Shah Rukh Khan Reveals He Signed Nayak For One Rupee: ‘On That Project We Had Some Issues’

Anil Kapoor starrer political thriller drama Nayak is one of the cult films. The film also starrer Rani Mukerji in the lead role. However, reportedly makers are planning Nayak 2 with the same actors in the lead. But did you know that Anil Kapoor was not the first choice? Yes, you are reading right. Shah Rukh Khan was first offered. He had signed also but then due to creative differences he did not work.

In an old interview with Rediff, Shah Rukh Khan revealed he had signed Nayak and took only one rupee as the signing amount. “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,” he said.

The superstar said he saw the Tamil original and “loved it” and then explained the reason why he still didn’t do the Hindi remake. “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. Nayak was released in 2001 and was directed by S.Shankar.

The latest report claims that Siddharth Anand is all set to make a sequel of the film with Milan Luthria as the director.

“Nayak 2 will be produced by Siddharth 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,” a source close to the development told Pinkvilla.

Nayak, a political thriller, was a remake of director Shankar’s own Tamil movie Mudhalvan. The film found its true audience when it became a fixture on television, being telecast repeatedly for several years after its release. Alongside Anil Kapoor and Rani Mukerji, the film also starred Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal, and Johnny Lever.