RANKED: Villainous Roles Of Shah Rukh Khan That Make Him The Superstar Of Darkness

What is Shah Rukh Khan famous for? The answer to this question can be as varied as his career in Bollywood. However, initially, when he started his career one of the factors that made him stand out from his contemporaries were his out of the box-choices.

While most leading men of the era were trying to be the romantic and righteous hero who beats up the baddies, Shah Rukh caught the limelight because he was treading the road less taken. Back in the early 90s, Shah Rukh was perhaps the only leading man who was brave enough to take on villainous and anti-hero roles and it would not be inaccurate to say that it is those choices that shaped his career and made him the phenomena he is today.

Now that he is all set to make his Tamil debut, that too as a villain, we could not help but take a trip down the memory lane and look back at the stellar performances in villainous roles that truly make him the superstar of darkness.

Rank 8: Duplicate

Things can always get tricky when actors play double roles in films. He played the role of a bumbling fool Bablu on one hand and on another he played Manu Dada and tapped into the darker side of his personality.

Rank 7: Raees

There is something about the Robin Hood-ish characters of Bollywood that leave an impact. Despite its lukewarm box-office it was a total treat for Shah Rukh fans to see him in grey avatar in Raees. Shah Rukh perfectly managed to strike a balance between the layers of his character and gave us another desi don character to dote over.

Rank 6: Don

Shah Rukh was under tremendous pressure when he was reprising one of the most iconic roles of Amitabh Bachchan. However, instead of a caricature of Bachchan, with Don Shah Rukh gave us a villain who was cool, collected, suave and a master mind with just the right amount of flair and charm.

Rank 5:Anjaam

One of the most underrated films of the 90s is probably this Shah Rukh and Madhuri starrer. The most interesting thing about Anjaam is Shah Rukh does not fall into the trap of rehashing his characters from Darr or Baazigar but serves a performance that truly charmed us and also made us hate his guts every time he came on screen.

Rank 4: Fan

Despite being a box-office failure in the domestic market, Fan is a stellar attempt by Shah Rukh Khan. As Gaurav Khanna, the switch from a vulnerable and wide-eyed boy to an unhinged man was incredibly seamless. Also, there was something so deeply unsettling about the way Gaurav looked at the camera.

Rank 3: Don 2

The film showed Shah Rukh in probably what happens to be his most stylish avatar. But, it is not just his ripped body and suave style that made Don 2 one of his best anti-hero portrayals. He was pitch perfect as the cold-blooded and flamboyant criminal mastermind and for someone who is the most iconic romantic hero ever, he added a delicious sinister layer even in the romantic bits of the film that was simply exquisite to watch.

Rank 2: Baazigar

Merely a month before Shah Rukh made us shiver with Darr, he announced his birth as a superstar with Baazigar. It does not happen very often that the audience roots for the one who kills his girlfriend by throwing her off a building in the first ten minutes of the film. But, it was Shah Rukh and the conviction with which he played Vicky Malhotra/ Ajay Sharma made this possible.

Rank 1: Darr

If there is one film that had the most profound impact on Shah Rukh’s career , it is probably Darr. Years before Ranveer and Varun impressed us with Khilji and Badlapur respectively, Khan went where no Bollywood hero has gone before him. The Kiran obsessed Rahul Mehra is probably one of the most iconic characters that Shah Rukh has ever played on screen.