“SRK 2.0: The Comeback”

Editors: Rudrani Gangopadhyay, Niyati Bhat, Souraj Dutta

In 2023, Shah Rukh Khan returned to the silver screen after a five-year hiatus with three major releases—Pathaan, Jawan, and Dunki—reclaiming his place in the pantheon of Indian cinema icons. These films not only re-established his box-office dominance but also marked a significant transformation in his star text, image, and socio-political relevance. Since then, we have witnessed a virtual explosion of Khan’s presence in the media - through numerous ad campaigns, promotionals like Aryan Khan’s D'YAVOL X3 clothing line or The BA***DS of Bollywood, or his recent Met Gala appearance with Sabyasachi Mukherjee. The last, perhaps more than the others, signals a reinvigorated deployment of his star persona in previously unseen or unexplored permutations. Following a decade of intensified scrutiny, media antagonism, and personal trials, Khan’s re-emergence as an action hero and his retooled public persona demand critical attention.

This special issue of South Asian Popular Culture seeks scholarly contributions that go beyond individual close-readings of the 2023 films to instead explore the larger significance of Shah Rukh Khan’s “comeback” moment. We invite original research that engages with the evolution of his stardom, his relationship with shifting political and media landscapes, and the meanings of his global fandom in an era of heightened virality and ideological polarization.

This issue will situate SRK’s 2023 resurgence within broader conversations around masculinity, national identity, genre, and global cultural flows. We are especially interested in contributions that interrogate how Khan’s image is shaped and reshaped across media forms, industrial platforms, and political registers — from the aesthetic and thematic reorientations of his recent roles to his strategic absences from press circuits, and from his business ventures to his public oratory.

We welcome submissions that engage, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• SRK’s fan cultures and fan interaction architecture 

• SRK’s global stardom beyond Hindi language audiences 

• SRK’s media presences and absences 

• SRK’s PR machinery and/or his live performances/speeches

• SRK’s relationship with ageing/de-aging (on and off-screen)

• SRK’s evolution into an action star (past failed attempts, initial TV work, future projects) 

• SRK as an economic study model (producer and/or businessman)

• SRK’s star persona and stardom contextualised within India’s current political-ideological environment  

• SRK down South - a ‘new’ New Bollywood?

We encourage interdisciplinary approaches drawing from film studies, media and cultural studies, political theory, gender studies, economics, and performance studies. Submissions from emerging scholars, independent researchers, and practitioners are welcome. Please send in your 300-word abstract by August 1, 2025 to the email address specified below. We aim to get back to you with our decision by mid-September, 2025. 

Submission guidelines and important dates:

• Abstracts (300 words): due August 15, 2025

• Full articles (7500 - 8000 words): due January 1, 2026 

• For information about South Asian Popular Culture and Instructions for authors:https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=rsap20 

• Please send abstracts and inquiries to sapcsrkeditorial@gmail.com  

For other inquiries reach out to: souraj.dutta@bcu.ac.uk