It’s The King’s Thing!
Shahrukh Khan announces his foray into the OTT world in a cryptic tweet. It’s not via a show or movie he’s producing or acting in but his own platform SRK+. Khan tweeted, ‘Kuch kuch hone wala hai, OTT ki duniya mein’ – a twist on his blockbuster Kuch Kuch Hota Hai – Khan announced something is going to happen in the OTT world. This one tweet was enough to send his fans and friends into a frenzy!
As soon as the tweet was out millions of his fans and industry peers came out in full support of this announcement. While Khan didn’t announce any specific details, it was a tweet from Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Black Friday) who confirmed the new platform with his reaction. Kashyap responded, ‘Dream come true! Collaborating with @iamsrk on his new OTT app, SRK+.’
SRK+: The King’s Thing
When you’re a megastar like Shahrukh Khan it seems, you need not go to an OTT platform but can do your own thing. For quite some time SRK had some hilarious ads running on Disney+ Hotstar (a Disney and Star collaboration in India).
The ‘+’ in SRK’s OTT branding make you wonder if it’s another collaboration between SRK and Disney+ Hotstar. A new advertisement actor Ajay Devgan responded to that quip ‘Thoda Ruk Shahrukh,’ meaning ‘wait a bit Shahrukh,’ which seems to point in the same direction.
Khan already owns a production house with his wife Gauri. Their Red Chillies Entertainment is a visual effect, production and distribution company by the power couple. He forayed into OTT production on Netflix with 2019’s Bard of Blood, an action-drama starring Emran Hashmi as an excommunicated RAW agent. Further, in 2020, Betaal, a zombie horror fiction was released on Netflix.
But ever since, looks like Khan has changed his allegiance to Disney+ Hotstar with a slew of advertisements running on Disney+ often joking Khan hasn’t appeared on any platform, unlike his peers.
Watch: Siway SRK ft. Shah Rukh Khan | Disney+ Hotstar
A Perfect Answer To Smear Campaigns
In a politically polarized country like India, the stardom of Shahrukh Khan is a testament to his fan’s love. And that this love will stand the test of times! In the last year itself, there had been many starting with his son Aryan Khan’s drug case.
On October 3 Aryan was arrested in connection with the Mumbai cruise drugs case. The Bombay High Court granted him bail on October 28. All the while when trolls and right-wing was smearing his image. Khan kept his head high and hands folded and emerged as the face of secular India we need.
This year, he was accused of thook jihad when he was offering dua at India’s nightingale Lata Mangeshkar’s funeral. And this time forget trolls major leaders were accusing the Muslim community of deliberately spreading Covid at the behest of SRK. But he still rose from those accusations like a phoenix.
Indian politics is simply not conducive to the kind of stardom Khan’s be it Shahrukh, Salman or Amir are used to. However, Shahrukh Khan is the undisputed Muslim superstar the globe has ever seen. Because if you think of India Shahrukh Khan and butter chicken are the two things that come to a western mind.
Khan recently unveiled a teaser for Pathan his next slated to release January 2023. With SRK+ we are yet to receive more details.
