Biography

Shahrukh Khan was born in 1965 to Muslim parents of Pathan descent in New Delhi, India. His father, Taj Mohammed Khan, was an Indian freedom fighter from Peshawar, British India. According to SRK, his grandfather was originally from Afghanistan. His mother, Lateef Fatima, was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan. He served as a General in the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose. SRK's father came to New Delhi from Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar before the partition of India, while his mother's family came from Rawalpindi, British India. SRK has an elder sister named Shehnaz.

Shahrukh attended St. Columba's School. In the school he was excellent in sports, drama, and academics. He won the Sword of Honour, an annual award given to the student who best represents the spirit of the school. SRK later attended the Hansraj College (1985-1988) and earned his Economics (honors). Though he pursued a Masters Degree in Mass Communications at Jamia Millia Islamia, he later choosed Bollywood as his career.

After the death of his parents, he moved to Mumbai in 1991. In that same year, before any of his films were released, he married Gauri Chibber (a Hindu girl) in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on 25 October 1991. They have two children, son Aryan Khan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000). Shahrukh strongly believes in Allah and also values his wife's religion. At home, his children follow both religions, with the Qur'an being situated next to the Hindu gods.

In 2005, Nasreen Munni Kabir produced a two-part documentary on Khan, titled The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. Featuring his 2004 Temptations concert tour, the film contrasted Khan's inner world of family and daily life with the outer world of his work. The book Still Reading Khan, which details his family life, was released in 2006. Another book by Anupama Chopra, "King of Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema", was released in 2007. This book described the world of Bollywood through Khan's life.

Khan has been awarded a number of honours. In April 2007, a life-size wax statue of Khan was installed at the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, London. In the same year, he was accorded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Literature) award by the French government for his “exceptional career”.

In October 2008, Khan was conferred the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka which carries the honorific Datuk (in similar fashion to "Sir" in British knighthood), by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob, the head of state of Malacca in Malaysia. Khan was honored for "promoting tourism in Malacca" by filming One Two Ka Four there in 2001. Some were critical of this decision.