Zero director Aanand L Rai: Needed somebody as strong as Shah Rukh Khan to play this role

Aanand L Rai's upcoming directorial Zero has Shah Rukh Khan playing a vertically challenged man. Aanand, in a candid chat, shared that an actor as self-assured as SRK was needed to do such a role. Zero also stars Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif.

Aanand L Rai is working with Shah Rukh Khan for the first time in Zero.

Aanand L Rai is excited for his next directorial Zero, starring Shah Rukh Khan. The filmmaker. whose latest production Manmarziyaan is doing decent business at the box office, spoke about working with King Khan in an exclusive chat with indianexpress.com.

“The story needed Shah Rukh Khan and that’s why he is there. It’s not that ‘now let me work with Shah Rukh Khan’, that was not the decision. I needed somebody as strong as him to come onboard because you need to be a very self-assured actor to play this role. To let go those two feet is not easy. But then you have to be very sure about yourself and Shah Rukh Khan is very sure about himself,” Aanand said on working with SRK.

While most of the stuff around its plot is still kept under wraps, all Aanand said was, “I will give you a lot of fun. Again, I will give you a lot of emotion. I will give you a lot of happiness and it’s an extension of what I have done before, but this time I have made it more challenging.”

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Aanand, who is a champion of small town romances has directed hit films like Tanu Weds Manu, Raanjhanaa and Tanu Weds Manu: Returns. While his home banner Colour Yellow Productions keeps churning out back-to-back films, he takes time to get on the director’s seat. And now that he is doing Zero, expectations are already high.

“I see my graph changing as a storyteller. Nothing else. Trust me it’s not changing with the size of the film, it is only changing with the story. I always say Zero is another leap. But it’s a leap as a form of a story,” Aanand shared when asked whether he was growing in terms of getting bigger stars onboard with his every new directorial.

Zero also stars Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif and is slated to release on December 21 this year.

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