Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan reunite for masala ad, invoke Alia Bhatt | Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan recently revealed that he collaborated with Amitabh Bachchan for a ‘special project.’ On Thursday, as his action thriller Jawan hit the theatres, Shah Rukh’s special project with Amitabh was dropped online as well. It’s a commercial for a popular masala brand that Amitabh has been endorsing for years. (ALSO Read: Shah Rukh Khan on sharing screen with Amitabh Bachchan after 17 years: ‘It was so much fun to work with him’)

Amitabh and Shah Rukh share screen space

In the commercial, Shah Rukh and Amitabh play themselves. They’re seen exiting their respective vanity fans as they attempt to head back home after shoot. They’re interrupted by the paparazzi waiting outside, who hound them and prevent them from enjoying the biryani (Lucknowi for Amitabh, Hyderabadi for Shah Rukh) waiting for them at home.

The two stars then make eye contact, and in a chorus, point in opposite directions and scream “Alia,” making the paps run away in that direction in order to capture Alia Bhatt on camera. This allows Amitabh and Shah Rukh to then make a dash together towards their respective cars and in turn, respective biryanis.

The Alia Bhatt reference

Shah Rukh and Amitabh invoking Alia in the new ad comes exactly a week after Shah Rukh referred to her in the trailer of Jawan. In that scene, when Nayanthara’s police officer asks Shah Rukh’s character Azad who has kept a full Mumbai metro hostage “tumhe kya chahiye (what do you want),” he responds, “Chahiye toh Alia Bhatt, par umar mein thodi chhoti hai na (I want Alia Bhatt, but she’s quite younger to me, right).”

Shah Rukh has shared screen space with Alia in Gauri Shinde’s 2016 slice-of-life film Dear Zindagi. Amitabh also worked with Alia recently in Ayan Mukerji’s supernatural thriller Brahmastra last year.

Shah Rukh and Amitabh Bachchan

The two megastars have worked together in three films – Aditya Chopra’s 2000 romantic film Mohabbatein, Karan Johar’s 2002 family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and Karan’s 2006 romantic drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Many are calling Shah Rukh’s ‘Angry Young Man’ portrayal in Jawan a call-back to Amitabh Bachchan’s peak 1970s days.