When he’d land in New York, Shah Rukh Khan would make a beeline for the Apple store opposite Central Park and go crazy like Veronica Lodge in a clothes boutique. The Apple store was his Toys “R” Us.

But that was the early part of the 21st century. Today, Apple would probably walk into his Red Chillies office to display its ware, for SRK’s empire has expanded so impressively, horizontally and vertically. Whether IPL or the special effects division, the SRK brand grows and thrives.

The initial years of the new century were also when he patented the “I’m the best” boast, born from the number I’m the best from one of his productions, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000). Even a few years later, when we’d banter on the sets of Kal Ho Naa Ho and I’d dryly say, “Oh yeah, after all you’re the best,” he’d horse around and endorse himself.

It’s obvious the man had his tongue firmly in his dimpled cheek. However aware he was of his popularity and power ratings, SRK has always been a sharp man. Taking the King Khan title seriously was not one of his shortcomings and “I’m the best” always came with a bag of salt.

Along with increasing clout and wealth, some things may have changed, including some of his opinions. What’s stayed with him is his sense of humour, mostly self-deprecating. It was apparent when the women’s hockey defeated Australia at the Olympics and he cheered coach Sjoerd Marijne with a tweet to bring back “some gold”. Adding “This time Dhanteras is also on 2nd Nov” and signing off as “former coach Kabir Khan” was a characteristic SRK chuckle.

But the reaction to it was like a mini-Olympics bout on the sidelines when a section of the public flogged him for taking credit for inspiring women’s hockey having played the coach in Chak De! India. Have we completely lost our sense of humour?

Sometimes the screen and the real do get blurred. Like the controversy that it was Prosenjit Chatterjee’s picture of Subhas Chandra Bose from Gumnami which President Ram Nath Kovind unwittingly unveiled at Rashtrapati Bhavan this January. Until Prosenjit himself tweeted that it was indeed Bose’s portrait by painter Paresh Maity, politicians and their followers relentlessly berated the President.

Although cinema is acknowledged as a soft power, giving credit to an on-screen performance for a real-life achievement is truly misplaced. Tomorrow, if Sucheta Dalal were to win recognition as one of the first female finance journalists of the country, it would be ridiculous to put a picture of actress Shreya Dhanwantry (who played Sucheta in Scam) and applaud her.

But when did SRK take the credit for the achievements of our team? When the Dutch coach responded with “From: The Real Coach” and also wisecracked, “Time for ChakDe Pt 2 whatsay?” it obviously was light-hearted banter. How could anyone take it seriously? Unfortunately, it has become difficult for many to separate an actor from his ideology.

SRK’s parents and he have always been Congress backers. Rahul and Priyanka are SRK’s speed-dial friends, like Amitabh was with their father Rajiv Gandhi. So if you’re ideologically wired differently, you could be on the other side when SRK bats to include Pakistani players in the IPL. You could also choose not to watch or cheer the pro-Gandhi family series he’s reportedly making for Netflix. But to take a humorous quip so seriously is to prioritise ideology over objectivity.

It’s happening on both sides.

2020 had begun with leading critics going orgasmic over Kangana Ranaut’s performance in Panga. The next few months, she blackened her industry, damned Karan Johar, Mahesh Bhatt and Yash Raj Films, fought the Maharashtra government and spoke up for Modi. By the time it came to picking the best actress award, the same critics wouldn’t even entertain her as a nominee. Her politics had disqualified her.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author