Famous Producer Vivek Viswani reveals that by convincing Rakesh Roshan, SRK secured his place for the role in King Uncle instead of Salman Khan
Early Career Stages of SRK
In a recent interview, Shah Rukh Khan’s close friend and renowned actor, writer and producer Vivek Viswani unveils the past of 30 years back. How did SRK manage to convince Rakesh Roshan that time with his beyond-acting knowledge.
In 1988, Shah Rukh Khan started his career in the small screen with the daily soap, named “Fauji”, After that his movie career started with “Deewana” in the year 1992 and then “Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman” in the same year which is a great turning point of his career, this film became a superhit and after that he never turns back.
King Uncle; knowledge of the movie
In 1993, SRK entered in the project “King Uncle” which is a familiar movie based on drama and comedy. It is 2 hours 51 minutes movie that contains the story of a runaway orphan who ends up at the house of a cruel millionaire, she decides to alter his perception of the world. This movie was directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan and stars by Jackie Shroff, Shah Rukh Khan, Anu Agarwal and Nagma and written by Anees Bazmee, Ravi Kapoor and Mohan Kaul. IMDB rating of this movie is 5.2.
Vivek Viswani recalls the meet of King Uncle
In a recent conversation with a film companion, Vivek sir recalls his memory and the backstory of selecting Shah Rukh Khan in that movie and how he made them impressed with his knowledge about the film economy.
When Rakesh Roshan was cast for his movie King Uncle, he was in search of the lead role of Jackie Shroff’s brother; so, Vivek VIshwani suggested SRK’s name and then arranged a meeting between Rakesh Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan.
Rakesh Roshan asked him point blank “Why should I cast you?” and told him to explain the loss and profits, mainly the film business. Then King Khan explained his view and stunned the producer; he said that producer Rakesh Sharma already sold this movie, King Uncle, so if he wanted to make a profit from this movie, make it at a lower cost. Salman Khan had already been approached for this brother’s role and at that time Bhaijaan’s career was much sorted than King Khan’s, so SRK offered that if they feature Salman Khan it would be costly, and if they cast him, he would take lower money so the movie budget can be reduced.
At that time, SRK was a newbie and at the beginning of his career and done some TV serials and 2-3 movies. Vivek Vishwani also remembers that after hearing Shah Rukh Khan’s explanation Rakesh Roshan was left jaw-drop. The professional producer was astonished by the business knowledge of a beginner in this industry.
And using his skills and intelligence, Shah Rukh Khan signed three more films with Rakesh Roshan. After Uncle King, he was featured in Karan Arjun and Koyla directed by Rakesh Roshan.
There is various ups and downs in our life, Shah Rukh Khan also faced this but he never gave up, and now his fame is worldwide spread. In this year his first blockbuster is Pathan and his second blockbuster movie is Jawan; with a worldwide gross is more than 1000cr. Now the entire India ad also world waiting for his Dunki movie which is going to be a blockbuster in December 2023. so that he is King Khan and the Badsha of Bollywood.
