Superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Wednesday attended World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai. In an interactive session with journalist Richard Quest, SRK opened about his decades-long journey in Indian cinema. He also talked about his interest in Hollywood films. Asked why he hasn't crossed over to the West yet, Shah Rukh said, "I've said this honestly, but nobody believes me. Nobody has offered me any crossover work of substance. I may have had conversations with people. I know lots of lovely people from the West, from the English film industry, from the American film industry, but nobody has offered me any work. I hear actors talk about wanting to cross over, but I still have to learn to deliver to the audience that likes me, instead of spreading myself too thin. So, really, I've never been offered a film in Hollywood or England."
However, SRK admitted that he was offered a role in Danny Boyle's Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire, which he had refused. "Yes, Slumdog was there, and I spent a lot of time with Mr Boyle. He was very sweet. But I was doing Who Wants to be a Millionaire on television, but I just felt that in the story being told, the guy who was hosting was very mean. The guys who were producing the show wanted me to do the film. But the character was cheating and being dishonest as the host, I found that very strange, and I explained to Mr Boyle that I wouldn't like to do it, please, and there are way better actors than me. Mr Anil Kapoor did it, and he was fantastic as the hos," SRK shared.
SRK also spoke about how he would have loved to play the iconic British secret agent, James Bond, but cannot. SRK quipped, "I am James Bond," when asked about his name, and humorously added, "I really wanted to [play Bond], but I think I am too short... But I am brown enough to play the Bond baddie."
SRK, in 2023, made a grand comeback and let his work silence the detractors. SRK returned to the silver screen with Siddharth Anand's Pathaan in January. In the film, SRK donned an action avatar and left everyone in awe. The film broke several records at the box office and managed to grab a name in the list of one of the highest-grossing films in the Indian film industry.
Remember the clamorous death knell tolling for the Hindi film industry all through 2021 and 2022? His film literally ended Bollywood's dry spell at the box office. Pathaan will always remain special for SRK and his fans as the film marked SRK's first hit after his sabbatical of four years post delivering a series of duds like Zero and Jab Harry Met Sejal. After Pathaan, King Khan returned to theatres in September with Atlee's directorial Jawan.
The film once again saw SRK in an action avatar. Like Pathaan, Jawan also managed to strike a chord with the audience. The film collected over Rs 1000 cr. at the worldwide box office. Needless to say, SRK has had a phenomenal year. SRK did not stop here.
On December 21, he came up with his first-ever collaboration with Rajkumar Hirani. Titled Dunki, the film focuses on the issue of immigration. Its title is taken from the term "donkey journey", which refers to the long-winding, often dangerous routes that people across the world take to reach the places they want to immigrate to. However, the film received mixed reviews from the audience. It did decent business at box office.
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