It's a huge task to come up with a few favourites from Shah Rukh Khan's huge filmography spanning over three decades. Most of his work in the 2000s has been close to my heart, but nevertheless here are my favourite Shahrukh Khan films.
The film revolves around Kaira, a young aspiring filmmaker who is helped by a psychologist, Dr Jehangir Khan who treats her with various unconventional methods.
This film is an odd choice for this list as this film was more of an Alia Bhatt film than a Shah Rukh Khan one but it's Dr. Jehangir Khan who had the most impact on the audience. It's amazing to see the ease with which we see Shah Rukh Khan play this character. His character is mature and has a very artistic personality and I feel no one could play this character as well and make it seem as easy as Shah Rukh Khan did.
Gauri Shinde through this film also makes you look at life again and also tries to communicate about mental health with the masses
This film ought to be on this list. Here, Shah Rukh Khan plays the role of Rizwan Khan, a man who has Asperger's Syndrome and goes on an incredible journey to meet the president of the United States – for the love of his wife. The film talks about islamophobia after the 9/11 attacks and how it impacted the lives of several people including those of Rizwan and his wife Mandira.
Shah Rukh Khan's performance is the best thing about this film, it's played beautifully. The effort that he must have put into playing the character of someone like Rizwan is visible. The convincing performances are something people remember even after 11 years of the film's release.
Swades is an underrated masterpiece and probably the best performance of Khan till date. The film, although catered to the NRI audience, just like other Shah Rukh Khan-led films from this time period had a strong message for other Indians too. It's a story about Mohan, an NRI who returned to a small village in India to meet his nanny but ends up rediscovering the problems like the caste system, untouchability and lack of basic needs that still exist in such places and this ends with him wanting to make an impact and change the regressive outlook of people.
This film did not make a huge impact on the box office but ended up changing the image of Shah Rukh Khan as an actor for various people. He plays the character of Mohan very convincingly. Shah Rukh's performance paired with AR Rahman's music in various sequences such as the scene where Mohan buys a kulhar of water from a little boy on the train makes a huge impact on the audience.
A personal favourite out of all the ones I have listed here, this film was released when Shah Rukh Khan was at his peak, and it did not fail to impress. Shah Rukh Khan played Aman, a happy go lucky guy, annoying but loveable. He plays the character brilliantly. He makes people laugh and despite all odds prevails over an edgy person like Naina. He wins everyone's heart including the audience. He makes you laugh and smile throughout the film but also makes you weep till your eyes are dry
Shah Rukh Khan's charm in this film is unmatchable and makes you forget the annoying and offensive things the character did and said but only remember him for what he preached- "Haso, jiyo, muskurao, kya pata kal ho naa ho!" which echoes what Anand said, "Babumoshai, zindagi lambi nahi badi honi chahiye!"
On a personal note, this film had a huge impact on me after I rewatched it back in 2019 when I was having a rough patch in life, that is when I could fully grasp the film's message. Aman taught me how to live every moment to the fullest and how I had forgotten to smile just like Naina and he brought my smile back.