Shah Rukh Khan has reportedly agreed to play the only Indian to travel to space, Rakesh Sharma. The actor took up the project at the insistence of Aamir Khan, according to a report in the Deccan Chronicle.
Initially, Aamir had been approached for the title role in the film but he later backed out of the project. He then personally met Shah Rukh and asked him to star in the film. The film will be produced by Sidharth Roy Kapur and Mahesh Mathai has been roped in as the director.
“Aamir strongly recommended the Rakesh Sharma biopic to Shah Rukh as a script worth walking that extra mile for. More so, since Aamir intends to devote a substantial period of his time to a very dear project of his, presumably the Mahabharat, and has stopped accepting any other assignments currently,” claimed a source.
Aamir Khan had reportedly opted out of the biopic due to a fallout with the creative team. Reports claimed that “there were some points of disagreement” between Aamir Khan and the creative team, which finally made him quit the film.
Rakesh Sharma is a former Air Force Pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 in 1984, as part of a joint program between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space program. Sharma, now 68, spent 7 days 21 hours and 40 minutes in space and remains to this day the only Indian to travel to space. When asked by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to describe how India looks from outer space, he simply said ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha,’ which is a purported title of his film.
Shah Rukh will soon be seen in Anand L Rai’s film with Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif in which he plays a dwarf. Aamir will be seen in Thugs of Hindostan with Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh.
