Mumbai: For years the ritual has been the same. On the night of November 1, a crowd collects outside Mannat in Bandra, and a little after midnight Shah Rukh Khan steps out and waves.
This year the bungalow is a construction site, and the wave did not happen. Khan turned 61 on Monday. Instead of the balcony, fans got a handwritten note displayed on a large screen outside the house, and posters of his next film.
He had already given them something better than a wave. At midnight, the first song from King, Tu Mil Jaaye, was released. It brings Khan back on screen with Deepika Padukone, and it also gave the internet the image of the week: the actor, shirtless and visibly leaner, in what is being read as a trailer for a role built around physicality.
The film is directed by Siddharth Anand and stars Khan alongside Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan and his daughter Suhana Khan, with Abhay Verma, Akshay Oberoi, Arshad Warsi, Raghav Juyal, Jaideep Ahlawat, Rani Mukerji and Saurabh Shukla in supporting roles. It is Khan's return to the big screen after three years and Suhana's theatrical debut. It releases on December 24.
Salman Khan's wish arrived late at night, on Instagram, with the song attached. "Happy Birthday Shahrukh hamesha jawaan raho The King, yeh meri dua hai," he wrote. Khan reshared it with a reply that has since travelled: "Aapne kaha Bina shirt ke acchhi body hai sirf isse liye mehnat ki. Love u bhai always."
Kajol posted a photograph with him. Karan Johar, according to reports, did what Karan Johar does about a good physique.
The birthday lands in a crowded week for Hindi cinema. Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana Part 1 opens on November 5, and advance booking has crossed Rs 75 crore, a number that has trade watchers comparing it with Animal and KGF Chapter 2. Ayushmann Khurrana and Sara Ali Khan's Udta Teer, released on October 23, is holding steady in its second week with Rs 43.45 crore net in India and about Rs 63.32 crore worldwide.
King will not have the Diwali window to itself, but it will have the year-end one.