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It would have been a combination to look forward to but it never quite happened. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, in an earlier interview, had revealed how he was supposed to headline the 2001 political thriller Nayak, which was directed by Shankar. The film, which was a remake of Shankar’s 1999 Tamil-language film Mudhalvan, eventually was headlined by Anil Kapoor. The cult classic followed the story of a television presenter (Kapoor), who is challenged to take over the chief minister’s job for a day. Nayak was a box office failure upon its release but gained a cult status later, thanks to being largely appreciated on TV.
In an interview with Rediff, Shah Rukh Khan had revealed how he had signed Nayak, but eventually the project didn’t materlise. He also revealed that he took only one rupee as signing amount for the film and was ready to give his dates in bulk to the director. He had said, “Did he (Shankar) also tell you that I signed for him and took a signing amount? You know how much? One rupee. I took one rupee from him. And told him I would give him dates in bulk whenever he wanted them.”
The superstar said he saw the Tamil original and “loved it” and then explained the reason why he still didn’t do the Hindi remake. “But I was not comfortable about doing the Hindi version. I told Shankar that in Tamil, that whole chief minister for a day thing worked brilliantly, but I did not think it was such a big issue in North India. I didn’t think the concept would work as it is. So, on that project we had some issues — nothing major, just that we didn’t think alike on a few things, so it did not make sense to do it.
Anil Kapoor-starrer Nayak: The Real Hero gained massive popularity after its satellite run.
“But I still have that signing amount; he still has my promise of dates. He is one guy I most definitely want to work with. For me, he is like James Cameron — you know, he makes out-and-out entertainers on a gigantic scale, and that kind of thing can be a huge high,” he had said.
Interestingly, Shah Rukh and Shankar came close to collaborate again on the big sci-fi epic Enthiran, which starred Rajinikanth, but the project fizzled out due to creative differences. Shankar had also approached Shah Rukh Khan last year with another script, but even that project didn’t take off.
Anil Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan also have a casting history, as the former had come on board to star in Slumdog Millionaire after the Pathaan star backed out of the Danny Boyle Oscar winning film. Not just that, Baazigar, which was a turning point in SRK’s career, was first offered to Anil Kapoor, who passed on the project.
On the work front, Shah Rukh will be next seen in The King, co-starring his daughter, Suhana Khan. Shankar is meanwhile awaiting the release of his next, Indian 2, featuring Kamal Haasan. The film is set to release on July 12.
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