Beyond Raees: Here are Shah Rukh Khan's darkest roles, from Darr to Baazigar

It is common knowledge that Khan has played darker roles in his early days. Infact, one could say that SRK’s claim to fame, his popularity is owed to his negative portrayals in films like Darr, Baazigar and more. His most recent foray into that area is in Rahul Dholakia’s crime drama Raees, in which he plays a bootlegger. He returns to what he does best among the top heroes of the Hindi film industry, and that is playing an anti-hero. In our Throwback Thursday column this week, Firstpost looks back at five negative roles that stand out in his illustrious body of work spanning over two decades. Anjaam This Rahul Rawail thriller was when Khan sported red horns for the first time on celluloid. He played Vijay, an obsessive lover who kills his love interest’s husband. While the second half was all about the revenge of Madhuri Dixit’s character, Khan’s cold stare and straight face made for a compelling, though not a pleasant, watch in the first half.

Darr It was in this Yash Chopra film that Khan was at his menacing best. Yet it is quite ironic that it was his character, Rahul, who used to stammer more than the victim of his obsessed and unrequited love, Kiran, essayed by Juhi Chawla. The stammering, besides his unique dialogue delivery, also stemmed from the fact that Rahul was extremely vulnerable, and consequently dangerous, since he had nothing to lose.

Baazigar It was all about loving your parents, even back in 1993, when Khan avenged his mother’s humiliation by throwing Shilpa Shetty’s character off a terrace. Gulp. Yes, it was all about loving your parents, at the cost of the girl madly in love with you. This character of Ajay was less selfish than the past two characters and thus, commanded a strange sense of sympathy from the audience.

Don The Don franchise by Farhan Akhtar marked Khan’s return to dark roles after 13 years. It released immediately after Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, escalating his deeds from an extramarital affair to killing people for fun. Unlike Baazigar, there was no justification to this character. The character of Don was indulgent, stylised and plain simple badass.

Dilwale This Rohit Shetty film is a part of the list simply because of how the character of Kali is introduced in the film. He starts off by playing a protective yet non-violent elder brother to Varun Dhawan’s character, until the sun sets. He puts on a dark hoodie, assumes a brooding demeanour and goes on to thrash the bad guys. It is then revealed that he belongs to the underworld. His bitterness goes several notches higher when his love interest, Kajol’s character, betrays his trust. However, it is quite easy to dub this as his most underwhelming negative role till date.

According to early reviews, including the one of _Firstpost_ , the reason behind Khan’s character turning to crime in Raees is all about business. This interesting shade in his character undoubtedly lends him an air of intrigue, which has been the highlight of all his memorable dark roles. (Images from Youtube)