American journalist calls Shah Rukh Khan ‘India’s Tom Cruise’ in Pathaan article, angers fans: ‘No one is comparable with him’

An American journalist wrote an article related to Pathaan and compared SRK to Tom Cruise.

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

February 4, 2023 - 10:04 AM IST

To say that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is back with a bang would be an understatement. His new release Pathaan has been breaking box office records. The film has crossed Rs. 700 crores worldwide in just nine days. The film also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham alongside Ashutosh Rana and Dimple Kapadia. As the film industry celebrates the megastar and the success of the film, the foreign media is also taking a keen interest as the film is making waves in international territories and the box office. But a headline in a foreign publication has irked fans in India.

American journalist calls Shah Rukh Khan ‘India’s Tom Cruise’ in Pathaan article, angers fans: ‘No one is comparable with him’

An American journalist wrote an article related to Pathaan for the website The Wrap. The headline read, ‘India’s Tom Cruise Shah Rukh Khan May Have Just Saved Bollywood With His Blockbuster Pathaan’. The piece talked about the return of SRK and reviving the industry. But this didn’t go down well with fans who were definitely upset with the comparison and the disrespect towards SRK who has been in the film industry for 30 years. Check out what the netizens had to say.

India's Tom Cruise, #ShahRukhKhan, May Have Just Saved Bollywood With His Blockbuster #Pathaan via @TheWrap by @ScottMendelson https://t.co/kqEAsaWf7s
(much thanks to @SiddhantAdlakha and @meJat32)
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) February 3, 2023

That there are similarities in how Pathaan boosted Bollywood and marked SRK's comeback just as Top Gun 2 helped save American theaters and reassert Cruise's stardom. SRK is still where Cruise was in the 1990s, where he doesn't just have to make action movies to draw crowds.
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) February 3, 2023

if you can't write an article without reducing indian actors to a white actor, then don't write the article. it's as simple as that. shah rukh khan is known as shah rukh khan all over the globe. not "india's tom cruise" lol.
— Pramit (@pramitheus) February 3, 2023

I know you’re just trying to provide context but as a white American who hadn’t seen a single Bollywood movie until 2019, Shah Rukh is so much more than Tom Cruise. There is no Hollywood equivalent.
— ♡SRK♡paradigm (@SRKparadigm) February 3, 2023

The disrespect!
Tell me when Tom Cruise has danced to complex choreography on top of a moving train with the powerful Malaika Arora. I'll consider then.#SRK???? https://t.co/OnkJUBTQde
— AGuyinDCity|എഗൈഇൻദിസിറ്റി (@aguyindcity) February 4, 2023

“shah rukh khan is india’s tom cruise” is reductive and so, so wrong ????
i understand the inherent urge to compare because of how top gun maverick performed. & that need to correlate for american audiences is also a larger issue we gotta address. https://t.co/un2ndTBkEs
— saloni gajjar (@saloni_g) February 3, 2023

Helmed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan is the highest-grossing film of YRF’s Spy Universe! Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan has two more releases this year – Atlee Kumar’s Jawan releasing in June 2023 followed by Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki in December 2023.