Shah Rukh Khan: 'I hated to be called the King of Romance'

Shah Rukh Khan has said he hated being called the 'King of Romance'.

While the actor began his career playing the anti-hero in films such as Baazigar and Darr, he later became synonymous with the romantic characters he portrayed in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

According to PTI, the Jab Tak Hai Jaan star said: "I can proclaim that girls love me in romantic roles. With all due respect, I would rather be called a 'King' than the 'King of Romance'. I am an actor. I have done 75 films and have spent 21 years in the industry and would like to believe that I have done it differently.

"I had hated to be [called] just the 'King of Romance'. I enjoyed doing Don. I was completely in love with how I approached my role in My Name Is Khan. I would like to be remembered as an actor who is trying hard in a commercial set-up."

He continued: "I don't think I have any image of being a romantic actor. When you say that I have done romance earlier, I have to make sure that I have to do every role differently, which becomes a little tough. I don't think I have done any romantic characters that are similar.

The 47-year-old actor stars as a bomb disposal expert in Yash Chopra's final directorial venture Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The actor, who played a soldier in the TV series Fauji, said he always aspired to a career in the armed forces.

"All kids aspire to become something when they are young and I genuinely wanted to be an army officer," he explained. "I was very young when I was doing Fauji. When I donned the uniform in Ladakh for the first time, the real army men told me that I looked really good in the uniform and it felt good. You feel very proud to play a role that represents the most important section of the country."

Starring Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, Jab Tak Hai Jaan releases on November 13,