In a major announcement, producer Sandeep Singh revealed the launch of Fauji 2, the sequel to the 1989 television serial made for Doordarshan. Fauji became iconic as the launchpad for Shah Rukh Khan, who would go on to become Bollywood’s ‘King Khan’. Now, 35 years after the original premiered, Fauji 2 has been announced with Vicky Jain and Gauahar Khan in the lead roles, alongside Aashish Bhardwaj, Utkarsh Kohli, Rudra Soni, Ayaan Manchanda, Niel Satpuda, Suvansh Dhar, Priyanshu Rajguru, Aman Singh Deep, Udit Kapur, Maansi, and Sushmita Bhandari. Whether this new Fauji, set to air on Doordarshan, will become as iconic as the original—and whether it will introduce a new 'Shah Rukh Khan' from its cast—remains to be seen. ‘Fauji 2’: Shah Rukh Khan’s Iconic Debut Series Returns With Vicky Jain and Gauahar Khan in Lead Roles.

But did you know Shah Rukh Khan himself had once planned a sequel to Fauji? What’s more, it was set to star Pulkit Samrat in the lead role. The never-to-be-seen Fauji 2 series was to be produced by SRK's banner, Red Chillies Entertainment, and was slated to air on Colors. At that time, Pulkit Samrat was known for his role as Laksh Virani in Ekta Kapoor’s show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. According to reports, he was to play the son of Lt Abhimanyu Rai, the character portrayed by Shah Rukh Khan in the original series.

However, despite a muhurat shoot and the filming of some scenes, this version of Fauji 2 was eventually dropped by the makers for unclear reasons.

In an article in Tellychakkar, the portal quotes a source telling them, "SRK was very close to this project, but now, Fauji 2 is not happening. The unit had gone to Dehradun to shoot some vital sequences of the show at the Indian Military Academy, but they couldn’t acquire the required permission from the government because of the terrorist threat. And the shooting came to a halt. We hear the show is shelved as there is no hope of getting the required nod. Apparently, SRK isn’t too happy with the way things are functioning in the TV department and has allegedly decided to disarm the production house completely." ‘Fauji’: From Shah Rukh Khan to Vikram Chopra, Meet the OG Cast Members of Doordarshan Serial and Where They Are Now!

The New 'Fauji 2' Announcement

 

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In a 2023 interview with India Today, Pulkit Samrat spoke about his brief experience with the project. Speaking about meeting Shah Rukh Khan for the first time then, he said, "I was a part of Fauji 2, which Red Chillies was producing. This was the first time I met Shah Rukh Khan. Anyway, this was the muhurat of Fauji 2, and I was the lead. Shah Rukh had absolutely no reason to know each and every cast's name as well as their characters. But he made efforts to know us all and what characters we were playing. When he met me, he literally kissed my forehead. In fact, he did that to the entire cast. He kissed everyone's forehead. He told us, 'I wish what Fauji 1 did for you, Fauji 2 does for you.' It's really unfortunate that the show never came on air." Pulkit Samrat later played an army man in the 2016 film Junooniyat that was directed by Vivek Agnihotri.

The original Fauji was directed by  Lt Col Raj Kumar Kapoor. All of 13 episodes, the Indian army-based serial is presently streaming on Prime Video.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 15, 2024 06:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).