bollywood

Updated: Apr 28, 2019 16:46 IST

Actor Shah Rukh Khan has said that the critical and commercial failure of his recent film Zero has affected him, and he has lost the enthusiasm to move on to a new project because of it.

Shah Rukh said that this time, he will take some time off before picking his next film, unlike previous occasions, when he made the decision in two-three months. “This time, I didn’t feel like doing it. I thought, this time, I will take out time to watch films and listen to scripts and read books. My kids are also finishing their college life. Suhana is still in college, Aryan will hopefully pass his college in a year. I want to spend more time with my family,” he said in an interview to CRI Hindi in China.

He continued, “I said somewhere that I might decide in June about my next project. But I won’t even do it in June, I will only do a film when I feel like doing it from my heart. I only act when it comes from my heart, but this time I don’t feel like doing it. A lot of people are telling me stories, I’ve heard 15-20 stories, I liked 2-3 of them. But I haven’t decided yet which film to do. Because the moment I take a decision, I will have to start working on films. I will completely be engrossed in it.”

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri pose during a photo opportunity at the wedding ceremony of Akash Ambani, son of the Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani. ( REUTERS )

The film was selected to be screened at the recent Beijing International Film Festival, and Shah Rukh said that he wasn’t particularly enthused about showing the film there. “I said I’d come even if they don’t want to show the film, because I’ve wanted to visit for a long time,” he said. “It’s a different experience,” he continued, “because we made the film with a lot of love, but many people did not like it.”

Shah Rukh said that since the film’s release in December, he’d become detached from it. “If the audience didn’t like it, then so be it, there’s nothing that can be done,” he said.

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Shah Rukh did, however, express an interest to screen his films in China, considering what a booming market it has become. “Inshallah,” he said, “we have the world’s largest and second largest populations at our disposal, so we’d want to unite them.”

Zero was produced on a reported budget of Rs 200 crore, and has made Rs 186 crore at the worldwide box office. The film is directed by Aanand L Rai, and also stars Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. Shah Rukh was said to begin work on the Rakesh Sharma biopic in January, but is rumoured to have dropped out of the film. It was also reported that he intends on picking a less risky project next, perhaps Don 3.

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