Diwali and Shah Rukh Khan: When the season of lights belonged to the King of romance!

Before mythology dominated the screen of multiplexes, Diwali was all about romance, family, and a Shah Rukh Khan film lighting up the big screen!

The craze for Diwali releases has always been a special kind of madness because the festival of lights for some becomes a festival of celebrating cinema for others. Every year, filmmakers fought tooth and nail for that golden Diwali slot because families were free and in the festive mood and this came with the opportunity ready to pack the theatres. Hence, Diwali box-office wars where films released together to compete for audiences attention perfectly mirrored the spirit of the festival itself just like the cracker battles between people. But there was another thing when it came to cinema because at one time, festivals were almost divided among superstars.

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As if Eid belonged to Salman Khan where Bhaijaan was expected to deliver eidi, then Diwali was ruled by Shah Rukh Khan the undisputed 'King of Romance' and, for nearly two decades, the King of Diwali. An SRK film on Diwali wasn’t a coincidence; it was tradition. From the early ’90s through the 2010s, the festival of diyas and mithai also became a festival of open arms, flying dupattas, and violins playing somewhere in the distance. Those films became a sort of ritual in themselves where families, dressed in their best, came together to celebrate both love and light on the big screen. Today, as Diwali releases have shifted toward horror comedies, mythological fantasies, and high-concept spectacles, which is not necessarily bad, there’s still something we collectively miss about that era when Diwali meant togetherness, emotion, and yes, a Shah Rukh Khan film.

Let’s rewind to some of those glowing moments that made Diwali synonymous with SRK.

Baazigar (1993)

It all started with a twist quite literally as Baazigar wasn’t your usual feel-good family entertainer. It was darker, sharper, a revenge drama that turned SRK into Bollywood’s new-age anti-hero. Yet, even in its thriller format, it carried Diwali’s essence of a victory of good over evil, through shades of grey.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

Two years later, SRK lit up the screens with DDLJ, a film that didn’t just redefine romance but rewrote how we looked at love itself. Raj and Simran became symbols of everything romance and even what the festival stood for as tradition met modernity, distance met devotion, and NRI’s found a way to return to home after a long wait.

Dil To Pagal Hai (1997)

If Diwali can be looked at as a festival of curing moral dilemmas, thenDil To Pagal Haiwould become its metaphor. As a story of Rahul and Nisha’s love, timing, and destiny danced between choosing duty and desire, showing us that sometimes, the greatest festival is love itself. 

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

One year later, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai arrived like a pataka of emotions as a story of true friendship, heartbreak, and rediscovery became a way in Diwali to make everyone re-evaluate everything and take another chance at life. 

Mohabbatein (2000)

By the millennium’s turn, SRK became the philosopher of love as Mohabbatein pitted him against Amitabh Bachchan in a story of rebellion and romance where love vs authority became light vs darkness. So, if Diwali is about lighting diyas to drive out the dark, then this film did the same as it drove consuming grief into eternal love only with violins. 

Veer- Zaara (2004)

If Diwali can be looked at as a journey of homecoming after immense sacrifice then there would hardly be any film better than Veer-Zaara that captures the spirit of sacrifice and faith wrapped in a heartbreaking love story. With humanity and hope as its arms, it proves that light, much like love, travels beyond borders.

Don (2006)

Then came a detour where Don did not just mark a reinvention of the old movie but also marked a reinvention of a sleeker, edgier SRK who traded his romantic idealism for calculated danger. It was a Diwali that crackled like a cracker with more voltage. 

Om Shanti Om (2007)

If there ever was a Diwali release that embodied the festival’s loud extravagance, it was Om Shanti Om. As fireworks, reincarnation, and meta-Bollywood humor all met in a full-blown carnival on screen where cinema paid tribute to cinema, in an entertaining parody, this film gave us a celebration of love and second chances. 

Ra.One (2011)

This was SRK’s most ambitious Diwali gift to his fans as a sci-fi spectacle that brought Diwali’s mythology into the age of technology. G.One and Ra.One became avatars of good and evil in digital form while the film, with its emotional touch, reminded us that even in a world run by AI, love is the code that saves us.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012)

Yash Chopra’s final directorial, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, turned that Diwali into a bittersweet farewell. As SRK returned to the old school romantic form once again, the story of a soldier, lover, and believer became a poetic tale of remembering that also carried the flicker of a goodbye to the beloved director.

Happy New Year (2014)

Loud, colorful, and chaotic, Happy New Year was a film that encapsulated everything that Diwali parties usaully are. A heist disguised as a dance competition, the film was pure spectacle and had the energy of the crackers we burst. It might not have the same weightage as previous Diwali releases yet had its own brand of brainrot that is often perfect to unwind with. 

Maybe that’s why we still wait for that one SRK Diwali release where the lights dim, 75mm screens enlighten and the King of romance reminds us once again why watching his movies always felt like celebrating Diwali itself! 

Which one is your favorite SRK Diwali release? Tell us in the comments below! 

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