Watch: Shah Rukh Khan Roasts Himself, Reveals Why He Can’t Play James Bond
Shah Rukh Khan recently opened up on why he hasn’t ever worked in a Hollywood film. He also revealed why he can’t play James Bond.
Shah Rukh Khan, often fondly referred to as ‘King Khan’ and ‘Badshah of Bollywood’, is one of the most prominent figures in the Hindi film industry. Known for his humility, wit and charm, SRK started his acting career with TV serials like ‘Fauji’ and ‘Cirkus’. However, it was his breakthrough role in his Bollywood debut movie ‘Deewana’ that catapulted him to fame. He later delivered several memorable films including ‘Baazigar’, ‘Darr’, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Devdas’, ‘Swades’, ‘Chak De India’ and more.
The actor had a great 2023 as he delivered three hit films in the form of ‘Pathaan’, ‘Jawan’ and ‘Dunki’. Beyond his acting career, Shah Rukh Khan is also a successful film producer. With such a successful career in the Indian film industry and massive global fan following, many wonder why SRK has never worked in any Hollywood movies.
Shah Rukh Khan, who was one of the speakers at World Government Summit 2024 in Dubai on Wednesday, addressed his rise to fame, why he hasn’t worked in Hollywood films, and dropping out of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. King Khan also revealed that he would have loved to play the iconic James Bond but cannot.
SRK’s manager Pooja Dadlani Gurnani recently took to Instagram and shared a video of the Bollywood megastar from the event, where he said that he is fit to play a Bond villain.
Check out the video below:
During a session titled ‘The Making Of A Star: A Conversation With Shah Rukh Khan’, the actor joked about “not being a legend”, and said, when asked what his name was, “I am James Bond.”
When asked if he would like to “play” Bond, Shah Rukh Khan said, “I really wanted to, but I think I am too short... But I am brown enough to play the Bond baddie.”
On being asked why he didn’t work in Hollywood, the actor was quoted as saying in a report by Gulfnews.com, “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.”
He also spoke about his decision of dropping out of the Oscar-winning film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. For the unversed, he was slated to play the antagonistic game show host in Danny Boyle’s film.
Addressing ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ offer, he continued, “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 host.”
Anil Kapoor went on play the game show host in the 2008 film, which went on to win eight of the 10 awards at the 2009 Oscars.
Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan was last seen in the 2023 Hindi movie ‘Dunki’, marking his first collaboration with director Rajkumar Hirani.
