King of the jungle steps out for Tiger

Shah Rukh Khan. Pic/Instagram; (right) Salman Khan in Tiger Zinda Hai

The Internet went into a tizzy on Wednesday evening, and with good reason - Shah Rukh Khan was seen returning to work almost three months after his son Aryan was embroiled in the drugs-on-cruise case. While many assumed that he reported to the Pathan set, it was, in fact, for the filming of a brand commercial. Now, Khan is back in action - mid-day has learnt that on Thursday, the superstar began shooting for close friend Salman Khan's movie, Tiger 3. The actor will make a special appearance as a Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer, joining forces with Salman's R&AW agent Tiger in Maneesh Sharma's directorial venture.

A source reveals, "It will be a 12-day schedule at Yash Raj Studios in Andheri. While Salman will not join him in this stint, the two actors will share the frame at some point for the combination scenes of Tiger 3. After Shah Rukh wraps up his portions, he will fly out for the foreign schedule of Pathan, where a romantic song with leading lady Deepika Padukone and some action scenes will be canned." It may be recalled that Pathan's crew was to be Spain-bound on October 7 for the international leg (Serenading Deepika in Spain, September 28). However, the schedule had to be cancelled after Aryan's case.

In early October, Khan was shooting for filmmaker Atlee's next when Aryan and many others on board the cruise were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The star kid was finally granted bail on October 28. The source adds, "That month, Shah Rukh was slated to lead a 10-day shoot at a south Mumbai hospital for Atlee's film before flying off to Spain. But he put all the shoots on hold then, to single-mindedly focus on his son's legal battle. Now, he is picking up where he left off. After Shah Rukh's shoot and the Delhi schedule with Salman and Katrina Kaif in mid-January, Tiger 3 will be almost complete."