Shah Rukh Khan or Thalapathy Vijay? Atlee Kumar decisively chooses his next hero: ‘One is like my wife and the other like my mother’

Elaborating on his sentiment, Atlee explained, “One is like my wife and the other like my mother. I can’t leave them behind, and I have to live with both of them. Where I am today is because of Thalapathy Vijay. He has given me back-to-back films. Of course, I have delivered hits to him. But he really trusted me.”

“There are so many directors across the country who would have said yes if Shah Rukh Khan called them to do a film. But he trusted me, and till now I don’t know why. But it’s his trust that made me do Jawan with utmost responsibility and love,” he added.

Atlee also shared his experience of meeting SRK for the first time, expressing his initial nervousness about being photographed alongside King Khan.

“We started in 2019. He came to Chennai, and we had a brief meeting at my office. On his way back, he informed me that he was going to watch an IPL game and asked me to join him. I told him that if I went along, some news or a photo would come out, and his reply was, ‘Yeah, we are working together, let the world know.’ That one image that came out then took me to the greatest responsibility, to provide him with the greatest love letter, and that’s Jawan,” he said.

On its 30th day of release, Jawan made about Rs 1.30 crore in India, its lowest single-day collection so far, as per industry tracker Sacnilk. The film is expected to earn Rs 2.05 crore on its fifth Saturday in theatres today.