It's a director-actor collaboration that we wish to see happen, but is now unlikely to. And it's not because one person can't stand the other, but a very valid reason, which the director himself has revealed.
Ram Gopal Varma almost came close to directing Shah Rukh Khan — he even had a "terrific" story for him — but it never materialised. The former explained why in an interaction with Radio Nasha.
“We had many meetings, but I always felt Shah Rukh was like a live wire bursting with energy. My filmmaking style is composed and intense. Restricting Shah Rukh to that space felt unfair to him and to the fans who come expecting his trademark charm and charisma," said Ram Gopal Varma.
The director reveals that he once approached Shah Rukh Khan for one of his iconic gangster films. "At one point, I approached him for Company. But the character of Mallik (played by Ajay Devgn) needed to be very laid-back and lazy, which is the opposite of what people expect from Shah Rukh. I had a terrific story for him, but it didn’t happen.”
Varma added that SRK is one of those actors who makes things easier for filmmakers. “When you tell Shah Rukh about a scene, he gets up and just does it. He’s fantastic. I felt there was nothing for me to do in his film. Directors don’t make a big difference in his movies because he can hold the camera entirely on his own. That’s a very different kind of stardom.”
Meanwhile, RGV is working on his next, a horror thriller titled Police Station Mein Bhoot, headlined by Manoj Bajpayee, Genelia Deshmukh, and Ramya Krishnan. Interestingly, the film is expected to contain elements of the gangster genre too.
SRK will be next seen in Siddharth Anand's much-anticipated King, slated for a 2026 release.
