Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan showed fans the man behind the star – and they weren’t ready for it

Fan was a film Shah Rukh Khan “loved,” but his fans? Not so much. In it, he’s both Aryan Khanna, a superstar, and Gaurav Chandna, an obsessive fan from Delhi who idolizes Aryan to a dangerous degree. Indulged by his parents and blind to his own psychological issues, Gaurav’s devotion leads him to Mumbai, where he’s lost in a sea of fans just like him. His dreams of forging a personal connection with Aryan are shattered as the star remains unaware of the existence of his “pakka vala fan.” In desperation, Gaurav pulls a risky stunt to catch Aryan’s eye, only to learn the hard truth: meeting your hero isn’t always what you expect. Aryan dismisses the obsession Gaurav considers sacred. Betrayed and humiliated, Gaurav’s love turns to vengeance, and he sets out to dismantle the very stardom he once worshipped.

Fan arrived at a time when Shah Rukh Khan’s stardom was under scrutiny, following the lukewarm box-office performances of Dilwale and Happy New Year. In a way, Maneesh Sharma’s film became a kind of confessional for the actor, allowing him to subtly share snippets of his real life in the garb of a screenplay. For instance, Shah Rukh’s character is named Aryan—a nod to his eldest son. The film also touches on the superstar’s insecurities about staying relevant and a self-assuredness that often verges on arrogance. One scene even depicts Aryan slapping another actor at a party, subtly mirroring controversies from Shah Rukh’s own life. Though subtle, the film cleverly intertwines elements of the actor’s reality into its narrative that just can’t be missed.

Critics offered many reasons for Fan’s lukewarm reception, with the film’s choppy second half often cited as the main one. But on revisiting the film, I realised that the cause is deeper, touching the psyche of SRK’s fans who see him as part of their fantasy. He is their dream—a vision fulfilled by even a fleeting glimpse. When that same dream-like persona confronts them with the harsh reality of stardom, shows them the man behind the star and unravels the arrogance that can accompany such devotion, the rose-tinted glass just shatters.

Shah Rukh Khan knew that Fan might not resonate with the heartland audience, but he took a chance because he believed in the film. “It’s (Fan) not a film that heartland audience will like it. But we took a chance thinking hopefully they (audience) will like it, but they needed song and dance. I am not unrealistic,” he admitted in a PTI interview after the film’s box-office disappointment.

Like any artiste, SRK craves validation from his audience, and when Fan didn’t deliver that, he returned to the familiar comfort where many broken hearts find solace – home. “Yes, losing can become very personal. I deal with it by genuinely closing up and becoming very quiet, and spending a lot of time with myself and my kids,” he said in an interaction with Hindustan Times.

In Fan, Aryan Khanna declares, “Whatever I am today, I am because of my fans.” This sentiment reflects Shah Rukh Khan’s own feelings, where his hurt stems from disappointing his fans rather than simply losing at the box office. “But my sadness is never a result of my failure at the box office. I feel really sad when I am unable to deliver something to so many people who I am emotionally important for. I have seen too many failures to get disturbed. But yes, the disheartening part of failure still hurts,” he admitted.

In a time when the very idea of stardom is up for debate and often pronounced dead, there’s no better way to celebrate the Badshah’s birthday than with Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan. As Gaurav puts it so perfectly in the film, “Woh sirf star nahi, duniya hai meri (humare).”