How King Khan bagged Billoo Barber!

SRK’s claim that Priyan had initially offered this to Akshay Kumar who rejected it, only makes the rivalry between King Khan and Khiladi Kumar hotter! King Khan heard the script and immediately decided to produce the film and act in it too. Considering Akshay Kumar is Priyan’s favourite, Shah Rukh grabbed the opportunity with both hands when Priyan approached him. Says Shah Rukh, “Billoo Barber was offered to Akshay Kumar but he turned it down.

Priyan was doing another film with me. Then he spoke to me about Billoo Barber and asked if I would do a 10-day role in the film. I asked him to narrate the story. I told him that I would not only act in it but even produce it.”

The film is yet another Malayalam remake from Priyan’s kitty but SRK simply loved the script. “It’s a story based on Krishna and his friend Sudama. It’s a very sweet story. The thought is nice. But it’s not fair to call it a Shah Rukh Khan film. It is about Irrfan Khan, his wife and two kids. Billoo Barber is a remake of a Malayalam film called Kadha Parayaumbol and has been rewritten by the same writer. The Hindi rights are with us while the Tamil rights are with Rajnikant. In Malayalam it was made with Mammooty.”

The film stars Irrfan Khan, Lara Dutta, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani and SRK. Kareena, Deepika and another top actress are slated to play guest appearances in the film. Well, who can say no to King Khan? Pritam will render the music for the film while the lyrics will be written by Gulzar.

Casting the lead actress was the toughest job for SRK. Ameesha Patel and Tabu had turned it down. “I have been reading about all the actresses refusing the project but I would never lie to an actor to get them to do the role. I told Priyan Sir to tell them that it is not the greatest role in the world; but it is not a role that will go unnoticed. I told this to Urmila, Manisha, Juhi. Amisha didn’t do the role because we thought she looked too young to play a mother opposite Irrfan. It wasn’t like she left it or we threw her out. Tabu refused because she didn’t like the role. Vidya (Balan) said no because she did not want to play a mother to two grown-up children. But the kids are 10 and 12-year-olds they are not my age!”

Finally it was Lara who accepted the role. “When I sat down with Lara, I told her that you do certain roles because of the film and she agreed. Juhi and Rani have often told me ‘I don’t have a great role in the film and I am just doing the film because it’s a very sweet film’. I believe in that. If a product is really good, everybody shines. I could be great in a film, but if it is not good, then it doesn’t work.”