1. Devdas
Based on the writings of Indian author Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Devdas is a timeless tale of love and heartbreak. It centers on the titular character, who develops an alcohol addiction following heartbreak when his childhood friend and the woman he loves, Paro (Aishwarya Rai), marry someone else due to significant class differences between their two families. In addition to often seeing Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), a professional dancer who starts to fall in love with him, Devdas finds comfort in alcohol. Devdas is a love film with a tragic finale that is nonetheless worth seeing, even if it ends tragically. Shah Rukh Khan’s stunning performance, the film’s multifaceted characters, and its international recognition made it the highest-grossing Indian movie of the year. Devdas received 106 nominations for awards overall and 69 wins, with Shah Rukh Khan taking home six Best Actor honors.
2. Chak De India
The former captain of the Indian National Men’s Hockey Team, Kabir Khan, becomes a coach for the National Women’s team in one of the greatest Shah Rukh Khan films. Kabir plans to start the team from scratch and reclaim his lost glory while doing so. The latter had been neglected throughout the years in favor of the men’s squad. He is a strict taskmaster who quickly makes the girls dislike him.
But his harsh methods also planted the seeds of inspiration in a team that was going through a slump. Iron-fist coaching eventually pays off, as the motley crew qualifies for and wins the Women’s Hockey World Cup despite initially being the underdogs. Additionally, Kabir succeeds in repairing his damaged reputation at last and fades into the background. Chak De is like a Hindi version of A League of Their Own! Critics loved India greatly; it won 43 awards out of 72 nominations, including six for Best Actor, in recognition of Khan’s outstanding performance.
3. My Name Is Khan
My Name Is Khan, another highly regarded film and among Shah Rukh Khan’s greatest, tells the story of an autistic guy named Rizwan Khan who becomes entangled in the aftermath of the tragic Twin Towers disaster. Mandira (Kajol), a Hindu woman married to Rizwan, witnesses her kid from a previous marriage being severely abused on a football pitch because he has a Muslim father.
Mandira is distraught about her son’s unexpected death from internal injuries, and she even accuses her husband of having some role in it. Then Rizwan leaves for the US President’s office to tell him that although he may be a Muslim, that does not make him a terrorist. A departure from Shah Rukh’s well-known “lover boy” persona, the film is regarded as one of his best performances ever and attracted criticism after Khan took home four Best Actor honors, out of a total of 25 for the picture.
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4. Swades
One of the greatest Shah Rukh Khan films, Swades narrates the account of Mohan Bhargav, a young NASA scientist whose life transforms upon realizing that his skills are more in demand in his native India than they are elsewhere. Mohan Bhargav pays his elderly nanny a visit in a small Indian town.
Mohan is greatly impacted by the rural community’s way of existence and has the bright idea to construct a hydroelectric power plant to provide the village with its own electricity. The Bollywood production, which is deserving of a Hollywood remake, received overwhelming praise from critics and continues to be Shah Rukh’s greatest hit to date. Khan won three Swades Best Actor honors, and the movie itself won 14 awards in total.
5. Darr
Darr, which is still regarded as one of the greatest Shah Rukh Khan films, was the film that gave Khan his big break. He portrays Rahul, a volatile and violent young guy in the movie who develops an obsession with Kiran (Juhi Chawla), a young woman, to the point of following her and attempting to get rid of her fiancé in order to have her all to himself.
For his portrayal of the vile character, Khan received a great deal of praise, and some of his Rahul-related mannerisms went on to become just as well-known as the actor. The Hindi film available on Amazon Prime was nominated for nine awards and took home three, including the National Film Award and the Filmfare Award.