He is pretty shaken up: Anjum Rajabali on Shah Rukh Khan exiting Saare Jahan Se Achha
Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali on Thursday said Shah Rukh Khan left the Rakesh Sharma biopic Saare Jahan Se Achha because he was shaken up by the failure of Zero.
After Zero failed to perform at the box office, it was reported that SRK backed out of Saare Jahan Se Achha, owing to the similar backdrop of space in both the films.
During a Q&A at one of FICCI Frames’ panel discussions, Anjum Rajabali was asked his take on it, and he began by saying, “Dukhti rag pe haath rakh diya.”
He added on a serious note, “I will make a slightly more basic point here. This whole practice and culture of postmortem, of analysing what went wrong hasn’t really caught on. What happens is then, there are knee-jerk reactions rather than responses even from the makers.”
Rajabali further said it was the script which was problematic in Zero and not the fact that Shah Rukh Khan’s character went to Mars.
“‘Oh! It could be because of the space and hence we put two and two together. Oh it’s because the time wasn’t right, nobody wants to see a disabled person in a star’s role.’ It could also well be that there was a problem with the DNA of the script.
“I think the writer should also be involved in that honest introspection to be able to determine where did things go wrong,” said the acclaimed writer.
Anjum Rajabali, who has also written Farhan Akhtar’s upcoming sports biopic Toofan, believes more often than not it is the script, which goes wrong, while all other factors fit in perfectly.
“Most of the times, when a film doesn’t connect in spite of the fact that the idea was good, director was talented and the stars were attractive, it is because the script has gone wrong. That is where we need to be investing in. Allow more space for the writing to really emerge. You have to cook it on a low gas. There is no pressure cooker writing, which takes place.
“If you are asking me, there was a problem with the script (of Zero). Himanshu (Sharma) is a very talented person but things go wrong sometimes. I don’t think he said no to Saare Jahan Se Achcha because of the space (angle). I think he is also pretty shaken up. He was banking a lot on that,” Rajabali concluded.