Shah Rukh Khan birthday: Swades, Chak De India, Dil Se, movies that prove King Khan's acting prowess

Mohan Bhargav in Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades is one of the most earnest, sincere, and heartfelt performances of Shah Rukh Khan. The NASA scientist who decides to leave his high-salaried USA job after his unforgettable short stay in the Charanpur village became a role model for all the NRIs.

Led by Shah Rukh Khan as the hockey coach Kabir Khan, the 2007 Shimit Amin directorial Chak De! India is one of the best sporting films in the history of Indian cinema. The former captain of the hockey team takes up the challenge of making a newly formed Indian women's team win the World Cup in Australia.

Based on the insurgency period in Assam, Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, and Preity Zinta starrer Dil Se is among the finest films directed by Mani Ratnam. Shah Rukh plays Amar, who is obsessed with a mysterious girl named Meghna, played by Manisha, and will go to any length to win his love.

Directed by Nikhil Advani and written by Karan Johar, Kal Ho Naa Ho starred SRK as Aman Mathur, who makes Rohit Patel aka Saif Ali Khan realise his love for Naina aka Preity Zinta as he knows he is not going to live much longer. With Shah Rukh's Aman on his deathbed, the film's climax can still make you shed tears.

Though the romance king Shah Rukh didn't win the girl in the end in this film, he won the hearts of the people with his charming and lovely performance as Sunil. Kundan Shah-directed romantic comedy featured Deepak Tijori, Suchitra Krishnamurthy and Naseeruddin Shah in pivotal roles.

Shah Rukh Khan is tied with Dilip Kumar for the maximum number of Filmfare Awards for Best Actor, a total of 8 in number. Out of these 8, his first victory came for Abbas-Mustan's revenge thriller Baazigar in which SRK played the negative character of Ajay Sharma alias Vicky Malhotra.

Directed by Maneesh Sharma, Fan takes references from Shah Rukh's own life as he plays the dual roles of a superstar named Aryan Khanna and his die-hard fan named Gaurav Chandna. The film didn't work at the box office, but it remains among Shah Rukh's finest performances in his career.