How did Shah Rukh Khan rise to become so powerful in Bollywood, such a nepotism controlled industry, when he came in as a nobody with no contacts or support?

I read several answers here and being a huge Shahrukh Khan fan myself I must say, most people are ignorant about his background and don’t know much about him. To say he was a nobody and he doesn’t have contacts is a misstatement.

Why is Shahrukh Khan being called King of Nepotism now?

Here is what I know about him during my ten years’ stay in the film industry.

1. His maternal grandfather was the Chief Engineer at Mangalore ports and is often touted as the man who founded it. He was quite a rich man.
2. His Mother was a Magistrate and was an influential person with immense wealth.
3. His mother was friends with actress Amrita Singh’s mother, another influential and rich lady who was often rumoured to have an affair with Sanjay Gandhi at that time.
4. Amrita Singh used to babysit Shahrukh when he was a kid. Amrita Singh belonged to a very rich and politically connected family. Why do you think Saif Ali Khan married her and their parents agreed on it and why do you think Dharmendra launched a literally unknown girl with male looks, opposite his son?
5. When Shahrukh’s mother was campaigning for Indira Gandhi in 70’s working directly under her, it was this time Amrita would babysit the Khan siblings.
6. Shahrukh’s father held multiple businesses and one of those businesses was running a canteen at NSD which is a tender inviting business and those who live in Delhi know that without influence you won’t get such tenders as these are very lucrative businesses with no competition and highly subsidized by the government.
7. Shahrukh played on the laps of the top actors of NSD like Raj Babbar, Rohini Hattangani and others and they knew him well. He even knew a well know director of Doordarshan Aziz Mirza and had family connections with him.
8. Shahrukh Khans’ father was offered a role in Mughal-ae-Azam but he declined the offer. The role later went to Ajit.
9. It was not an audition but connections of Shahrukh’s mother which got him the first role in the series “Fauji” as she was well acquainted with the Colonel who was directing it and was highly influential in Doordarshan in those days.
10. Shahrukh was gifted a car (Maruti 800) in his college days by his mother. This was a time around 87–88, before the economic revolution happened in India and buying a car was a privilege thing even for the upper class. Won’t you say, gifting a car to one’s son was a sign of way too much wealth? The car thing can be verified from the first episode of “Jeena isi ka naam hai” and his biographies.
11. Shahrukh was already a huge star in 89–90 and would draw huge crowds everywhere. He was earning a lot of money too. A fact which was recently corroborated by Renuka Shahane in her recent interview.
12. Shahrukh met Salman Khan and Salim was like a family to him before he even became a star. He used to hang out at his home in Bandra. Salman himself accepted it in one of his interviews.
13. Gauri’s family married Shahrukh, not just because of his love but because he was from a wealthy influential family and was already a star with a huge bank balance and fame.
14. To say Shahrukh was a nobody when he came to Mumbai in 1991 is a wrong statement. Shahrukh had loads of money from his top serials and family. He was already a well-established name in the television circuit. He came to Mumbai in the second half of 1991 and in 1992 had five films released. No other struggler can boast of the same. All five films were from big banners with directors like Ran Kanwar, Hema Malini, Rajiv Mehra, Aziz Mirza etc.

In short, Shahrukh was already a rich kid who got several opportunities to become a star.

The problem is that over years we have developed anti-capitalistic thinking due to which we want to believe every rags to riches story. We do that because it gives us hope and feelings that we can also make it.

However, the facts don’t care about feelings.

Shahrukh has greatness in his blood. He works very hard, is a workoholic and he is exceptional, there is no doubt about it. Having said that, one must not ignore the truth as well.