Shah Rukh Khan recently spoke about South Indian films and said that they have a different sense of style in their aesthetics in the way they tell stories. The superstar said that he wanted to work in a ‘heroic’ film like that and hence decided to star in Atlee’s Jawan.  

In the podcast Locarno Meets for Locarno Film Festival, Shah Rukh spoke of the genres he wants to work in. The actor spoke of South Indian films and said, “South Indian films have a different style in the way they tell their stories. I had never done a film like that before. I was really dying to do it and I didn’t want to do a remake. Most Hindi films just remake some South films. So, I didn’t want to buy the rights for any film.”

He added that while he has worked with Mani Ratnam, he wanted to star in a ‘hero oriented’ film. “I wanted to do a film where the hero is at the center where the way he talks, the way he walks, smokes and kills is enhanced to a certain degree. Jawan was that kind of a film. I was really happy that after 30 years of working in the film industry, I got to live my dream of doing an action film.”

Jawan released in September 2023 and turned out to be a blockbuster. It was Shah Rukh’s second release of the year after Pathaan, which came out in January.

He will be seen next in the action-thriller King, which is being helmed by Sujoy Ghosh and also stars Suhana Khan. He will also be seen making a return to voice Mufasa in the Hindi version of Mufasa: The Lion King. Mufasa's origin story, helmed by Barry Jenkins, will also have the actor's sons Aryan Khan voice Simba and AbRam voice young Mufasa.