R Madhavan On Shah Rukh Khan's Cameo In Rocketry: He Told Me He Was Ready To Play Any Role In The Background

R Madhavan's upcoming multilingual film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is based on the life of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan who was falsely accused of espionage and arrested in 1994. Speaking about the film's Hindi version, superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be seen in a cameo as a chat show host in this film.

In a recent media interaction, Madhavan opened up on how Shah Rukh Khan came on board for this film. As per ANI, the 3 Idiots actor said, "I mentioned about Rocketry to Shah Rukh Khan sahab (sir) when I worked with him in Zero ...he vividly remembered it that during one of his birthday parties he asked me about the film's status and expressed his desire to be a part of the film. 'Mujhe background mein koi bhi role chalega main is film ka hissa hona chahta hu (I'm ready to play any role in the background I want to be a part of this film), Khan sahab told me."

Madhavan shared that he thought that Shah Rukh Khan was joking. The actor continued, "Two days later my wife Sarita asked me to thank Khan sahab for his kind words. I dropped a message to Khan sahab's manager asking her to convey my gratitude to him and I instantly got a text from the manager saying, 'Khan sahab dates puch rahe hai shoot ki (Khan sir is asking about the dates of the shoot)'.. and that's how he became a part of our film."

Further, the actor revealed that both Shah Rukh Khan and Tamil star Suriya who reprises the same role in the film's Tamil version didn't charge a single penny for the film.

"In fact, Suriya flew out to shoot in Mumbai with his crew on his own money. He did not charge for the flights or for the dialogue writer who translated his lines in Tamil," Madhavan said in the interaction.

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is slated to release in cinema halls on July 1, 2022. The film had premiered at the Marche du Film section of the Cannes Film Festival last month.