Daily Times

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan has reportedly turned down the offer to star opposite Alia Bhatt in Dinesh Vijan’s ‘Chamunda’.

As reported by Indian media, Khan, who has been in talks with Maddock Films’ Dinesh Vijan for a film, was approached for the recently-announced horror-comedy ‘Chamunda’, starring Alia Bhatt. However, he has declined the offer.

For the unversed, ‘Chamunda’ was announced recently as part of the eight-film slate of Maddock Films’ highly successful horror-comedy universe, directed by Amar Kaushik and starring Bhatt in the titular lead.

According to the details, the makers approached Bhatt’s ‘Dear Zindagi’ co-star SRK to cast opposite her in the film. However, he has reportedly turned down the offer, citing his preference not to be a part of an already-established universe.

A publication quoted the source saying, “With Amar Kaushik at the helm, Maddock was bullish on casting Shah Rukh Khan for Chamunda with Alia Bhatt. But things didn’t pan out as expected.”

“Shah Rukh Khan didn’t want to enter an already established universe and rather start a new world with Maddock and Amar Kaushik. He has asked the duo to come to him with something fresh and explore a genre never done before,” added the insider. “The two are now exploring new names for Chamunda and hoping to team up with Shah Rukh Khan in a couple of years on something fresh.”

Notably, ‘Chamunda’ is scheduled to hit theatres on December 4, 2026. It will be the 8th film of the horror-comedy universe, which includes ‘Stree’ series, ‘Bhediya’ and ‘Munjya’.