He is called the King of Hindi films, the Badshah of Bollywood, the boy who came from Delhi and made Mumbai sing his name; he is none other than Shah Rukh Khan. The actor recently got his very first National Award, which his fans said was long-awaited and much deserved. He has some of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters like ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge,’ ‘Pathaan,’ ‘Jawaan,’ and more in his name. His critically acclaimed work includes ‘Swades,’ ‘Chak De India,’ and several others. Yet, in a career spanning over decades,
Shah Rukh Khan has rejected a fair share of movies that later turned out to be huge hits. Read on to know more about them.
‘Rang De Basanti’
Aamir Khan starrer ‘Rang De Basanti’ is one of the cult classics of Bollywood. Every character in the movie left a mark on the hearts of the audience. Even R Madhavan’s cameo as Ajay Rathod, which didn’t have much screen presence but the substance that held the movie together, is recalled and applauded to date. This role was initially offered to Shah Rukh Khan, but because his dates didn’t work out, it eventually landed in the lap of the ‘Shetaan’ actor.
"Shah Rukh was approached for Ajay Rathod's role. I pursued him for a while. But the dates didn't work out. With Shah Rukh, you don't question too much. We share a healthy relationship," said director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, in an interview with IANS.
‘Lagaan’
Another Aamir Khan, which was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan, is ‘Lagaan.’ Reportedly, he was approached for the lead role of Bhuvan. Some say the reasons were unknown, some report scheduling issues, but Yashpal Sharma, in his recent media interaction, shared that Shah Rukh was not convinced with the script and thus declined the role. “I have heard he (Ashutosh Gowrikar, the director of the film) had this script for a very long time. He had even approached Shah Rukh Khan for the project, but apparently, he wasn’t convinced by the script,” Yashpal Sharma shared while talking to Friday Talkies.
‘3 Idiots’
Did you know ‘3 Idiots’ was first offered to SRK? Again, it was the lead role, the character of Rancho, which was then played by Aamir Khan. There were scheduling issues, and then Shah Rukh Khan got injured led to further delay, and he had to let the project go. As a matter it was Shah Rukh who told RajKumar Hirani to go ahead.
“Again, there was a timing issue. We (he and Hirani) worked on the script, and we did the casting together. But there was a timing issue, one of my films got delayed, I had a setback with another injury… I told him to finish it off. It was a very ambitious project, 3 Idiots, so I said, ‘You can’t have an actor coming from one film and going to another, so you please go ahead and do this.’ So, that one didn’t happen," Shah Rukh Khan said in his interview with MBC group during the promotions of his and Raj Kumar Hirani’s ‘Dunki.’
‘Munna Bhai MBBS’
This is another Raj Kumar Hirani movie, which Shah Rukh Khan was offered; he wanted to do it, but then again, things didn’t work out. He was supposed to play the lead, which ultimately Sanjay Dutt did. SRK initially said yes to the movie, without even hearing the script, but later, due to sudden injuries, he had to drop out of the project.
Recalling those days, Shah Rukh Khan, while speaking to the above-mentioned media platform, said, "When he (Rajkumar Hirani) started his career as a director – he was an editor – he wrote a film called Munna Bhai MBBS. I still remember, I was shooting a scene for Devdas, in which I was going to pass away. And this gentleman came and said, ‘I have a script’."
“I said, ‘Okay, let’s meet the day after tomorrow, I’m doing this film next’. He said, ‘You haven’t heard it.’ I said, ‘I love the title, it’s a fantastic title, Munna Bhai MBBS’. We were supposed to do that film, we sat on it for six-seven months. But I had a sudden injury, I had a spine surgery, and they didn’t know when I would recover," said the ‘Pathaan’ star.
‘Ek Tha Tiger’
This OG ‘Karan Arjun’ duo, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, are now seen making cameos in each other’s movies. They are even spotted together at several events, and their camaraderie gives the internet ‘the viral moment.’ Today, of course, they are working for the same spy universe, but back in the days, when ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan, multiple reports say he declined the offer owing to creative differences and scheduling conflicts. Later, the ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ became the Tiger and smashed box office records.
‘Jodha Akhbar’
Another magnum opus, which was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan, was ‘Jodha Akhbar.’ In this, Ashutosh Gawarikar directed a historical drama, and SRK was offered to play Akhbar. However, due to reasons unknown, that didn’t happen, and Hrithik Roshan got one of the iconic roles of his life.
‘Slumdog Millionaire’
Yes, you read that right! ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was also first given to Shah Rukh. He was approached for the character Prem Kumar, the show host. Reportedly, owing to scheduling issues, SRK couldn’t do the movie, and then Anil Kapoor took over.