Did you know Shah Rukh Khan once rejected Farah Khan's script that was similar to Rajkumar Hirani's 'Dunki'

Years before Shah Rukh Khan teamed up with Rajkumar Hirani for 'Dunki', he had turned down a script offered by longtime collaborator and friend Farah Khan, one that, in hindsight, shares striking similarities with 'Dunki’s storyline.

In a candid chat with Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa, Farah Khan revealed that she had originally pitched a different version of Happy New Year to Shah Rukh Khan, which he rejected. His reason? He felt the character didn’t suit his age. “I will look too old, I’m too old to play this young boy,” Farah recalled him saying.

A dream to reach America
Farah’s earlier script revolved around four boys with a dream to migrate to the United States. Their unconventional ticket to America? A dance competition, with the finals held in Las Vegas. She explained, “That Happy New Year was about 4 boys who want to go to America and be tadipaar and the only way they want to do it is if they take part in a dance competition.” Although this concept didn’t make it to the big screen, Farah was taken aback when she saw the teaser for Dunki, which follows a group of Indians trying to enter a foreign country illegally through backdoor routes. The thematic overlap didn’t go unnoticed by the filmmaker, who found the coincidence “very strange.”

From dance dreams to a heist film
Eventually, Happy New Year went in a completely different direction. Released in 2014, the film was transformed into a stylized heist drama set against the backdrop of an international dance competition. Featuring Shah Rukh, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, and Vivaan Shah, the film followed a group of misfits who pull off a high-stakes robbery in Dubai while competing in a dance contest.

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