Aanand L Rai is going to end the year 2018 with a bang with his next release Zero. The spectacle stars Shah Rukh Khan in a never seen before role. The buzz around the movie is monumental. But rumours were afloat that the filmmaker had first approached Salman Khan for essaying the central role - vertically challenged man - in Zero. But Aanand has now clarified that he only narrated the idea to Salman before Shah Rukh Khan. He did not even tell him the story. But that is not going to stop us from wondering what Zero must have been like with Salman Khan instead of Shah Rukh Khan. Zero Song Mere Naam Tu: Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma’s Melody Gets the Perfect Reaction From Twitterati.

In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Aanand L Rai said, "I had the idea of Zero before Tanu Weds Manu Returns. As a director, when you achieve something, you get the opportunity to meet a lot of stars with whom you want to work. But I only discussed the idea with Salman, not the story because once we locked that, it had Shah Rukh Khan written all over it."Zero: Red Chillies Entertainment Moves Delhi HC Against Notice Over the Shah Rukh Khan- Starrer.

Though, Salman did end up doing a cameo in Zero, a glimpse of which we have seen in the Eid-special teaser of the film. "It’s Salman’s greatness that he agreed to doing a cameo. Both the Khans have big hearts, they look at the larger picture and it was fantastic to have them in the same frame. Apart from Salman there are a lot of other cameos in the film. And all their appearances in the film happen organically, not for any gimmicks," Aanand added.

Zero stars Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif as female leads opposite Shah Rukh Khan, making this the trio's second film together after Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Zero is all set to release on December 21.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 30, 2018 07:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).