A few years before the pandemic, Shah Rukh Khan was trying out different roles in his movies. He played a psychologist, a bitter fan, a short man, and a moonshiner, but none of these films did well at the box office. His rough patch ended with the flop movie Zero in 2018, directed by Aanand L Rai. Despite this, Rai says that Shah Rukh Khan was already planning his comeback.
After the failure of Zero, SRK took a five-year break from movies. He returned with big hits like Pathaan and Jawan. In a recent interview with Connect Cine, Aanand L Rai talked about Shah Rukh Khan’s comeback. Rai mentioned that SRK always believed he would make a big return. “The best part is, he knew,” Rai said, adding that SRK was confident he would make a remarkable comeback.
Rai explained that just a month after Zero failed, SRK had a clear idea of what he wanted to do next. “He was very clear. Nobody knew, but he knew he was coming back. Even when he was sitting in front of me, he knew what he was going to do and how. He was never lost. He knew that he wasn’t going anywhere, that, ‘I am here.’ It’s not just about survival; he knew he would return and he did,” Rai added.
After Zero, there were rumors that Khan would lead Saare Jahan Se Achha, a biopic about Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma. However, he moved past that project and made his comeback in 2023 with three successful movies: Pathaan, Jawan, and Dunki.
Khan is now working on a new movie titled King, which Pinkvilla was the first to report. This film, directed by Sujoy Ghosh, will feature him alongside his daughter Suhana Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Abhay Verma. The movie is expected to start filming in November this year.
Meanwhile, Aanand L Rai recently had his project Phir Aayi Hasseen Dilruba released on Netflix, starring Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey.
