After refusing the role that subsequently went to Anil Kapoor in Danny Boyle‘s Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Khan began shooting My Name Is Khan (2010), his fourth collaboration with director Karan Johar and his sixth with Kajol.^[146] The film is based on a true story and set against the backdrop of perceptions of Islam after the 11 September attacks. Khan plays Rizwan Khan, a Muslim suffering from mild Asperger syndrome who sets out on a journey across America to meet the country’s president, in a role that film scholar Stephen Teo sees as a “symbol of assertive rasa values” and another example of Khan representing NRI identity in global Bollywood.^[147] To provide an accurate portrayal of a sufferer without disparagement, Khan spent several months researching his role by reading books, watching videos and talking to people affected by the condition.^[148][149] Upon release, My Name is Khan became one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of all time outside India,^[109][104] and earned Khan his eighth Filmfare Award for Best Actor,^[52] equalling the record for the most wins in the category with actor Dilip Kumar.^[150] Jay Wesissberg from Variety noted how Khan portrayed the Asperger’s sufferer with “averted eyes, springy steps, [and] stuttered repetitions of memorized texts”, believing it to have been a “standout performance sure to receive the Autism Society’s gold seal of approval”.^[151]

In 2011, Khan starred alongside Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor in Anubhav Sinha‘s superhero film Ra.One, his first work in this subgenre, as a favour to his children.^[152] The film follows the story of a London-based videogame designer who creates a villainous character who escapes into the real world. It was billed as Bollywood’s most expensive production; it had an estimated budget of ₹1.25 billion (US$26.78 million).^[153][154] Despite negative media coverage of the film’s box office performance, Ra.One was a financial success with a gross of ₹2.4 billion (US$51.42 million).^[155][156] The film, and Khan’s portrayal of a dual role, received mixed reviews; while most critics praised his performance as the robotic superhero G.One, though they criticised his portrayal of the videogame designer Shekhar.^[157] Khan’s second release of 2011 was Don 2, a sequel to Don (2006).^[158] To prepare for his role, Khan exercised extensively and performed most of the stunts himself.^[159] His performance earned him positive reviews from critics; Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India said, “Shah Rukh remains in command and never loses his foothold, neither through the dramatic sequences nor through the action cuts”.^[160] The year’s highest grossing Bollywood production abroad,^[161][162] it was showcased at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.^[163]

Khan’s only release in 2012 was Yash Chopra’s last picture,^[164] the romantic drama Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which saw him once again in a romantic role, starring opposite Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. CNN-IBN considered the overall performance by Khan to have been one of his finest to date, but believed that Khan’s first screen kiss of his career with Katrina Kaif, twenty years his junior, was an awkward one.^[87][165] Jab Tak Hai Jaan was a moderate financial success earning over ₹2.11 billion (US$39.49 million) worldwide.^[166][167] The film was showcased at the 2012 Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco, along with Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…, Veer-Zaara, and Don 2.^[168] At the following Zee Cine Awards, Khan performed a tribute to the late Yash Chopra along with Kaif, Sharma, and several of Chopra’s other past heroines.^[169]

In 2013, Khan starred in Rohit Shetty‘s action comedy Chennai Express for Red Chillies Entertainment, a film which earned mixed critical reviews and a fair amount of criticism for its perceived disparagement of South Indian culture, although the film included a tribute to Tamil cinema star Rajinikanth.^[170] The critic Khalid Mohamed thought that Khan overacted in the film and criticised him for “re-rendering every old trick in the acting book”.^[171] Despite the criticism, the film broke many box office records for Hindi films in both India and abroad, surpassing 3 Idiots to briefly become the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time, with a gross of almost ₹4 billion (US$68.26 million) in worldwide ticket sales.^[172][173] On International Women’s Day in 2013, The Times of India reported that Khan had requested a new convention with the name of his lead female co-stars appearing above his own in the credits. He claimed that the women in his life, including his co-stars, have been the reason for his success.^[174] In 2014, the actor was featured in Farah Khan’s ensemble action comedy Happy New Year, which co-starred Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan and Boman Irani; his third collaboration with the director.^[175] Although Khan’s unidimensional character was criticised,^[176] the film became a major commercial success grossing ₹3.8 billion (US$64.85 million) worldwide.^{[177][178][179]}