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The cult classic Nayak (2001) is currently in the news over its rumored sequel. Siddharth Anand and Milan Luthria are reportedly joining hands to work on the ‘big-scale commercial entertainer.’ But did you know that the original almost starred Shah Rukh Khan, who also received the signing amount? Scroll below to know what happened and how Anil Kapoor got into the picture!
For the uninitiated, Nayak is the remake of the Tamil-language film Mudhalvan, directed by S Shankar, who also helmed on the Hindi version. Apart from Anil Kapoor, the film also starred Rani Mukerji, Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal, and Johnny Lever. The political action film unfortunately received mixed reviews and was a commercial flop. But over the years, it has gained the cult-classic status.
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In an old interview with Rediff, Shah Rukh Khan had revealed initially signing Nayak. He shared, “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.”
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However, Shah Rukh Khan opted out of the project due to creative differences. 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.”
Eventually, Anil Kapoor was roped in for the Shankar directorial, and the rest, as they say, is history!
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Over the years, Nayak has been loved by the masses, thanks to its repeated broadcast on television.
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