Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was once set to star in the Hollywood film ‘Extreme City’ with Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese to produce the film. However, the film was ultimately shelved, and director Paul Schrader has shared why it didn’t get made, and revealed that the main reason behind it was Shah Rukh.
Why did Shahrukh Khan, Leonardo DiCaprio’s film get shelved?
Speaking on the Pod Casty for Me podcast, Schrader explained the early stages of the project, noting that the trio initially showed enthusiasm about the film, even going so far as to discuss it in Berlin. Also held a meeting. Scorsese was to produce, and the film had the potential to bridge Bollywood and Hollywood. But according to Schrader, Shahrukh lost interest midway through, which led to the project failing.
“Shah Rukh is the boss. He hires directors. Sometimes he hires multiple directors: He’ll hire someone for the musical numbers; he’ll hire someone else for the action; he’ll hire someone else for the individual- He can hire someone else for the relationship scenes,” Schrader said. “He’d never really worked under a writer, and this, I could see, was beginning to displease him. And he’d never done a film in the West before, and he’d never worked under anyone like that.” There was no second banana for Leo first.”
Why did Shahrukh Khan withdraw from the film?
According to Schrader, the story of ‘Extreme’ City revolves around Shah Rukh, who plays a gangster, who encounters an American policeman, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, after saving the officer’s life in India. .
As Schrader shared, “Slowly, I wrote the script. I went to Mumbai several times to see him and be with him – I could feel the ground beneath him slowly slipping away.” When Shahrukh’s commitment changed from “firm” to “tentative”, it proved to be a turning point for the film. “Once his commitment went from ‘firm’ to ‘provisional,’ Leo’s commitment went from ‘firm’ to ‘provisional,'” Schrader reported. You now have two ‘provisional’ commitments, which means you have no commitments.
In an interview with Open in 2013, Schrader recalled his brief fascination with Bollywood after meeting people at a film festival in Delhi. He envisioned a mix of an international film with Bollywood elements. Schrader said, “I liked the idea of trying to combine an international film with a Bollywood film.” “I’m always interested in things that haven’t been done before.”
However, Schrader admitted that Shah Rukh’s reluctance to work on a film over which he did not have creative control became evident. Schrader explained, “It was really up to him, and I just felt he would never be comfortable doing an international film that he didn’t have control over.”
At one point, Schrader even considered recasting Shah Rukh with Salman Khan, but ultimately decided against it. He said, “If Shahrukh had come to know about this, it would have been fatal for Shahrukh.”
About Shredder
As for Schrader’s career, he is best known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese on screenplays for iconic films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ. His recent works include First Reformed (2017) and the Man in a Room trilogy. His latest project is called Oh, Canada.
