People started taking selfies with SRK’s doppelganger.
In 2021, Aryan Khan was arrested in the Cordelia Cruise case for alleged narcotics possession.
There was a time when Shah Rukh Khan, usually media-friendly, stopped making public appearances and avoided being photographed with a black curtain or umbrella. This was because he was angry at the media for their coverage of his son Aryan Khan’s arrest.
Since Aryan’s arrest in a ‘drugs on cruise’ case in 2021, Shah Rukh has avoided the paparazzi. In a recent interview, photographer Varinder Chawla explained why and recalled an incident with the Pathaan actor.
Chawla said that when Pathaan was released in 2023, his team spotted Shah Rukh Khan and sent the footage to him. He felt that his privacy was invaded, and he was angry. “Then I made a call to the actor’s PR, informed them about the video my team recorded and told them that I won’t be using it. And apologised to them on behalf of my team for invading their privacy,” he said.
Chawla continued, “You will not believe me, soon after my call, I quickly received a call from SRK’s manager who first thanked me and then informed me that Shah Rukh wanted to speak to me. I was in shock. From running behind his car to get a glimpse of him to getting a call from him, it seemed too unreal. I said, ‘anytime’. We spoke for over five minutes. After speaking to him, I realised his love for his children, his son Aryan Khan. I too have children, if people went around talking ill and negative things about my children, I too would feel sad. He was so sad, upset back then, we didn’t care about that. We just kept complaining SRK doesn’t give us photos and always hides his face. He is mad at the media for what they did to his son.”
In 2021, Aryan was arrested in the Cordelia Cruise case for alleged narcotics possession and spent 22 days in jail before being cleared of all charges. During Aryan’s time in jail, Shah Rukh visited him and was mobbed by photographers and media.
Since then, Shah Rukh has been avoiding being photographed. He often uses a car with dark curtains, makes backdoor entries, or has his team cover him with umbrellas when moving from place to place.
