Germany is about to get its fill of Bollywood epics. Shah Rukh Khan is one of Bollywood's superstars. His past reads like a story from a Bollywood screenplay.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Rapid Eye Movies
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Bollywood's 'King' Khan
From bad guy to romantic hero: How Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan, 50, became the country's most successful movie star and a veritble Bollywood legend.
Image: Rapid Eye Movies
King of Bollywood
His career could be straight from a Bollywood script. Born in New Delhi, Shah Rukh Khan rose from humble beginnings to stardom in Mumbai. The 50-year-old is one of India's most successful actors, also sought after as a producer and presenter. With an output of more than 2,000 films per year, India's film industry is one of the world's largest.
Image: Rapid Eye Movies
Villain to lover
At the start of his movie career, Shah Rukh Khan was often cast as the villain. It wasn't until he started playing the romantic hero in 1990s commercial Hindi films that he skyrocketed to fame. The 1995 blockbuster romance "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge - The big-hearted will take away the bride" holds the world record as the longest-running film in a cinema.
Image: picture alliance/Dinodia Photo
Bollywood's power couple
Kajol Devgn has been the woman by his side for the past 22 years. On screen, the two are the most popular and successful Indian movie couple of all time. In real life, however, they are happily married to other partners.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Maqbool
A model husband
The Bollywood star has been married to film producer Gauri Khan for 25 years, entirely scandal-free. The couple, who have three children and a joint production company, met before Shah Rukh Khan rose to fame as an actor. In India, media-shy Gauri Khan is regarded as a fashion icon.
Image: picture-alliance/Dinodia Photo Library
Bollywood meets Hollywood
"My Name is Khan," produced by the Khans in 2010, is the most successful Bollywood film abroad. Set in the US, it focuses on Islamophobia in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Shah Rukh Khan plays a Muslim who suffers from the Asperger syndrome and is suspected of being a terrorist. His message was: "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist."
Image: Twentieth Century Fox
Bollywood exports
The 2014 musical comedy drama "Happy New Year" was the highest-grossing Bollywood film on the day of its release in Indian history. That same year, the film showed in Germany, too - here, fans can now sign up for Bollywood dancing and Indian cooking classes and buy bright Bollywood-style outfits.
Image: Rapid Eye Movies
A wealthy man
Shah Rukh Khan and his acting colleague Akshay Kumar have made it to the Forbes list of the world's richest people. With an income of $33 million per year, "King Khan" makes more than Kumar, but much less than Hollywood's best-paid actress: 25-year-old Jennifer Lawrence is reported to have earned $46 million last year.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
In touch with the world
The actor has about 20 million followers each on Twitter and Facebook. This is where he shares his private interests, including his recent obsession with Pokemon Go, and a video clip where he finds Pikachu, a popular Pokemon - Bollywood-style!
Image: Twitter/Shah Rukh Khan/iamsrk
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India's film industry is one of the largest in the world, churning out some 2,000 movies every single year. That includes Bollywood movies from Hindi-speaking Mumbai. German TV occasionally airs the epics, so many people in the country will have seen Bollywood superstars like Shah Rukh Khan.
Bollywood has for years tried to get a greater foothold on foreign markets, hoping to win new audiences. Zee.One director Friederike Behrends believes the new concept will be successful in Germany. Indian film has a lot to offer, she told the DPA news agency: "That's what we want to show the German audience."
Click through the gallery above for more on Bollywood's biggest star, Shah Rukh Khan.
