Director Aanand L Rai collaborated with Shah Rukh Khan for 'Zero' that released in 2018. It was Rai's first collaboration with SRK. The movie tanked at the box office despite having big stars like Shah Rukh, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. In a recent interview, Aanand opened up about working with King Khan. Recalling days on sets with the 'Jawan' actor, Rai said that he ‘would fight’ with Shah Rukh Khan over the budget of the film. It is to be noted that 'Zero' was made on a high budget. Reportedly, it was made on a whopping budget of Rs 200 crore. Khan played a vertically challenged person and a lot was spent on the VFX of it.
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In an interview with Mashable India, Aanand said, “I would fight on this. He is a king and I would think so much money… why?" He was also all praise for Shah Rukh for his dedication and commitment to the film.
The filmmaker said, ''The making of that one film was like making five movies because we would have to take every shot five times. After Shah Rukh saw me for the first 3-4 days, he told me ‘You don’t stress about anything, I will do it.’ I would say, ‘Sir, you will get tired,’" Aanand said. Speaking about SRK’s dedication, Rai compared it with a machine. He said that while a machine could fail, SRK won’t. “He can give the same shot the same way five times''.
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“After a while, I was like ‘you walk as you want’ but he wanted to go ahead and do it. He takes big risks so what he gets out of it is his own," added the 'Atrangi Re' director.
Post 'Zero', Shah Rukh took a break and returned to the big screen in 2023 with 'Pathaan' which was a blockbuster. Later, in the same year, he was seen in 'Jawan' and 'Dunki'- both films were also hits at the box office.
