From Shah Rukh Khan to Fawad Khan: Bollywood’s obsession with the name ‘Vikram Rathore’

Over the years, the name 'Vikram Rathore' has been used for protagonists in quite a few Bollywood movies.

By Keyur Seta -

February 13, 2024 - 4:00 PM IST

Amitabh Bachchan is known for his screen name Vijay. The actor played characters of this name in a number of iconic films like Sholay, Deewar, Trishul, Don, etc. Similarly, in the later generations Salman Khan came to known for his screen name Prem and Shah Rukh Khan became synonymous with Rahul.

From Shah Rukh Khan to Fawad Khan: Bollywood’s obsession with the name ‘Vikram Rathore’

But an unusual trend that has been seen in the last decade and, more so, in recent years is that a lot of lead characters are named ‘Vikram Rathore’. In the aforementioned cases of Big B, Salman and SRK, only the first name of their onscreen characters is common. But somehow, most of the times when a protagonist is named ‘Vikram’, the surname has been ‘Rathore’.

Here are 5 actors who have been named Vikram Rathore on screen in this millennium:

Sanjay Dutt in Tango Charlie (2005)

This is the only character in the list that isn’t famous, mostly because the film isn’t well-known. Tango Charlie saw Sanjay Dutt play Squadron Leader Vikram Rathore from the Indian air force. He is the colleague of Flight Lieutenant Shezad Khan, played by Suniel Shetty. The two of them find Bobby Deol’s character of a BSF soldier in an injured and unconscious state. They get to know about his life story through his diary and that’s how the film is narrated.

Akshay Kumar in Rowdy Rathore (2012)

Prabhudeva’s Rowdy Rathore is one of the biggest hits from Akshay Kumar’s filmography. The film, which also starred Sonakshi Sinha, saw Akshay play a double role out of which one was an honest and fearless police officer named Vikram Rathore. The other is a thief named Shiva. The film was about how Vikram and Shiva cross each other’s path after which the former dies. Shiva vows to finish Vikram’s unfinished task and take care of his little daughter.

Fawad Khan in Khoobsurat (2014)

Director Shashanka Ghosh’s Khoobsurat, remake of the classic film of the same name, revolved around Sonam Kapoor’s character Mili. But the movie saw Pakistani actor Fawad Khan also play a pivotal role. Named Vikram Singh Rathore, his relation with Mili starts in an unusual way but they eventually fall in love. The film increased Fawad’s fan following in India.

Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan (2023)

Director Atlee’s blockbuster Jawan saw Shah Rukh Khan in a double role as father and son. The son was called Azad while the father was named Vikram Rathore. The character makes a proper entry at the interval point and introduces himself as ‘Vikram Rathore’, which becomes one of the highlights of the film. He walks away with some more heroic moments and dialogues in the second half. This ensured that the character became iconic and loved. SRK’s look in an older avatar also found a lot of takers.

Tiger Shroff in an advertisement (2023)

If movies weren’t enough, the name ‘Vikram Rathore’ is now being used for main protagonists in advertisements too. Tiger Shroff is named so in the latest Macho Hint advertisement which also features Tara Sutaria and Rajit Kapur. Along with the product’s endorsement, the ad is about Tiger impressing his girlfriend Tara’s father, played by Kapur, in a unique fashion.

Connection with cricket

Interestingly, the current batting coach of India’s men’s cricket team is also called Vikram Rathour, although he spells his surname differently. He was once the opening batsman for India in the 1990s.