Fielding fan questions on X, Khan called Rani Mukerji and Deepika Padukone his best friends while previewing their shared screen time in King, his first film with Mukerji since 2006.
Twenty years is a long gap between co-stars. Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji are closing it in King.
A fan asked Khan on X, during a live #AskSRK round, how it felt sharing the screen with Deepika Padukone and Mukerji again. His answer was short and warm: "The best ever. It's lovely always to work with my best friends."
That one line does a lot of work. Khan and Mukerji have a history that runs back to the late 1990s, through Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Chalte Chalte, Paheli and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. That last one released in 2006. Since then, nothing. King brings them back together on screen after close to two decades apart, which is precisely why the fan question landed the way it did.
Deepika Padukone's case is different. She and Khan have barely had a gap year. Om Shanti Om, Chennai Express, Happy New Year, Jawan. She's been a fixture in his filmography for over a decade now, and King adds another entry to that list rather than reopening an old chapter.
So the excitement here isn't really about Deepika. It's about Rani. Fans who grew up on the Khan-Mukerji pairing have been waiting for this reunion since long before King was announced, and Khan's answer, brief as it was, gave them exactly the confirmation they wanted.
The #AskSRK sessions have become something of a ritual around King's release cycle, giving Khan a direct line to fans without the filter of a press round. Thursday's session touched on more than the Mukerji-Padukone question, but this was the one that traveled. Screenshots of the exchange were already doing the rounds within the hour.
What we still don't know is how much screen time either actor actually shares with Khan in the film, or in what capacity they show up. Neither Bollywood Hungama's report nor Khan's own reply gets into plot specifics. That's standard for this stage of a promotional cycle. Studios tend to hold character details back until closer to release, and King's team has been fairly disciplined about it so far.
What's confirmed is simpler and, for a certain generation of Khan's audience, more than enough. Rani Mukerji is back opposite him after Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Deepika Padukone is back too, though that reunion needed no explaining. And Khan, going by his own words, is happy about both.
King hasn't set a release date that's been detailed in these exchanges, but the promotional drumbeat is clearly building. Expect more of these fan interactions, and more scraps of information, as the film gets closer to theatres.
Be the first to comment
Join the argument. No password, just your email or a passkey.