Anubhav Sinha reflects on working with Shah Rukh Khan: ‘Took some decisions just because he was saying’

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha admits he does remember making certain decisions influenced by Shah Rukh Khan’s views while working on Ra.One.

Over the years, Anubhav Sinha has revisited his experience of collaborating with Shah Rukh Khan on Ra.One, and has now admitted that he once assumed the superstar had a far better grasp of audience preferences than him during the film’s production. He mentioned that it was a misplaced line of thinking.

Anubhav on working with Shah Rukh Khan

Released in 2011, Ra.One featured Shah Rukh Khan as a game designer named Shekhar, who creates two powerful characters for his son.

In a recent interview with Zoom, Anubhav confessed that there was a time when he placed immense trust in the superstar’s instincts when it came to gauging audience preferences. However, he now says he looks back on that quite differently.

“Main Shah Rukh se bahut zyada enamoured bhi tha mujhe lagta tha isko humse zyada aata hai ki audience ko kya pasand hai. To kai martaba aisa hua hoga (I was very enamoured by Shah Rukh. I used to think that he understands far better than us what the audience likes. So there must have been many instances when that happened),” Anubhav said.

The director further shared that he hasn’t deeply dissected or over-analysed the past, but he does remember making certain decisions influenced by Shah Rukh’s views.

Today, Anubhav admits that placing such unquestioned faith, even in a star of Shah Rukh Khan’s stature, may not have been the most balanced or wise approach in hindsight.

About Ra.One

Released in 2011, Ra.One featured Shah Rukh as a game designer named Shekhar, who creates two powerful characters for his son. Ra.One (Arjun) becomes more powerful than the protagonist G.One (also Shah Rukh) and somehow escapes into the real world. Shekhar has to bring G.One out in order to take Ra.One on, once and for all. T

he film received the Filmfare and National Film Awards for Best Special Effects. The visual effects were done by Red Chillies VFX, which is owned by Shah Rukh and his wife Gauri Khan. The film opened to mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office. It also featured Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal.

About Shah Rukh and Anubha’s recent work

Anubhav’s directorial Assi was released recently on the big screen. The film stars Taapsee Pannu as an advocate who takes on a case involving sexual assault. Kani, Revathy, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and others also star in it. The film revolves around a Delhi woman's quest for justice following a violent sexual assault, and focuses on the obstacles faced during the police and court proceedings.

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh is currently awaiting the release of his next film, King. The action adventure, which also stars his daughter Suhana Khan and Deepika Padukone, will release on Christmas this year.