Salute: Shah Rukh Khan replaces Aamir Khan in Rakesh Sharma biopic!

Biopics are much in demand in Bollywood these days. Aamir Khan was supposed to act in one based on the life of India’s legendary astronaut Rakesh Sharma. Sidharth Roy Kapur is backing this ambitious project titled as Salute and Mahesh Mathai of Broken Thread and Bhopal Express was roped in as the director. However, the movie has seen a big change now as Aamir opted out owing to his busy schedule.

Latest reports from Bollywood medias suggest that Shah Rukh Khan might take up the film. Reportedly, Aamir personally met Shah Rukh and asked him to star in the film. After discussions with producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, Shah Rukh has agreed to be a part of the movie. Priyanka Chopra was earlier confirmed for the movie when Aamir Khan was supposed to star in it. With Shah Rukh replacing him, it is not yet known if Priyanka will be retained to play the female lead.

Rakesh Sharma is a former Air Force Pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 in 1984, as part of a joint program between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Inter cosmos space program. He had spent 7 days 21 hours and 40 minutes in space and remains to this day the only Indian to travel to space.

Interestingly, Salute is not Shah Rukh Khan’s first film on space or astronomy. He had earlier played a NASA engineer in the widely acclaimed film Swades, directed by Ashtoush Gowraiker. SRK is currently shooting for Anand L Rai’s film with Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif in which he plays a dwarf. Aamir Khan on the other hand is busy with Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan, also starring Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Dangal fame Fatima Sana Shaikh.