After Hrs was the first to report that following Aamir Khan’s decision to step out of Salute, Shah Rukh Khan was likely to take up the film. The makers (Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur) had approached King Khan for the biopic, which is based on the life of Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut to go to space. At a recent event, SRK said, “I haven’t signed a film yet. I really want to live with Zero because it’s a little tedious... I have been meeting Siddharth and Ronnie. I have met a lot of other directors and producers because I have to. But I haven’t confirmed anything yet…”
However, now the superstar has apparently given his nod to Salute. He has locked his dates for the movie, which is being helmed by ad filmmaker-turned-director Mahesh Mathai. Says a source, “SRK wants to start shooting in September and continue for two months before he starts promoting Zero, which releases on Christmas. After that, he will resume Salute’s shoot from January 2019. The film is expected to release next year.”
ABOUT RAKESH SHARMA
Rakesh Sharma, who joined the Indian Air Force in 1970, flew on board the Soyuz T-11 with two Soviet cosmonauts in 1984 and landed on space station Salyut 7. When the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from outer space, he had said, “Saare Jahan Se Acha.” The Republic Of India had conferred its highest peacetime gallantry award — the Ashoka Chakra — on the astronaut.
REAL TO REEL
Though Salute will be SRK’s first biopic, he has depicted characters based on real people before, too. He played the coach of the Indian national women’s hockey team in Chak De! India. His character was loosely modelled on hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi.
Last year, the actor was seen in Raees, which was reportedly based on Gujarat-based bootlegger Abdul Latif’s life.
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 "Rakesh Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan")
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