In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the entire country to a standstill. Many people lost their jobs due to the nationwide lockdown. This disrupted the Indian film industry at all levels, bringing content production to a standstill. As soon as the shooting was stopped, the daily wage laborers suffered the most as they remained unemployed for months. Despite the resumption of shooting, many actors are still facing the repercussions.
These include Raju Rahikwar who looks like Shahrukh Khan.
Raju, 45, never thought he would make a living as an actor with a similar look, which is a popular trend in the Indian film industry. But when money and fame started pouring in for him to resemble Shahrukh, Rahikwar happily took on the role of junior SRK.
Raju, whose real name is Durga Rahikwar, decided to change his name to Raju in 1992. “My friends told me that my hairstyle and face resembled that of Shah Rukh Khan, whose films were becoming very popular back then,” he says. Raju was the name of Khan’s character in the 1992 Hindi film Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.
But the pandemic has put him out of work. Seeing the difficulty in sustaining his family, Raju decided to start his own business. “I realized that things were not going to get better anytime soon and so in June last year, I started a small business selling hand sanitizers and masks. I have to feed my family and also pay the school fees of my children,” he shares.
The few jobs he still finds don’t earn him enough. Raju said, “In September, when the shooting of the film resumed, a friend needed some help and he hired me in Dubai, where I worked for a month.” “I went there for about a month and started selling lights and other materials. One day in the market I saw a jacket and a laptop bag. I wanted to buy them for my kids, but I didn’t have the money. I gave up my food to save money and buy it. Before 2018, I could afford these things.”
In the decades when Shah Rukh’s popularity had soared, it was not unusual for him to earn Rs 50,000 a month. Raju has performed in shows around the world, including the US, UK, Kenya, Dubai, Singapore and other countries with large Indian-origin communities.
“In October, I was supposed to go to the US for a show but couldn’t due to travel restrictions,” he said.
Apart from the pandemic, Khan’s absence from the big screen has also affected Raju. The 55-year-old actor is one of the biggest superstars of the film industry but is going through a rough phase. His last few releases have not really done well at the box-office. His last released film Zero (2018) earned Rs 191 crore worldwide, but the actor’s performance as a growth-loss man was panned by critics and audiences alike.
“If Shah Rukh doesn’t work in films, then I am out of work too. My life depends on him,” says Raju, “Since Shah Rukh’s visibility has gone down, no one wants me to perform either. Earlier I used to go to places where Shahrukh couldn’t go and entertain people. Now, I have to ask event managers for possible shows.”
Like Rahikwar, Zaid Khan too is finding it difficult to survive. Zaid Khan used to mimic popular actor Sunny Deol, whose last on screen appearance was in 2018’s Bhaiyaji Superhit.
“Copying is the only thing I’ve been doing for so many years,” says Zaid, who is clearly depressed. “I don’t even know what else I can do for a living. I have seven members in my family who depend on my income. I hardly get to do any shows.”
The actor turned politician in 2019, when he became the Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur (Punjab) of the Bharatiya Janata Party. During the 2019 general elections in India, Zaid conducted several road shows for political parties, but it was a short-lived success.
“Now no one invites me for political rallies as elections are far away. He does not do any films and there are hardly any live events which are allowed,” he said, adding that his friends are helping him financially, but it is not a permanent solution, “I plan to start a food stall. I am making Support my family.”
However, the industry has tried to support the members who have been affected the most. For example, superstar Salman Khan has helped people like Zaid.
“I got Rs 3,000 from the Being Human Foundation (an NGO run by Salman Khan),” Jade said. “I also got a food coupon of Rs 1,500 from Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) for a few months. But now that too has stopped.”
FWICE is an umbrella body of the Film Industry Employees Union in Mumbai. The All India Look Alike Association (AILAA), an association of like-looking actors, is affiliated with it.
“We need industry to do something for ourselves,” said AILA president Arif Khan. For years he has worked as Junior Anil Kapoor.
Anil Kapoor has praised Arif in the past as well. But he also doesn’t have much work to do. “Since there are no film or ad shoots and events going on, the lookalike has become jobless. With the lifting of the ban, we have started performing some, but it is not enough for survival. A lot has changed in the last one year.”
Over the years, the popularity of actors with similar looks has waned as superstars become more accessible to fans on social media. The pandemic made matters worse. Says Arif, “With the help of social media, today the audience can directly connect with their stars. People get all the updates about their favorite stars at the click of a button. Survival has become really difficult for us. “
But all is not lost. Raju hopes that his idol will make a comeback. “Shah Rukh bhai has started shooting for Pathan, which will surely be a blockbuster. He’ll be back soon and me too,” he concluded.
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