It's fake news: Writer Anjum Rajabali on Shah Rukh Khan quitting Saare Jahan Se Achcha

With Zero (2018) going bust at the box office, entertainment portal Bollywoodbubble.com reported that actor Shah Rukh Khan has opted out of Siddharth Roy Kapur and Ronnie Screwvala production Saare Jahan Se Achcha, and instead he will begin work on Farhan Akhtar's Don 3. However, Anjum Rajabali, writer of Saare Se Jahan Se Achcha has rubbished the report.

“No, it’s fake news,” Rajabali told Cinestaan.com via a text message.  

The question over Saare Jahan Se Achcha came up after Khan’s last release Zero (2018) tanked at the box office.  

The film, directed by Aanand L Rai, had Khan playing a dwarf Bauua Singh who travels to space to win over his aggrieved girlfriend. Saare Jahan Se Achcha is a biopic on Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma who was the first Indian to travel to space.

The speculation over Khan’s future in Saare Jahaan Se Achcha perhaps stemmed from the fact that Akhtar said there was going to be a big announcement soon during the launch of home production, Gully Boy (2019). Don 3 has been in the making for a while, but recent reports suggest that producer-director Akhtar had finally prepared his script.

While Khan hasn't quit Saare Jahaan Se Achcha, is he likely to take up Don 3 first?   

While he categorically said Khan had not quit Saare Jahan Se Achcha, Rajabali asked us to check with the production house to know when their film is going on the floors. Roy Kapur Films had announced their line-up earlier, in which it was mentioned that the Rakesh Sharma biopic would go on the floors in February 2019.

We tried contacting producer Siddharth Roy Kapur to check if there was a change in the schedule, but did not get a response.

It may be recalled that actor Aamir Khan had initially agreed to Saare Jahaan Se Achcha, but backed out later. The film’s makers then roped in Shah Rukh for the role. The film was earlier tentatively titled Salute.