While Shah Rukh Khan's mother left this world much too early, his film career has provided him with many on-screen mothers who have loved and nurtured him over the years. Sometimes these mothers stand out in the crowd. Sometimes they seem to work quietly behind the scenes. Always the mother's impact is felt deeply in the way she loves, nurtures, and supports her son.
Here's a look at some of the key qualities of motherhood as demonstrated by the many movie moms of Shah Rukh Khan.
Acceptance
Deewana, 1992. When Ravi (Rishi Kapoor) leaves behind his young wife Kajal (Divya Bharti) and his mother, Laxmi Devi (Sushma Seth). When Raja Sahai (Shah Rukh Khan) accidentally enters their life and falls desperately in love with the widowed Kajal, Ravi's mother encourages Kajal to marry Raja and welcomes Shah Rukh Khan as her new son. Her acceptance of Raja softens Kajal's heart.
Unconditional Love
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, 1994. Everyone loves free spirited Sunil (Shah Rukh Khan) who wants nothing more than to make it big in the music world and to marry Anna (Suchitra Krishnamurthy), the girl of his dreams. However, his own father Vinayak (Anjan Srivastav) has major issues with Sunil's inability to successfully complete his studies. Though his mother Prabha (Shashi Sahay) and sister Nikki (Sadiya Siddiqui) love him, they aren't pushovers when Sunil asks them for assistance. Realizing that things aren't going the way he planned Sunil fabricates situations to help him achieve his goals. When his contrivances are publicly exposed, his mother is the first to proudly stand by her son and remind everyone just how unique and lovable Sunil is.
Faith
Karan Arjun, 1995. Unable to accept the death of her two sons Karan (Salman Khan) and Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan), widow Durga Singh (Raakhee Gulzar) prays to Goddess Kali to bring them back. Years later when she is old and viewed as a crazy lady by the townsfolk, her sons are miraculously returned to her. Together the three right the wrongs of the past.
Sacrifice
Guddu, 1995. A devout Hindu, Kavita Bahadur (Deepti Naval) is sometimes at odds with her husband Vikram (Mukesh Khanna), an athiest lawyer. When her son Guddu (Shah Rukh Khan) is diagnosed with a brain tumor, he decides upon his death to donate his eyes to his girlfriend who lost her eyesight in an accident. Vikram takes his son to court to prevent his organ donation and soon the family is torn apart as father and son fight it out. In a turn of events, both Vikram and Guddu are hospitalized and Kavita, unable to bear the potential of losing both her husband and son, decides to devote herself to prayer for five days without drinking a sip of water, making the ultimate sacrifice and resolving the conflict between father and son.
Support
Duplicate, 1998. Growing up as the only girl in a household of wrestlers, "Bebe" Chaudhary (Farida Jalal) is a wrestling aficionado. She dotes on her naive son Bablu Chaudhary (Shah Rukh Khan) who would rather become a chef than a wrestler. While she doesn't understand her son's interests, she does whatever is needed to support him - sometimes interfering in his work. When lookalike ruthless criminal Manu (Shah Rukh Khan) shows up pretending to be Bablu, she realizes her support needs to take a different tone.
Companionship
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, 1998. When Tina Malhotra (Rani Mukherjee) dies shortly after childbirth, she leaves behind her husband Rahul Khanna (Shah Rukh Khan), their daughter young Anjali Khanna (Sana Saeed), and Rahul's mother (Farida Jalal). On her eighth birthday, Anjali learns about a long lost college friend of her parents - she convinces her grandmother to accompany her to summer camp to meet her namesake Anjali Sharma (Kajol). Rahul soon joins them and reconnects with a long lost friend.
Connection
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..., 2001. Sharing a close bond with her two sons, Nandini Raichand (Jaya Bachchan) is always in the shadow of her husband, rich businessman Yashvardhan "Yash" Raichand (Amitabh Bachchan). When Yash disowns their adopted son Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) because he marries working class girl Anjali Sharma (Kajol), Nandini is devastated. Yet despite separation by time and place, she continues to feel his presence. It is that connection - and the intervention of her younger son Rohan (Hrithik Roshan) - that finally reunites the family.
Strength
Kal Ho Naa Ho, 2003. When Aman Mathur (Shahrukh Khan) and his mother (Reema Lagoo) come to Brooklyn to live with his uncle, neither expect him to fall in love with the neighbor Naina Catherine Kapur (Preity Zinta). But life has other plans for Aman and he relies on his mother to help him through the tough times ahead.
Protection
Main Hoon Na, 2004. After the infidelity of her husband Brigadier Shekhar Sharma (Naseeruddin Shah) brings an illegitimate child to her doorstep, Madhu Sharma (Kirron Kher) protects herself and her son Lakshman "Lucky" Prasad Sharma (Zayed Khan) from the pain of past and potential future indiscretions by separating from her husband. Years later Lucky brings home new student Ram Sharma as a paying guest to help make ends meet. Madhu welcomes Ram and is soon treating him as a second son. When she discovers that he is none other than the illegitimate son of her estranged husband, she kicks him out of their house. When she learns that he is there to protect the students from rogue ex-soldier Raghavan Dutta (Sunil Shetty), she realizes she wants to protect Ram as well.
Arbitration
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, 2006. Dev Saran (Shah Rukh Khan) is angry at the world because life has been unfair to him. His wife Rhea (Preity Zinta) is a successful magazine editor, his young son Arjun (Ahsaas Channa) prefers the violin over soccer. Aman's mother Kamaljeet "Kamal" Saran (Kirron Kher) tries to keep the peace in the household when Dev's frustration with his life, his marriage, and his family boils over. Kamal tries to be patient with Dev, but isn't afraid to take the tough decisions when he steps out of line.
Help
Om Shanti Om, 2007. There's something about film superstar Om Kapoor (Shah Rukh Khan) that reminds Bela Makhija (Kirron Kher) of her long-lost son Om Prakash Makhija, a junior artiste who mysteriously disappeared one night. When Om comes to Bela and explains what happened to him so many years ago, they work together to implement an elaborate plan that involves resurrecting the script of the film Om Shanti Om which had been abandoned by producer Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal) after the mysterious disappearance of the film's star Shanti Priya (Deepika Padukone).
Patience
My Name Is Khan, 2010. Raising two boys on your own can sometimes be difficult. When one of those boys has a social interaction disorder it can become a major challenge. Knowing that her eldest son Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) is different, Razia Khan (Zarina Wahab) patiently explains how the world works to him. She helps him learn how to interact with other people and how to respond when people treat him badly. Her love and constancy provided a firm foundation for Rizwan for the rest of his life.
While the above movie moms highlight some good qualities of mothers, there were a few women who faced personal challenges when it came to motherhood.
Inconsolable
Baazigar, 1993. After unscrupulous manager Madan Chopra (Dalip Tahil) usurps control of the business from Vishwanath Sharma (Anant Mahadevan), the Sharma family suffers. In poverty when the baby daughter comes down with a fever, Vishwanath goes to get medicine but never returns. The infant daughter dies leaving behind brother Ajay (Shah Rukh Khan) and his mother Shobha Sharma (Raakhee Gulzar). Ajay raises himself and his mother - who never comes to terms with the deaths of her husband and daughter but instead becomes withdrawn, stuck in a loop in the past. Having grown up with a daily reminder of how Chopra's actions destroyed his family, Ajay exacts his revenge.
Blind Faith
Anjaam, 1994. Wealthy widow Padma Agnihotri (Beena Banerjee) loves her son Vijay (Shah Rukh Khan) dearly and has given him all the comforts their wealthy lifestyle offers. When he becomes despondent after learning Shivani Chopra (Madhuri Dixit) has married someone else, she does her best to help him forget her. But Padma's love for her son causes her to accept Vijay's lies almost without question while turning a blind eye to Vijay's spiral descent into drinking and destruction.
Pride
Devdas, 2002. Kaushalya Mukherjee (Smita Jaykar) wants the best for her son Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan). But when he seems inclined to marry his neighbor and childhood friend Parvati "Paro" Chakraborty (Aishwarya Rai), Kaushalya focuses on class distinctions. Seeking to maintain her position in society, she ignores Devdas' true feelings and allows herself to be manipulated by her daughter-in-law. Her pride helps bring about the downfall and destruction of Devdas.
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