'Shah Rukh Khan Didn't Want To Play Second Banana To Leonardo DiCaprio': Paul Schrader On Why Crossover Film Was Shelved
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was once set to star in the Hollywood film ‘Xtreme City’, alongside Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio with Martin Scorsese to produce the film.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was once set to star in the Hollywood film ‘Xtreme City’, alongside Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio with Martin Scorsese to produce the film. However, the film was ultimately shelved, and director Paul Schrader has shared why it didn’t materialise, revealing that Shah Rukh was the main reason behind it.
Why Shah Rukh Khan, Leonardo DiCaprio film was shelved
Speaking on the Pod Casty for Me podcast, Schrader recounted the early stages of the project, noting that the trio initially showed enthusiasm about the film, even meeting in Berlin to discuss it. Scorsese was slated to produce, and the film had potential to bridge Bollywood and Hollywood. But according to Schrader, Shah Rukh lost interest midway, which led to the project's downfall.
"Shah Rukh is the boss. He hires directors. Sometimes he hires multiple directors: he’ll hire somebody for the musical number; he’ll hire somebody else for the action; he’ll hire somebody else for the personal-relationship scenes. He can do that," said Schrader. "He has never really worked under the harness of an auteur, and that, I could see, was starting to grate on him. And he had never done a film in the West before, and he had never been a second banana to somebody like Leo before."
Why Shah Rukh Khan backed out from the film
According to Schrader, the plot of ‘Xtreme’ City revolved around Shah Rukh playing a gangster confronted by an American cop, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, after saving the officer’s life in India.
As Schrader shared, "Bit-by-bit, I wrote the script. I went to Mumbai several times to see him and be with him — I could feel the ground slowly eroding underneath him." When Shah Rukh’s commitment turned from "firm" to "provisional," it marked the turning point for the film. Schrader explained, “Once his commitment went from ‘firm’ to ‘provisional,’ Leo’s went from ‘firm’ to ‘provisional.’ Now you have two ‘provisional’ commitments, which means you have no commitment at all.”
In a 2013 interview with Open, Schrader has recalled his brief fascination with Bollywood after meeting people at a film festival in Delhi. He had envisioned blending an international film with Bollywood elements. “I just liked the idea of trying to combine an international movie with a Bollywood movie," Schrader said. "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 he did not have creative control over became evident. "It was really up to him, and I just got the feeling that he was never going to be comfortable doing an international film that he didn’t control," Schrader explained.
At one point, Schrader even considered recasting Shah Rukh with Salman Khan, but ultimately decided against it. “If SRK found that out, that would have killed it for SRK," he noted.
About Schrader
As for Schrader’s career, he is 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 titled Oh, Canada.
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