Soon, the eagerly anticipated film Pathaan will star Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. On January 25, the Siddharth Anand-directed movie will hit theatres. The Badshah and the War director are working together for the first time in this project. But did you know that, before Pathaan, Siddharth Anand, Deepika Padukone, and Shah Rukh Khan almost collaborated?

In the middle of 2010, Sajid Nadiadwala purchased the rights to Chatan Bhagat's book 2 States. He hired Siddharth Anand to helm the film to make it an evergreen love story. Sid was currently preoccupied with the Sajid Nadiadwala film Anjaana Anjaani, which stars Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.

Shah Rukh Khan, in their opinion, was the ideal choice to portray the romantic hero. They met with the famous person several times before he approved the movie. When Siddharth Anand and Sajid Nadiadwala went to see Deepika Padukone next, she too decided to join them right away. King Khan was cast as the stereotypical Punjabi man, and DP was cast as a person from a South Indian background. What went wrong, then?

Well, everything was good until Anjana Anjani debuted in theatres and bombed the box office. Due to this setback, the script for 2 States was created and revised numerous times. Finally, Siddharth and Sajid decided to part ways, and the producer started looking for a new director. Later on, Sajid teamed up with Karan Johar and hired Abhishek Verma to helm the film.

Though Deepika Padukone's involvement in Chennai Express had been approved by Shah Rukh Khan, the pair amicably backed out of the film. The movie's creators then enlisted Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.

Siddharth Anand, Shah Rukh Khan, and Deepika Padukone have teamed up for the eagerly anticipated Pathaan movie, which is set for release in 2023, ten years after the failed attempt to make 2 States.