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After being evasive from the media for a long time, director Atlee has finally opened up about his experience of working with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in an interview with popular TV presenter Gopinath. On top of confirming that he is working on a dual-hero subject with SRK and Vijay in the lead roles, the Tamil director also heaped a lot of praise on the Bollywood star for his unflinching support while making the film.
Atlee revealed that Shah Rukh Khan was not hesitant to work with an all-Tamil crew, and when Atlee wanted to shoot Zinda Banda song in Chennai, SRK was welcoming of that decision, though the budget went up by Rs 10 crore to shoot in Tamil Nadu. “More than everything, we were shooting this film in Bombay. It is a huge jail set with a schedule of 45 days. So, it would take about Rs 60 to Rs 65 crore for it. So, when he told me we would shoot that in Bombay. I told him it would be very helpful for me, my unit, and my dancers if we shot it in Chennai.”
He told me, “You don’t have to convince me. I have brought you from that place, where you have been a hit director. If you want to give it back to them, this is the best way. It will also be kind of a thanksgiving from my side. Don’t worry we will make sure we shoot it there. I thought he was just kidding. If the film was shot in Chennai, we have to pay triple ‘bata’ to the members. For no reason, the cost would go up by Rs 10 crore. But he said okay to it. And I believe that’s the reason the film worked well here (Tamil Nadu).”
When asked why Atlee wanted to take the whole cast and crew from Tamil to North, he said, “It is not about the comfort factor. Like we have ‘Made in China’ and ‘Made in Japan’…I wanted to ‘Make in namma (our) zone’. And we owe a big thanks to SRK because he gave me complete freedom to do whatever I wanted. All he asked me was to keep my promise and deliver a hit.”
Talking more about Zinda Banda song, Atlee assured SRK that people will dance in theatres for the song. “Wait and see, people will dance in theatres for this song. He was like ‘Are you sure?’ Because there… they don’t have a culture of dancing in front of screens. I showed clips of people dancing to Aalaporran Tamizhan (Song from Mersal) in theatres… and he was like ‘If this happens, it would be great.’ So, it happened in Punjab, Bihar, Haryana and everywhere. So, it gives me a personal high.”
Currently, Atlee is working on a script for a film that will star Shah Rukh Khan and Vijay as both the stars have agreed to act in a film together. Atlee added that it could be his next film.
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