Did SRK Fight with Blockbuster Director?

Rohit Shetty, Bollywood’s former undisputed blockbuster machine with the likes of Chennai Express and the Singham franchise, has been criticized in recent years for the likes of Cirkus and the Singham Again.

His partnership with Shah Rukh Khan on Chennai Express (2013) was a huge hit, but their follow-up, Dilwale (2015), underperformed in India, and there were widespread rumours of a split and an alleged end to their collaboration.

Denying these speculations on Komal Nahta’s Game Changers podcast, Shetty made clear, “Nahi aisa kuch nahi” (There’s nothing like that). He highlighted their respect for each other and explained that post-Dilwale, he started his own production house to have complete control over his movies.

Significantly, Shetty declared, “loss nahi hua tha” (there was no loss on Dilwale), underlining the fact that the film was a super overseas success—even Indian cinema’s largest hit in Malaysia.

Even as industry gossip went around blaming both for Dilwale’s local performance, Shetty refuted any rift, claiming they’re just waiting for the appropriate script to get together again.

He also reminisced about his friendly relationships with Ajay Devgn (whom he addresses as an elder brother), Ranveer Singh, and Deepika Padukone—who filmed Singham Again when four months pregnant, a gesture Shetty cherishes very much.

Though Shetty’s recent offerings have not repeated his earlier hit run, respect for SRK is still the same, and he has not closed doors for future collaborations—in case the script is right.