir who was considered to be as good as any CEO or business manager

He needed a driver when he had just become a star and took on Kabir who was once the personal driver of Rajesh Khanna and then Mithun Chakraborty and was supposed to be a lucky mascot for any star on the rise. Kabir at one time had even taken charge of the new shah rukh’s career and even decided on which car he should buy (shah Rukh drove his first Pajero when Kabir was his driver). Kabir also took decisions on what time shah Rukh would reach which or whose shooting.

Kabir who was considered to be as good as any CEO or business manager, however, went berserk with his position and it didn’t take long to know the truth about him and he was soon out of a job and once people in the industry who had heard stories about his “stardom” during the time he worked for Rajesh and Mithun Surprisingly and shockingly shunned him and within no time Kabir who only wore a stark white uniform and had apartments and cars of his own was seen traveling in buses with his clothes disheveled and his personality completely changed. He kept looking for new actors who he believed he could still take control of, but till I last saw him in the seat next to me on the BEST bus, nothing had happened and I have not seen him again.

Yash Chopra and Yash Johar, who played a vital role not only in Shah Rukh's profession but also in getting him the property

SRK met many other men and women who literally molded his career, but the two men who made a very definite impact on his life and career were Yash Chopra and Yash Johar, who played a vital role not only in his profession but also in getting him the property at bandstand where the palace of Badshah khan, Mannat now stands.
And what has made Shah Rukh what he is today is his great attitude of gratitude for all those and all that has happened to him.