It’s not official yet, but Shah Rukh Khan is said to be no longer doing Saare Jahaan Se Achcha – the biopic on Indian Air Force pilot Rakesh Sharma who became the first Indian to travel in space. The proposed Bollywood film was earlier titled Salute and had Aamir Khan in the lead. But the actor backed out to concentrate on his ambitious Mahabharata project and is believed to have recommended the film to SRK.

The biopic written by Anjum Rajabali and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur was to go on the floors in February. Two days ago there were reports that SRK had decided not to do SJSA; however, Rajabali said the rumour was fake and the actor was very much a part of his film. There was no confirmation or denial from SRK himself.

[caption id="attachment_199435" align="aligncenter" width="696"] (L-R) Shah Rukh Khan and Rakesh Sharma[/caption]

PeepingMoon.com has learned that SRK is worried another space film after the absolute box office failure of Zero, his romantic drama in December in which his character travels to Mars, will not go down well with his fans. And at this point in his career, with the last several of his films faring poorly, the actor is not keen on experimenting any more and wants to do films and play characters which the audience identifies him with.

[caption id="attachment_199437" align="aligncenter" width="900"] A still of Shah Rukh Khan from his recently released film 'Zero'[/caption]

Recommended Read: Exclusive: Shah Rukh Khan to begin Don 3 after Saare Jahaan Se Achcha

With SRK dropping SJSA, the Rakesh Sharma biopic joins the likes of other proposed Bollywood films on space including Chanda Mama Door Ke and the Indo-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla’s biopic that was supposed to be made by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures with the actress in the title role. So what will Shah Rukh Khan do next, then? According to a source he will act in and co-produce Don 3 along with Excel Entertainment. The action drama is a genre that has worked for him before. And the success of the earlier films from the franchise have encouraged him to believe he can bounce back in the game playing the elusive criminal mastermind again.