R Balki on directing Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan in new ad: ‘They were behaving like kids’

Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan reunited after 17 years for a spice brand commercial, directed by R Balki.

Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan appeared in an advertisement for a spice brand. (Photo: ANI)

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What couldn’t happen in a feature film almost a decade ago, got fulfilled in an ad recently– filmmaker R Balki’s dream of working with megastar Amitabh Bachchan and superstar Shah Rukh Khan together. Balki directed the two screen icons for an ad, where he said the trio had the most fun uniting for a project.

Bachchan and Khan feature in the ads of the spice brand Everest. The commercial, which broke the internet as it featured Bachchan and Khan together for the first time in an ad, was the idea of Balki. The director had earlier tried to mount his 2015 film Shamitabh, with Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh, but it didn’t materialise.

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Balki said Bachchan and Khan were like “kids” on the sets. “The client had signed Amitabh and Shah Rukh for different parts of the portfolio, and they have many products. They wanted an idea, and I said the best is to get both of them together!

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“I spoke to Amit ji and Shah Rukh and we discussed the scripts over the phone. On set, they were behaving like kids! Pulling each other’s legs, having a ball. One full day we had a blast! We shot five ads for 12 hours, from 2 in the noon till night!”

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The filmmaker said he is “extremely comfortable” with the two stars as he has worked with them before. The comfort level translated on screen, as Balki said he had the most fun filming Bachchan and Khan.

“I don’t think Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan realise how iconic it was when they were shooting! During one of the ads, I told them that they should just run towards the camera! The slow-motion running shot. Amit ji joked, ‘Ok, how many kilometres do you want me to run?’

“Both of them are great runners and in slow motion I knew they’d look fantastic! It was also a dream moment because I wanted them together in Shamitabh. The film was called that because of ‘Shah’ Rukh and Ami’Tabh’. That didn’t happen due to various things in life, but this happened finally,” he added.

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R Balki’s latest cricket drama Ghoomer hit screens last month. The film starred Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher and also featured Amitabh Bachchan in a special appearance.

Justin Joseph Rao

Justin Rao writes on all things Bollywood at Indian Express Online. An alumnus of ACJ, he has keen interest in exploring industry features, long form interviews and spreading arms like Shah Rukh Khan. You can follow him on Twitter @JustinJRao Experience / Industry Experience Years of experience: 8+ Qualification, Degrees / other achievements: PG Diploma in Journalism, Asian College of Journalism . Previous experience: Press Trust of India. Social Media Profile: Justin Rao has 7.8k followers on Twitter ... Read More

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