A new poster for Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film “King” has been unveiled, with its tagline appearing to pay homage to the Bollywood star’s 1999 film “Baadshah”.
 
The poster, released on Tuesday, was accompanied by the caption: “Qaatil Nahi... Aashiq Hai... #KING. In cinemas 24.12.2026” roughly translated to: “Not a killer…..But a lover…#KING.
 
The line is a twist on the lyrics of the title track of “Baadshah”, in which Shah Rukh played the titular character, Indian broadcaster NDTV reports.
 
 
The song features the line: “I’m a lover, I’m also a killer.”
 
Besides Shah Rukh, “King” stars Suhana Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Rani Mukerji and Raghav Juyal in key roles.
 
The makers unveiled the film’s title announcement video in November last year,
 
In the video, his character says: “Defamed in hundred countries, the world has given me only one name — KING.”
 
Speaking about the film at a fan meet in Mumbai, Shah Rukh described his character as “dark”, “grey” and “ruthless”.
 
“The character of King is very interesting. Siddharth and Sujoy Ghosh have written it with a lot of love. And it has a lot of evil in it. He’s a killer. He kills people,” he said.
 
Shah Rukh said he was trying to take on different kinds of roles, ranging from inspirational and comic characters to romantic ones.
 
He also said he now preferred doing one major film every one or two years as filmmaking had become increasingly difficult and projects needed to be handled carefully.
 
“It’s not to say whether he’s a villain or not. Yes, he is a very dark character, a grey character. And I think it will be very interesting. He is very ruthless,” Shah Rukh said.
 
He added that the lines in the title announcement video largely reflected the character’s personality, while cautioning that the character’s actions were not meant to be emulated.
 
Directed by Siddharth Anand, “King” is produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix Pictures.
 
The film is scheduled to hit theatres on Dec 24, 2026.