EXCLUSIVE: How did Shah Rukh Khan react when he was approached for Pathaan? Siddharth Anand spills the tea MGG

Pathaan, the fourth installment of Yash Raj Film’s spy universe, paved the way for Shah Rukh Khan‘s glorious comeback to the leading roles after a long hiatus of over 4 years. The Siddharth Anand directorial, which features King Khan in the titular role, has now emerged as one of the most successful films produced by Bollywood in recent times. While Pathaan is being hailed for literally ending Bollywood’s bad spell, director Siddharth Anand narrated how Shah Rukh Khan came on board for the film, in an EXCLUSIVE chat with Pinkvilla.

How did Shah Rukh Khan react when he was approached for Pathaan? 

As reported earlier, director Siddharth always wanted to work with Shah Rukh Khan, that too in an out-and-out action film. The director had the title Pathaan in his mind for a long time and developed the plot for the film a few years back. He narrated the idea to filmmaker Aditya Chopra, who instantly liked it and decided to include it in his spy universe. However, both Anand and Chopra were unsure if Shah Rukh Khan is ready for a comeback.

Later, Aditya Chopra took up the responsibility of narrating the subject to SRK and decided to know if he is ready first, in one of their casual meetings. “So, Adi went to him and met him, because they are very close friends. He just went to suss it out – what Shah Rukh Khan’s headspace is. Not to really offer the film – but just to meet him and chat with him. And he just realized that energy he gave Adi was that he is open to it,” recalled director Siddharth Anand.

“So Adi narrated to him the idea of the film. And Shah Rukh Khan instantly said ‘Yes, I’m on’. And I remember, I was out with some friends and Adi called me and said ‘I’ve just left him and he is doing the film’. I’m like – What – I started shaking and was like, he said Yes? Then Adi said, we are doing it immediately after War and I just couldn’t believe it. I was with some friends, and I told them ‘Can you image? Shah Rukh Khan is doing my film’. I can’t forget that moment, I can’t forget that location, I can’t forget the visuals when Adi called me and said that he is doing the film,” the director concluded.

Watch Pinkvilla’s Exclusive interview with Pathaan director Siddharth Anand, below:

Pathaan star cast

Deepika Padukone played the female lead opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the film. She appeared in the role of Dr. Rubina Mohsin, an ISI agent in the film. John Abraham played the lead antagonist Jim, a former-RAW field offer who turns against the country after losing his family. Salman Khan made a cameo appearance in the film as Tiger from the much-celebrated film series of the same name. Dimple Kapadia, Ashutosh Rana, Prakash Belawadi, Ekta Kaul, Nikhat Khan, and others appeared in the supporting roles.