Zero is SRK’s most expensive film

2018 seems to be the year of big-budget Bollywood films. The year began with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat, made with a budget of Rs 215 crore, followed by Race 3, made with a budget of Rs 150 crore, and we also have the over Rs 300 crore film Thugs of Hindostan coming up soon. Now, we hear that there’s another addition to that list — Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero.

Reports suggest that with a budget of nearly Rs 200 crore, Zero is all set to be SRK’s most expensive film to date, all thanks to its star cast, extensive shoot schedule and VFX requirements.

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh’s last VFX-heavy film — Ra.One, only had a production budget of Rs 85 crore and a marketing budget of Rs 52 crore.

Speaking about the upcoming film, a trade source says, “Zero has been shot over a period of 150 days, with some shoots in the USA. The film includes underwater and outdoor sequences. Several scenes have also been shot using chroma keying, and CG and VFX of the highest quality will be applied to them. The audience had some issues with some VFX scenes in Ra.One, so SRK and his Red Chillies team are working on eliminating those issues to get the best output this time.”

The ambitious project also includes some big-ticket songs that have been filmed with Sridevi, Karisma Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone. Even Salman Khan was brought on board to shoot a special VFX-laden teaser to be aired during Eid.

But trade sources say that that the actor-producer need not worry about the expenses as he’s likely to recover his costs quickly. “Shah Rukh will recover most of the production investment from the sale of satellite and digital rights. Zero is one of the biggest films this year, and so there is a lot of demand for it from satellite and OTT platforms,” a trade source says.

Zero, directed by Aanand L Rai, also stars Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif as the female leads. It is slated for release on December 21.

— Sanskriti Media