Every superstar has a superhero. But when Bollywood’s King Khan names his, the answer isn’t from Marvel or DC. It isn’t even from the realm of fantasy. It’s a man who defined what heroism looked like for an entire generation of Indians, who made rugged masculinity aspirational, who proved that real strength isn’t just about action sequences but about presence that commands every frame.
Monday night, November 10, 2025, Shah Rukh Khan pulled up at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital in his Rolls-Royce. Cameras captured him raising a black curtain to shield himself from photographers. His son Aryan was with him. They’d come to check on someone who’s been in ICU since October 31, someone whose health scare has sent shockwaves through an industry that considers him family.
But this wasn’t just a celebrity courtesy visit. This was something deeper, something that traces back to a Delhi schoolboy getting in trouble daily for his hair, rushing to Gol Market between classes to get a specific cut that would make him look like his idol. This was about a Punjabi family in Delhi who had posters of only one actor on their walls. This was about a son massaging his mother’s painful feet while singing a song from a film he’d memorized frame by frame.
The story of Shah Rukh Khan and Dharmendra isn’t just about two Bollywood icons from different eras respecting each other’s work. It’s about how childhood dreams sometimes lead to standing beside your heroes decades later, about how idols become friends, about what happens when the boy who copied your haircut grows up to become the biggest star in the world and still calls you his only superhero.
And the most beautiful part? Dharmendra knows. He’s always known. And the way he responds to Shah Rukh’s affection will make you believe in the magic of cinema all over again.
The India’s Got Talent Moment That Changed Everything
Picture this: 2011, the set of India’s Got Talent Season 3. Shah Rukh Khan is there promoting Ra.One, his ambitious superhero film that cost over 100 crores and represented his biggest gamble yet. The judges’ panel includes Dharmendra, Kirron Kher, and Sonali Bendre. Someone asks Shah Rukh the question that seems simple but carries enormous weight: who is your real-life superhero?
Shah Rukh doesn’t hesitate. Doesn’t give a diplomatic answer about multiple influences or name-drop Western superheroes to tie into his film’s marketing. Instead, he turns directly to Dharmendra and says words that will echo through Bollywood history: “All my family is Punjabi, and for us, there’s only one superhero, Dharam Pajji. We have no other superhero.”
The audience erupts. Dharmendra, the man who spent decades being Bollywood’s original action hero, the He-Man who performed death-defying stunts and romanced every leading lady of his generation, gets visibly emotional. At 76 years old in 2011, hearing the biggest star of the current generation call him his only superhero meant everything. It validated a lifetime of work. It proved that his legacy extended beyond box office collections into something deeper: inspiration.
But Shah Rukh wasn’t finished. He shared a memory so intimate and heartbreaking that everyone on set felt the emotional weight. His mother Latif Fatima, who raised him in modest circumstances in Delhi after his father passed away, suffered from chronic foot pain. Young Shah Rukh would massage her feet to provide relief, and to keep her spirits up during those painful moments, he’d sing Dharmendra’s song Are Rafta Rafta Dekho Ankh Meri Ladi Hai from the film Kahani Kismat Ki.
That image, a boy caring for his ailing mother while singing a Dharmendra song, captures why Bollywood creates such deep parasocial bonds. These weren’t just actors on screen. They were companions during difficult times, their songs becoming soundtracks to real family moments, their dialogues becoming philosophy, their screen presence becoming aspiration.
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The Schoolboy Who Defied His Principal
Shah Rukh Khan’s education at St. Columba’s School in Delhi came with strict grooming standards that clashed spectacularly with his rebellious streak and desire to emulate his screen idols. In an interview on Aap Ki Adalat, he revealed a routine that perfectly captures teenage determination to look cool despite institutional resistance.
“My school was very strict, and I used to have long hair,” Shah Rukh explained. “Every day in the assembly, the principal would send me back to get a haircut.” Rather than actually cutting his hair short and conforming, young Shah Rukh developed a strategy: he’d leave school, rush to Gol Market (a commercial area in Delhi), get a specific hairstyle, and return claiming he’d followed instructions.
But here’s where it gets fascinating. Shah Rukh didn’t just get random short haircuts. He specifically requested either the “Dharam Ji haircut” or the “Bachchan haircut,” alternating between his two biggest idols depending on his mood that day. The barbers at Gol Market knew exactly what he meant because Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan’s hairstyles were so iconic that entire generations of Indian men copied them.
Imagine the dedication required. Getting sent back from assembly meant missing class. Walking to Gol Market took time. Getting the haircut cost money from his modest allowance. Returning to school meant potential punishment if authorities realized he was gaming the system. Yet Shah Rukh did this repeatedly because looking like Dharmendra mattered more than avoiding trouble.
That teenage determination to emulate his hero foreshadowed the adult Shah Rukh’s approach to his career: do what you believe in regardless of obstacles, maintain your identity even when institutions demand conformity, and never apologize for your dreams.
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The Twitter Exchange That Made Everyone Cry
Fast forward to September 2023. Shah Rukh Khan’s action thriller Jawan is about to release, and the film represents his comeback after several years of underperforming projects. At 57, he’s proving that superstars don’t have expiration dates if they keep evolving. The film will go on to earn over 1100 crores worldwide, becoming one of Bollywood’s biggest blockbusters ever.
Dharmendra, now 87 years old, takes to Twitter (now X) to wish his friend success. The tweet is brief but carries fatherly affection: “Shah Rukh, bete [son] wish you a great luck for Jawan.” That single word “bete” encapsulates their relationship. Shah Rukh isn’t just a colleague or fellow actor. He’s someone Dharmendra views with paternal fondness, someone whose success brings him genuine joy.
Shah Rukh’s response came within hours and revealed the depth of their bond: “Love you sir. Thank u so much. Will come over and take a tight hug.” That promise, “will come over and take a tight hug,” wasn’t just polite social media banter. It was a genuine commitment from someone who understands that time with legends is precious and finite.
Two years later, on November 10, 2025, Shah Rukh kept variations of that promise. When Dharmendra was hospitalized and reports suggested his condition had become critical, Shah Rukh didn’t just send flowers or make a phone call. He drove to Breach Candy Hospital with his son Aryan, shielded himself from paparazzi because the visit was about genuine concern rather than publicity, and spent time with the family of the man he’d called his only superhero 14 years earlier.
The November Night When Bollywood Gathered
Monday night at Breach Candy Hospital looked like a Bollywood reunion, but the somber mood made it clear this wasn’t a celebration. Salman Khan arrived in the evening, his car surrounded by security as cameras captured his visit. Govinda showed up to pay respects to the man he’d worked with across multiple films. Ameesha Patel emerged visibly distraught, repeatedly asking paparazzi to leave her alone as she processed seeing her former co-star in ICU.
Shah Rukh and Aryan’s arrival later that night carried particular emotional weight. Aryan had recently worked with Bobby Deol on his directorial debut web series The Bastards of Bollywood, creating his own connection to the Deol family. Father and son visiting together represented both professional courtesy and genuine family bonds that extend across Bollywood generations.
Inside the hospital, Dharmendra’s family had gathered: wife Hema Malini, sons Sunny and Bobby, daughters Esha and Ahana. The 89-year-old legend who’d been hospitalized since October 31 for breathlessness had been moved to ICU and put on ventilator support. For several terrifying hours on November 10, it seemed like Bollywood might lose one of its founding pillars.
The fact that Shah Rukh made time during this crisis, that he brought his son, that he raised a curtain to avoid making the visit about himself rather than Dharmendra’s health, demonstrated the character beneath the superstar persona. This wasn’t King Khan visiting a colleague. This was a boy from Delhi paying respects to the man whose haircut he copied, whose songs he sang to his mother, whose films taught him what screen presence looked like.
The Punjabi Connection That Runs Deeper Than Cinema
Shah Rukh’s declaration on India’s Got Talent that “all my family is Punjabi” carries cultural weight that non-Indian audiences might miss. Punjabi culture emphasizes respect for elders, loyalty to community, and demonstrative affection that doesn’t hide behind restraint. When Shah Rukh calls Dharmendra “Dharam Pajji” (respectful term for older brother), he’s invoking that cultural framework where familial terms create bonds beyond blood relation.
Growing up in Delhi’s Rajendra Nagar area, Shah Rukh was surrounded by Punjabi families who treated Dharmendra as their own. His films played in single-screen theaters where audiences whistled and threw coins at the screen during action sequences. His dialogues became everyday phrases. His style, from hairstyle to mannerisms, got imitated by men across North India who saw him as the ultimate representation of Punjabi masculinity.
For Shah Rukh to name Dharmendra as his only superhero wasn’t just acknowledging cinematic influence but honoring a cultural hero who represented his community on the biggest stage in India. It was saying: this is who we aspired to be, this is the standard of heroism we measured ourselves against, and despite every global superhero Hollywood could offer, none of them mattered as much as Dharam Pajji.
Your Heroes Define You
Who was your childhood hero? Did you ever get to meet them? How did it change you to see them in person versus on screen? Drop your stories in the comments because everyone has someone who shaped their dreams through a screen or page or song.
Share this tribute with anyone who grew up idolizing Dharmendra or Shah Rukh Khan. Follow for updates on Dharmendra’s recovery because legends like him and bonds like his with Shah Rukh remind us why Bollywood isn’t just an industry but a family that spans generations, where today’s superstars still call yesterday’s icons their only superheroes, where schoolboys who copied haircuts grow up to visit hospitals and keep promises about tight hugs.
