When Shah Rukh Khan tried to woo Jackie Chan into starring in Ra.One, but failed

Did you know that Shah Rukh Khan wanted Jackie Chan to be a part of Ra.One?

On March 20, 2010, actor Shah Rukh Khan confirmed on Twitter that there would be “no Jackie Chan” in his upcoming superhero extravaganza, Ra.One. It was still the early days of Indian celebrities using Twitter, and to this day, there are only two replies to Shah Rukh’s tweet, in which he also casually announced that there would be an “Akon song in the film.”

Shah Rukh Khan and Jackie Chan pose together.

Had they been made now, announcements such as these would have definitely demanded separate tweets, at the very least -- if not grand press events. Shah Rukh’s fandom for Jackie Chan has been well-documented, and for his most expensive film, the actor pursued the Hong Kong action star for a small part.

 

On Jonathan Ross’ talk show in 2010, while promoting My Name is Khan, the actor spoke about wooing Jackie, but said that he was ‘expensive’. Shah Rukh said, “I love him. I’ve asked him, but he’s very expensive. I’m going to try and speak with him in the next few days again.”

He continued, “My kids love him, I love him. When I was having my first kid I prayed to god ‘I hope my son looks like Jackie Chan I love him so much’. And he does.” He added, “I hope I can (convince him). It’s a new film, called Ra.One. Indians don’t have a superhero, so this is the first time I’m trying to bring in a Western kind of a superhero. I’m shooting it in London. So if you see me flying over Piccadilly, just wave.”

In 2015, Shah Rukh shared a picture of Jackie with actor Sonu Sood, and wrote on Twitter, “Two of my absolutely favourite men in the world. Way to go Sonu and please tell Jackie I want to come and see him.” This time he received nearly 5000 replies. And in 2019, he participated in an event with Jackie, Jason Momoa and Jean-Claude Van Damme in Saudi Arabia.

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