Why Siddharth Anand Replaced Sujoy Ghosh As Shah Rukh Khan's King Director?

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Rukh Khan ended his theatrical hat-trick in 2023 with Dunki. Before ending the year, he had started planning and working on the next project. King, the official title of the film, which was conceptualised in early 2024, has Siddharth Anand as the director and producer. Originally, the movie, a remake of Léon, was being directed by Sujoy Ghosh. The Kahaani creator exited the project before it went on floors. The National Award winner had started the pre-production preparation with Shah Rukh and Siddharth. What went wrong between the trio? Despite exiting King as the director, he remains cordial with the actor and was seen at the premiere of Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood too.

Why did Sujoy Ghosh leave King?

Sujoy’s exit from King did not leave a bad taste in Shah Rukh and Siddharth’s mouths because it was a mutual decision. The Badla maker, who previously worked with Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, took a respectful withdrawal after he felt the Pathaan director had an upper hand in how the film was shaping up. He started with a different vision, and soon, the scale got bigger, and the focus from the original script deviated.

Sujoy Ghosh replaced by Siddharth Anand as King's director

With Siddharth making King his film and calling the shots, Sujoy decided to part ways amicably. Anand, who was already producing it under Marflix Pictures, was the obvious choice to take over directorial duties. Following this massive internal change, the script was worked upon again to match the Pathaan director’s larger-than-life vision. Since Shah Rukh made a comeback with the spy thriller, he trusts Siddharth’s sensibilities as a filmmaker.

What does Shah Rukh Khan play in King?

During his annual meet with fans on November 2, 2025, Shah Rukh praised Siddharth for giving him a different challenge with King. Describing his character as ‘very dark’ he expressed that it is an interesting part to play. It is touted to be the most ruthless role Shah Rukh has ever played. The superstar hoped that his fans would accept him in a different role. He also clarified that the character is not purely negative. It has an interesting arc. Praising director Siddharth for mounting it on a big scale, Shah Rukh discussed the role and its depth with his fans.

King confirmed cast

Besides Shah Rukh, King also stars Suhana Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Deepika Padukone, Saurabh Shukla, Arshad Warsi, Raghav Juyal, Abhay Verma, and Akshaye Oberoi. The film releases on December 24.