Is Shah Rukh Khan really as quick-witted and wise as we praise him for? Or is he just an actor with flashy words and a sea of fans who glorify him?

Shah Rukh Khan, the so-called King of Bollywood, once came under strict scrutiny by Hindu extremists. His career hit rock bottom when he failed to deliver hits. Films like “When Harry Met Sejal” and “Zero” were back-to-back flops, and boycott campaigns flooded social media. Many believed his reign was over. He disappeared from the limelight for five years.

After this long hiatus, Khan returned with “Pathaan”. But in India, the release was unusually quiet. No interviews, no major fan meet-ups, no TV rounds. Then the film dropped. And it exploded. Over 1000 crore at the box office. A massive blockbuster. Khan was officially back.

But was it really the Indian audience that brought him back?

While Khan was being boycotted in India, his PR team pivoted toward the Middle East. And it worked. Khan has the Arabs in a chokehold. He’s adored across the Gulf. He visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE. He became brand ambassador for their companies and made frequent appearances on Arab media. The Gulf region became the core of his rebranding. The Arab world is the direct source of his Bollywood comeback.

But is he a hypocrite for that?

While he marketed off the love of the Arab elite and walked red carpets in privileged Gulf kingdoms, the underprivileged Palestinians were being starved, slaughtered, abducted, and colonized. Are they the lesser Arabs? Does their love for “King Khan” run dry like their throats do for water? Is it that hard to call out Israel?

The issue isn’t just his silence. Though silence is complicity. It is his active ignorance.

His PR team deletes tweets that ask him to speak up about Gaza. At a fan meet-up, when someone asked for his view on the genocide, she was rushed out and silenced under the excuse of “being political.” But genocide is not politics. Genocide is humanity.

Khan has influence. Khan has craze. Khan has obsession. But Khan does not have the courage to stand with truth.

As a man who owes his global success to the love of Arabs, it is his moral duty to speak for the ones being erased. He owes Arab blood more than red carpets. He owes them humanity.

This is our sign to stop idolising celebrities.