Shah Rukh Khan’s last film, Zero, released in December 2018 after which he went on a long sabbatical. He has been reading scripts and even shortlisted a few of them. Meanwhile, the names of a lot of filmmakers did the rounds with whom the superstar was supposedly working with. However, of late, it has come to light that SRK is working with blockbuster filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani in his next directorial flick. Recently, while answering a fan question, he also let out a strong hint that he has indeed given his nod to Rajkumar Hirani’s flick. And naturally, it led to a lot of excitement among fans.

While not much is known about the film and its subject, Bollywood Hungama has exclusively learnt that for this venture, Rajkumar Hirani and his frequent collaborator writer Abhijat Joshi have been joined by Kanika Dhillon. She has become quite well known of late thanks to her work in films like Manmarziyaan (2018), Kedarnath (2018), Judgmentall Hai Kya (2019) and the web film Guilty (2020). Interestingly, in the beginning of her career, she had extensively worked with SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment. She worked as an assistant director on SRK’s 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om. She wrote the screenplay of Ra.One (2011) and additional screenplay of Always Kabhi Kabhi (2011). Rajkumar Hirani’s next hence marks Kanika’s reunion with Shah Rukh and Red Chillies Entertainment after almost 9 years.

A source close to the project says, “Kanika Dhillon has come on-board and she along with Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi are busy scripting the film. Kanika is mainly scripting while Rajkumar and Abhijat are helping her with inputs. They are hoping to finish in a month or two. The film was to go on floors in August but due to the lockdown, it seems that the shoot will be pushed ahead.”

Rajkumar Hirani’s last film, Sanju, released in 2018 and was based on the controversial life of actor Sanjay Dutt. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, this flick emerged as the biggest hit of that year, earning Rs. 342.53 crores. Hirani, in fact, holds the envious record of not giving a single flop as a director. The source assures, “His film with Shah Rukh Khan too seems to be shaping up well, at the writing stage. And Rajkumar-Abhijat-Kanika collaboration has added a lot to the script and it’ll be something to watch out for.”

Also Read: Post Manmarziyaan, Taapsee Pannu and Kanika Dhillon reunite for Haseen Dillruba

The two of the biggest superstars of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, also have an electrifying chemistry on screen. This was evident in Rakesh Roshan’s 1995 blockbuster Karan Arjun. Even in the romance saga Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, where Salman had a supporting part, the film went on another level whenever they came forward. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam today is memorable chiefly because it starred both of them together. It’s been 18 years since they both came together, though they were sweet enough to do special appearances in each other’s films (Om Shanti Om, Tubelight and Zero). But to see them together in a two-hero flick is something that fans have been waiting for keenly. Their excitement did arise when reports emerged that Sanjay Leela Bhansali was planning to cast Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan in his next flick. But sadly, the project failed to take off.

After SRK’s Zero tanked, the star took a long time in deciding his next and finally, if reports are believed, he has given his nod to blockbuster filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani. However, as per a write-up by Rajeev Masand in Open magazine, Rajkumar Hirani had initially approached SRK with a different film. The article states that Rajkumar had the concept of a two-hero film in his mind. For this project, he wanted to cast both Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. However, when he met SRK, he insisted that he’s keen on doing a solo-starrer. Hence, Rajkumar Hirani went back to the drawing board and he finally came up with an idea which was fine to both the filmmaker and the actor.

Rajkumar Hirani is writing the script with his regular colleague, Abhijat Joshi. As it is his style, Rajkumar Hirani is taking his own sweet time to write and fine-tune the script. He’s been sharing all the drafts with the superstar, who also provides his feedback and input to Rajkumar. However, an official announcement regarding this film will happen only when a fully satisfied Rajkumar Hirani locks the script. This is being done at the behest of the filmmaker and Shah Rukh Khan reportedly has no qualms in delaying the announcement.

Recently, SRK had got his fans excited when in a reply to a fan question on Twitter, he had hinted that his film with Rajkumar Hirani is indeed on.

Wow both are awesome and I have met them...but Raju apna sa lagta hai...nahi? https://t.co/EuSsrTHtx5

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 20, 2020

Also Read: Rajkumar Hirani and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to have an insightful conversation on the Heart To Heart Show

Reports state that the filmmaker has asked the actor to refrain from announcing the news of their collaboration until the final script is ready.