Confirmed: 'Fan' actor Shah Rukh Khan to play dwarf in Aanand L Rai's next

Director Aanand L Rai confirmed that Bollywood Baadshah Shah Rukh Khan will appear as a dwarf in his next venture. The filmmaker informed that the leading actress has not been cast yet, but according to earlier reports, Kangana Ranaut's name has been doing the rounds.

It has been reported that SRK replaced Salman Khan in this film. The "Sultan" actor apparently turned down the offer as he did not have dates for the film. So, Shah Rukh came on board and agreed to play this challenging role.

In the past, SRK has played many challenging characters such as a villain, gangster and now, an obsessed fan. The actor plays the role of an obsessed fan in his upcoming film "Fan," while he will be seen playing a bootlegger in "Raees."

It will be interesting to see SRK essaying the role of a dwarf in Aanand's film. "It sounds it (story)is just about dwarf but it is much more than that. It is a much taller film. It is a very entertaining and interesting love story. I will be fool if I have Shah Rukh Khan in my film and have no romance and songs," Aanand told the Press Trust of India.

There have been several speculations around Aanand's project. Earlier this year, it had been reported that Ranveer Singh might replace SRK in it, but the buzz settled quickly. There was another report that revealed the director was interested in bringing the Shah Rukh-Deepika Padukone chemistry in his film.

"Aanand L Rai is planning to cast Deepika Padukone in his next. He doesn't want to work with Kangana for his next again; he wants to change things a bit and that's why he wants to cast Deepika," Bollywood Life quoted an insider as saying.

This is not the first time that any actor is playing the role of a dwarf. In Salman-starrer "Jaan-E-Mann," Anupam Kher played this character. And, in 1989, Kamal Haasan appeared as a dwarf in Tamil film "Apoorva Sagotharargal," which was dubbed in Hindi as "Appu Raja" in 1990.