Shahrukh studied acting under celebrated Theatre Director Barry John at Delhi's Theatre Action Group. In 2007, John commented thus on his former pupil that, "The credit for the phenomenally successful development and management of Shahrukh's career goes to the superstar himself.Shahrukh Khan made his acting debut in 1988 when he appeared in the television series, Fauji, playing the role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai.He went on to appear in several other television serials, most notably in the 1989 serial, Aziz Mirza's Circus, which depicted the life of circus performers.The same year, Khan also had a minor role in the made-for-television English-language film, In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, which was based on life at Delhi University and was written by Arundhati Roy. When Khan appeared in those teleserials, people found in him some resemblance with legendary actor Dilip Kumar and also compared his acting style with the thespian.
Upon moving from New Delhi to Mumbai in 1991,Shahrukh Khan made his Bollywood movie debut in Deewana (1992). The movie became a box office hit, and launched his career in Bollywood.His performance won him a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. He went on to star in Maya Memsaab, which generated some controversy because of his appearance in an "explicit" sex scene in the movie.In 1993, Khan won acclaim for his performances in villainous roles as an obsessive lover and a murderer, respectively, in the box office hits, Darr and Baazigar.In Khan's entry in Encyclopedia Britannica's "Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema" it was stated that "he defied the image of the conventional hero in both these films and created his own version of the revisionist hero."Darr marked his first collaboration with renowned film-maker Yash Chopra and his banner Yash Raj Films, the largest production company in Bollywood. Baazigar, which saw Khan portraying an ambiguous avenger who murders his girlfriend, shocked its Indian audience with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula.His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award. In that same year, Khan played the role of a young musician in Kundan Shah's Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, a performance that earned him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. Khan maintains that this is his all-time favourite among the movies he has acted in.In 1994, Khan once again played an obsessive psycho's role in Anjaam, co-starring alongside Madhuri Dixit. Though the movie was not a box office success, Khan's performance earned him the Filmfare Best Villain Award.
In 1995, Khan starred in the two biggest hits of the year in India. His first release was Rakesh Roshan's Karan Arjun. The film, which dealt with reincarnation, became the second-highest grossing film of the year.He followed it with Aditya Chopra's directorial debut, the romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. A major critical and commercial success, the movie became the year's top-grossing production in India.In 2007, it entered its twelfth year in Mumbai theaters. By then the movie had grossed over 12 billion rupees, making it one of India's biggest movie blockbusters.Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge won ten Filmfare Awards, and Khan's performance as a young NRI who falls for Kajol's character while on a college vacation, won him his second Best Actor Award. In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films, citing it as a "trendsetter of sorts".In that same year's retrospective review by Rediff, Raja Sen stated, "Khan gives a fabulous performance, redefining the Lover for the 1990s with great panache. He's cool and flippant, but sincere enough to appeal to the junta. The performance itself is, like the best in the business, played well enough to come across as effortless, as non-acting.
1996 was a disappointing year for Khan as all his movies released that year failed to do well at the box office.This was, however, followed by a comeback in 1997. He saw success with Subhash Ghai's social drama Pardes one of the biggest hits of the year and Aziz Mirza's comedy Yes Boss, a moderately successful feature.His second project with Yash Chopra as a director, Dil to Pagal Hai became that year's second highest grossing movie, and he won his third Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role as a stage director who falls in love with one of his new actresses.
In 1998, Khan starred in Karan Johar's directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which was the biggest hit of the year.His performance won him his fourth Best Actor award at the Filmfare. He won critical praise for his performance in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se. The movie did not do well at the Indian box office, though it was a commercial success overseas.Khan's only release in 1999, Baadshah, was an average grosser.
