Even DDLJ, that made him Nr.1 was basically forced on him by Yash Chopra. Back then he wanted to stick to negative roles which would never have made him very popular, the romantic image that was created with DDLJ is why he was at the top for 10 years.
Then each time he did his own thing it resulted it flops. PBDH, Asoka, Paheli, Ra One, Fan, Zero etc. He also rejected movies like Lagaan, Rang de Basanti, 3 Idiots and even Padmaavat (flawed but better than shitty Zero).
It's no surprise he has declined now. His friends that delivered him blockbusters have moved on to younger actors because he got old. And on his own he has just failed because he doesn't really get the audience at all and he has no one to tell him "No".
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