EXCLUSIVE! #KingKhanIsBack - Shah Rukh Khan - The Story And The Learning

So here is this inspiring story of a man who seemed to be a treading a path where all seemed to be lost.

"He is finished"

"He has aged"

"He is trying too hard"

"He isn't trying enough"

"He has lost touch with audiences on ground"

All sorts of statements were coming in, both from the inside circles of Bollywood as well as the 'aam junta'. His movies were falling left, right and centre and the lethal blow was Zero which was hugely criticised and emerged as a major commercial disaster.

So what did the man do?

He took a step back. In fact not one, but many steps back. He took a deep breath, and chose not to sign any new movie till he was really sure that he wanted to do that. All this while, his PR machinery was still active. "He is thinking of this movie", "He is thinking of that strategy", "His next move could be this", "His new line of action could be that" - He kept the audiences busy guessing.

Meanwhile, he was actually thinking, and thinking hard. He stayed well groomed as ever, he worked on his physique, he listened to scripts - dozens and dozens of them, he made an occasional appearance or two, he stayed connected with his fans through #AskSRK sessions, he never shot his mouth off, he never made a loose statement, he never indulged in conversations that would hit him as a brand.

All that he did was keep thinking hard, be in the groove right through, and very importantly choose the scripts along with the entire production unit and the making team that would consider his comeback film to be a passion project no less.

Pathaan was the chosen one, and it wasn't an easy breezy affair either. Hundreds of crores had to be pumped into the making of the film, the shoot had to be gruelling across continents spread over months, the action was designed as never-seen-before but unbelievable and very crucially it was coming at a time when Bollywood wasn't really in the good books for many out there, either organically or artificially.

In the midst of this he went through his family troubles, which could have broken anyone. He kept his head high, dignity intact and resolve strong. He weathered the storm and kept moving on. And then the D day came, Pathaan released and has now emerged as the biggest film ever by surpassing the record set by the Hindi version of Baahubali: The Conclusion (511 crores). It's still counting and will cover a greater distance.

The BIGGEST learning that I have gathered from this supremely inspiring journey is to take a step back, gather breath, revitalise, re-strategise and regroup when the odds are not in your favour. If we haven't so far, then we will encounter failure in the future. The situation will indeed seem to be over & out. The world would seem to be conspiring against you. In such a scenario, taking a back foot is not a bad option at all.

However, even then, don't isolate yourself. Keep working on retaining your brand, don't badmouth anyone, don't shoot off your anger/disappointments/negativity on to the world, keep your family close, stay in touch with friends, soak in all the positive energy, and very importantly, don't mourn.

The universe is never against you, it never was, it never will. It just respects those who try hard, and who want to make things happen. You may feel you have been pushed out, but when you recoup, the headlines will again scream - "King Khan Is Back".

Ladies and gentlemen, that's the man for you - Shah Rukh Khan!