In 1993, Ashutosh Gowariker got the two Khans, Shah Rukh and Aamir, on board for a cameo in his directorial debut, Pehla Nasha. Till date, it remains the only film in which SRK and Aamir shared screen space. They came close to working together in Mansoor Khan’s Josh and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti but things didn’t materialise. Twenty-seven years later, SRK shot for a cameo in Aamir’s upcoming film, Laal Singh Chaddha, in Delhi last month, before flying off to the UAE to support his cricket team, Kolkata Knight Riders, in the recently-concluded IPL. The Advait Chandan-directorial is the official remake of the Tom Hanks classic, Forrest Gump, and chronicles the journey of its protagonist over a span of five decades.

Mirror has learnt that Shah Rukh’s track in the film is set in the mid-‘90s and that the actor will revisit his iconic character Raj Malhotra from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

“The screenplay weaves in iconic moments from each decade and since we love our matinee idols, Chaddha’s journey would be incomplete without certain top stars. So, during this journey of self-discovery, Aamir lands on the sets to meet Shah Rukh around the release of DDLJ and sharing his personal experiences, engages with the wonder world,” shares a source, promising that the interaction between the two will bring in a lot of laughs and SRK’s Raj will be an upgrade of Dick Cavett’s cameo role from the 1994 original. “He’ll go back to 1995 and look like a younger version of himself with the use of prosthetics and VFX,” the source informed, adding that it’s not a run-of-themill cameo, and that the track is pivotal to the narrative.

If that’s not enough, we hear that Aamir is also in talks with another Khan, Salman, for a cameo. However, they are yet to decide which character he will resurrect on screen. “His Prem wooed the audience in the ’90s, from Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hai Koun! to Hum Saath Saath Hain and Aamir is keen to get Salman back as Prem in his social dramedy. There’s a track set in 1989 that depicts a change in audience taste, from action to romance, and the craze around Salman. They are expected to finalise the details soon,” revealed the source, saying there were plans to get Aamir to visit the two Khans during the shoot of Karan Arjun, but that was eventually scrapped. However, this will be the first time that the three Khans will be seen in a film together.

Vikram Vedha actor, Vijay Sethupathi, too, is a part of the film and is said to be playing the protagonist’s best friend, Bubba. In the original, Gary Sinise played the role. The film which features Kareena Kapoor as the leading lady will open in Christmas 2021.

Over the last eight months, B-Town had almost come to a standstill following the Coronavirus pandemic. While technicians, along with directors, worked from home on the post-production, the actors sat twiddling their thumbs. Finally, in August, Akshay Kumar was the first A-List actor to flag off a new film. The espionage thriller, Bellbottom, was shot in Scotland in a start-to-finish schedule. Since then, other actors are slowly getting back in action, assessing the on-ground scenario with a few days of patchwork or a passing cameo. But post Diwali, the big four—Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, and Ranbir Kapoor—will jump into the battlefield, to embrace the new normal and kick off new projects.

Salman, who got back to the set on October 2, after the longest break in his 30-year career, to wrap up his action-thriller Radhe without any casualties, will roll with the Mahesh Manjrekar directorial, Antim, from November 16. He plays a cop, pursuing a gangster, played by brother-in-law Aayush Sharma, in the Hindi adaptation of the Marathi crime drama Mulshi Pattern, which will be shot at a village on the outskirts of Pune, and studios in Karjat and Mumbai.

Shah Rukh returns with a full-fledged feature film after almost 900 days. Pathan, directed by Siddharth Anand, rolls in the city before the month end. Interestingly, just before he flew to the UAE to root for his cricket team, Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, SRK shot a cameo for Aamir Khan’s next Laal Singh Chadha in the capital which served as a test shoot of sorts. The action-thriller also features John Abraham and Deepika Padukone, with Salman in a cameo, and is looking at a late 2021 release.

Shah Rukh’s Chennai Express director, Rohit Shetty, may still be waiting to release the Akshay Kumar-fronted cop drama Sooryavanshi, but he is all set to move to his next, Cirkus, with Ranveer Singh and Varun Sharma in double roles, along with Pooja Hegde and Jacqueline Fernandez as the leading ladies. Inspired by Shakeseare’s Comedy of Errors, the whacky comedy also takes off in Mumbai next week, followed by schedules in Ooty and Goa. It is confirmed for a winter 2021 opening.

Since Sanju in 2018, Ranbir Kapoor has not shown up on the big screen. For the last three years, he’s been shooting Shamshera and Brahmastra. While the period drama has finally wrapped up, the fantasy action adventure is currently being shot in a city studio with two songs remaining for January. But RK will finally roll with a new film this month, the Luv Ranjan-directed yet-untitled rom-com which pairs him with Shraddha Kapoor for the first time. A major chunk of the story is set in Spain, but the film will start in Mumbai with the makers taking a call on the overseas schedule depending on the pandemic given that Spain is seeing a second surge currently.

With these A-Listers back in action, makers and exhibitors are heaving a sigh of relief while the audience can look forward to a starry 2021.