SRK confirms working on 'King', says have to lose some weight for new film

New Delhi: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday confirmed that his next film is titled King, an action film, for which he will have to lose weight.

There were rumours that the actor will next be seen in King, reportedly directed by Sujoy Ghosh. It's also been reported that Shah Rukh's daughter Suhana Khan will also star in the movie.

Shah Rukh made the announcement during a Q&A session at the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where he received the Pardo alla Carriera award-Locarno Tourism, or career leopard, award on Saturday.

"The next film that I'm doing King, I have to start working on it. (I have to) Lose some weight, stretch a little so my groin doesn't get caught when I'm doing action. It's painful and hurtful. I have a bag full of icing machines. So you keep doing it.

"It's the worst thing to see me on sets after action. I look really cool in the film. After that I'm tired, somebody is pressing my back, I can't walk, and then suddenly you see people, and you give flying kisses," the 58-year-old told festival's artistic director Giona A Nazzaro at the session.

Shah Rukh, who returned to the big screen in 2023 after a five-year hiatus with action thrillers Pathaan, Jawan, and social drama Dunki, said doing stunts is a difficult job.

"You have to practice action. You have doubles doing some of the most dangerous stunts. I have some wonderful guys. There's a gentleman called Devil for 'Pathaan' and 'Jawan' and some other boys. But 80 per cent of it (action), you have to finally do it yourself if you want to sell it," he added.

The actor said he now wants to star in films closer to his age, an idea he once discussed with Ghosh, who has directed films such as Badla (2019) and Bob Biswas (2021) for Shah Rukh's production banner Red Chillies Entertainment.

"There are certain kinds of films that I want to do, maybe it’s more age centric and I have wanted to try something since six-seven years. I've been thinking about it and I mentioned it to Sujoy one day while we were sitting. He works with us at our office, he’s made some films for us. He said, 'Sir, I have a subject'," he recalled.

During the session, the actor said he will finish work on King in 2025.