Did you know Salman Khan was offered Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Chak De! India’; Here’s why he refused to do it

Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De! India turned out to be one of the most iconic films in his career. Helmed by Shimit Amin, the film went on to become a box office success with commercial and critical acclaim. But did you know, the actor had several inhibitions for the film and he even felt Chak De! India was the ‘worst film’ they made in their lives. Apart from this, apparently, Salman Khan was the first choice for the film.
Yes, you read it right. Speaking about the film at an international University, Shah Rukh Khan shared that post the film’s first screening, he thought Chak De! India was the ‘worst film’ the team had made in their lives.
Shah Rukh Khan shared, “We had some of the brightest minds making the film like Aditya Chopra, Jaideep Sahni, Shimit Amin. We had young girls who learned how to play hockey. We had Yash Chopra backing it. But when I saw the film at its first screening, we all looked at it and felt it was the worst film we had ever made in our lives”.

He added, “The girls didn’t know this because for them seeing themselves on screen for the first time was a big thing. So they were irritatingly screaming and dancing while the four us were sitting there and crying. We had reached that stage of failure where you start telling people, listen we did what we wanted to. This is what we set out to make and success and failure is transient and we will come back. It was really really sad.”
Apart from this, the film was first offered to another superstar, Salman Khan. During the release of Sultan, Salman shared in a press conference, “Chak De! India was offered to me but I left it because even Shah Rukh Khan should be a part of a few great films,” he joked.
After which Salman shared in another interview that he had an issue with the climax part of the film. He shared, “I had an issue with the climax of the film. Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) had told me ‘I will make it the biggest hit and you don’t know what you are missing out on.’ I was fortunate Partner did well.
He added, “Chak De! India has done really well, Shah Rukh Khan has done really well. I was wrong and he (Aditya Chopra) has made it the same way he narrated it to me, and I was like how can this working dude, it can’t work,” Salman said with a small laugh.