Back in 2011, rumours swirled about two of the biggest global stars, Shah Rukh Khan and Leonardo DiCaprio, teaming up for a big-budget international film. Speculation arose after a viral picture showed SRK, DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Karan Johar, and Mushtaq Sheikh together. While none of the stars confirmed the news, reports claimed the project was titled Xtreme City, with Martin Scorsese as executive producer and Paul Schrader directing. Schrader was also said to have co-written the screenplay with Sheikh. When Shah Rukh Khan, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese Were Rumoured to Do a Hollywood Movie Together and This Pic Started The Gossip!

However, the project quietly faded away within months, and no collaboration materialised. Interestingly, Xtreme City was indeed a real project and was poised to mark Shah Rukh Khan’s Hollywood debut.

This was later confirmed by Paul Schrader, as reported in an article in The Film Stage, where he discussed the film’s fate on a podcast. According to Schrader, Shah Rukh Khan’s hesitation ultimately destabilised the project, leading to its cancellation. For the uninitiated, Paul Schrader had written the screenplays for classics like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, Bringing Out the Dead etc while also directing movies like Hardcore, American Gigolo, Affliction, The Canyons and First Reformed.

Speaking about Xtreme City, Schrader said, “I wanted to do that with Shah Rukh Khan and Leo. In fact, we all met in Berlin. Scorsese was going to produce it. Shah Rukh was in Berlin; Leo was there; we all met about it. Shah Rukh is the boss. He hires directors. Sometimes he hires multiple directors: he’ll hire somebody for the musical number, somebody else for the action, and another for the personal-relationship scenes. He can do that.”

The Viral Picture

Schrader elaborated further, explaining how SRK’s reluctance affected the project and even impacted DiCaprio’s involvement. “He (SRK) has never really worked under the harness of an auteur, and that, I could see, was starting to grate on him. He had never done a film in the West before, nor had he ever been in a secondary role to someone like Leo. Bit by bit - I wrote the script, visited Mumbai several times to meet him - I could feel the ground slowly eroding beneath him. Eventually, his commitment shifted from ‘firm’ to ‘provisional,’ and once that happened, Leo’s commitment also became ‘provisional.’ Two ‘provisional’ commitments equal no commitment at all.” ‘What a Loss!’ Says Richard Quest Upon Discovering Shah Rukh Khan Was Never Offered a ‘Suitable Role’ in Hollywood.

For film enthusiasts, this was certainly a missed opportunity. However, Shah Rukh Khan has consistently maintained that he has no regrets about skipping Hollywood projects. He has often said he prefers to be a “king” in Bollywood rather than take a supporting role in Hollywood.

That said, other Bollywood stars, such as Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ishaan Khatter, and Aishwarya Rai, have ventured into Hollywood. Among them, the late Irrfan Khan achieved the most significant success in the West, leaving behind an enduring legacy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2024 03:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).