In an interview, SRK had told me, “I do walks for my films that nobody notices. This is the bane of my life. I do walks to prepare my characters and no one takes note of the* serious actor in me.” Few would be able to ignore the serious actor in him in Fan. He goes method acting with Gaurav, gives him a distinct gait and mannerisms and the typically Dilli way of talking. He plays to the gallery with him, the underdog you keep rooting for despite his transgressions. It marks a return of the most beloved of his flawed personae of yore — Kabhi Haan Kabhie Naa, Yes Boss, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman — cast in a different, more devious Darr and Baazigar mould. The entire first half goes in setting up Gaurav, at times quite heavily and tediously so. But you still enjoy it all for what the film does with SRK’s own 25-year-long stardom—how it creates a new entity of this Fan from bits and pieces of his own earlier avatars. No wonder then, the wistful channelling of SRK’s journey as the star, complete with old clips, make perfect sense here. It doesn’t irritate like the pointless homages and referencing some other recent YRF films have been prone to doing.