Shah Rukh Khan’s King is turning its shoot into a roll-call. According to a Variety India report cited by The Times of India, the film began shooting an introductory number on 26 October with Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Arshad Warsi among the actors present. The track is being choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant and is designed to move through a series of star appearances.
The Om Shanti Om template
The format is being compared with ‘Deewangi Deewangi’, the ensemble song from Farah Khan’s 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om. That track worked like a red-carpet montage: face after familiar face, each given a small moment before the film moved on. A source quoted by Variety India said the new song will feature many actors ‘similar to what one has seen in Deewangi Deewangi’.
What has already been shot
The report also states that a separate song featuring Shah Rukh and Deepika Padukone has already been filmed outside India. Deepika may return to the sets for an additional portion connected to the introductory track, though her participation in that specific shoot has not been confirmed.
- An introductory ensemble song is currently being shot, with SRK, Kareena and Arshad among the names.
- Vaibhavi Merchant is choreographing the number.
- A separate Shah Rukh-Deepika song has already been filmed abroad.
- Deepika may rejoin the shoot for her own portion in the ensemble track.
- King is scheduled to open in cinemas on 24 December 2026.
The wider cast includes Deepika Padukone, Suhana Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Jaideep Ahlawat, Arshad Warsi and Abhay Verma. Siddharth Anand, who directed Shah Rukh in Pathaan, is directing.
Why the callback matters
The choice of an ensemble introduction is a statement of intent. Om Shanti Om‘s number turned the cast into spectacle, and it still works as a reference point for how Hindi cinema markets its own history. King appears to be doing the same at a time when theatrical event films need more than one hero and one teaser to hold attention. The difference is tone: Anand’s films lean into action choreography, so this number is likely to be a more muscular cousin of the 2007 original rather than a copy.
Shah Rukh’s own campaign is already leaning on nostalgia. His recent poster caption — ‘Aaj phir yaad aaya… Qaatil nahi… Aashiq hoon… #KING’ — references ‘Baadshah O Baadshah’, a well-known song from his 1999 film Baadshah. It is another small signal that the team is connecting King to older milestones while keeping the plot itself under wraps.
What to watch
For viewers, the casting of the ensemble song matters more than the announcement. The original worked because the appearances felt like surprises, and because each actor got a distinct beat that matched their screen history. King‘s version should be judged the same way: are the faces unexpected, is the staging generous to each one, and does the number earn its place inside an action film? If Deepika returns for this track, the film gets one more high-wattage pairing beyond the overseas song that has already been shot.
Source: The Times of India
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