Shah Rukh Khan Was The First Choice For Anil Kapoor's Nayak

Did you know Shah Rukh Khan was replaced by Anil Kapoor in his 2001 cult-classic Nayak? Not only this, but the Jawan star also took one rupee as a signing amount from Nayak director S. Shankar. FYI: Nayak is the Hindi remake of Shankar's 1999 Tamil-language film Mudhalvan. While Nayak couldn't perform well at the box office, the film received much love after premiering on TV. Now, Shah Rukh Khan's old interview with Rediff is making rounds on the Internet. The superstar got candid about why he didn't do the film after taking the signing amount. An Indian Express report quoted SRK as saying, “Did he (Shankar) also tell you that I signed for him and took a signing amount? You know how much? One rupee. I took one rupee from him. And told him I would give him dates in bulk whenever he wanted them.”

In the same interview, Shah Rukh Khan confessed that he watched the original Tamil version and “loved it”, but thought that the concept wouldn't work in “North India.” He added, “But I was not comfortable about doing the Hindi version. I told Shankar that in Tamil, that whole chief minister for a day thing worked brilliantly, but I did not think it was such a big issue in North India. I didn't think the concept would work as it is. So, on that project, we had some issues — nothing major, just that we didn't think alike on a few things, so it did not make sense to do it.”

The superstar continued, “But I still have that signing amount; he still has my promise of dates. He is one guy I most definitely want to work with. For me, he is like James Cameron — you know, he makes out-and-out entertainers on a gigantic scale, and that kind of thing can be a huge high.”

Earlier, a source told Pinkvilla that Nayak 2 is in the making. The source said, “Nayak 2 will be produced by Siddharth [Anand] and Mamta Anand under their banner, Marflix Pictures. Much like the original film, this one too is a big-scale commercial entertainer set against the backdrop of politics and will be directed by Milan Luthria. The makers have cracked a plot that organically leads itself towards Nayak sequel and has a strong undercurrent of being a vigilante flick.”

On the work front, Shah Rukh Khan was last seen in Rajkumar Hirani's Dunki, which hit the theatres in December last year.