Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj reflects on missed collaborations with Shah Rukh Khan

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, known for acclaimed films like Omkara, Kaminey, and Haider, turns 60 today. The director is renowned for adapting literary works, including several by Shakespeare, for the big screen.

Why Vishal and SRK never collaborated?

“We had differences over the setting of it. I wanted to set it not in a college, but in a bank. That’s where we disagreed…” Vishal shared with Mid-Day. When asked if Shah Rukh Khan wanted the film to be set in a college, Vishal said he preferred “somewhere else, if not a college.” The Omkara director added that both he and Shah Rukh regret not working together then, and even today, they talk about collaborating.

“Even now, when I spoke to him after Jawan… Every year, whenever we meet, either on his birthday or at some public function, we always say that we have to do a film together,” he said.

Why Vishal Didn’t Collaborate with Aamir Khan

Vishal also spoke about his shelved collaboration with Aamir Khan on a film titled Mr. Mehta and Mrs. Singh. “Aamir has a very strong creative vision for the films he does. When he agreed to do the film, he may not have thought much about it, but as we got close to the shoot, he became uncomfortable with a certain aspect of how I saw the film. He wanted that changed, and I felt that was the core of the story. Without it, I didn’t want to make the film,” Vishal explained.

How Saif Ali Khan Became Langda Tyagi

Interestingly, Saif Ali Khan wasn’t the first choice for the role of Langda Tyagi in Omkara. In fact, Aamir Khan had expressed interest in playing the character but eventually couldn’t find the time to commit to the role. Revealing how Saif bagged the role, Bhardwaj said, "At that time I saw Saif in Dil Chahta Hai. Saif us se pehle jo tha na, uski voice thodi feminine thi, uski performance ajeeb si hua karti thi. In Dil Chahta Hai he worked on himself a lot. He was a different Saif. Mujhe laga iss bande ke andar zabardast fire hai, isne apne aap ko poora transform kar diya. I told him if you are ready to work hard, no one will expect this from you. He was ready for that, except for cutting his hair. He did not want to cut his hair and it took a lot of convincing. Otherwise, everything else he did was more than we asked for."

What`s next for Vishal Bhardwaj? 

The filmmaker is all set to reunite with Shahid Kapoor for the film Arjun Ustara. The film also stars Triptii Dimri in the lead.