Hollywood star Will Smith has once again expressed his long-standing love for Bollywood, this time during his visit to Dubai for the Middle East premiere of his upcoming series Pole to Pole with Will Smith.
The actor opened up about his attempts to build creative ties with Hindi cinema's biggest icons and his hope of eventually being part of a Bollywood project.
Will Smith's Message To Shah Rukh Khan
While interacting with Gulf News, Smith spoke about Shah Rukh Khan, acknowledging the superstar's towering status in Hindi cinema and revealing that he has directly approached him for a role.
"I want Shah Rukh to put me in something, Shah Rukh what's up," he said, adding to the growing buzz around the possibility of a future collaboration.
Shah Rukh is currently busy filming King, directed by Siddharth Anand, which also stars Suhana Khan, Deepika Padukone, and several others. The film is expected to arrive in cinemas later this year.
Talks With Salman Khan And Amitabh Bachchan That Never Materialised
Smith also revealed that he had been in conversations with Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan in the past, though none of those discussions led to a finished film.
"I was talking to Salman. We had things we were talking about. I was trying to get into something with Big B, you know. He told me I could be Big W, so we were cool - we were sharing the title. There were a couple of things over the years... nothing panned out."
The actor suggested that the ideas never quite came together despite genuine interest on both sides.
Alongside his Bollywood ambitions, Smith is gearing up for the release of Pole to Pole with Will Smith, a high-adrenaline series that documents his attempt to take on extreme physical challenges across the world over 100 days.
The National Geographic series is scheduled to premiere on January 13.