Brad Pitt Says I Can't be a Bollywood Star, Shah Rukh Replies 'We Will Make You Dance'

Mumbai: Two actor producer superstars, one from the East, the other the West and both dabbling in decidedly very different genres.

Brad Pitt caught up with Shah Rukh Khan in Mumbai on Wednesday evening. The Hollywood heartthrob is in Mumbai to promote his Netflix film 'War Machine'.

The two icons of cinema spoke to CNN-News18’s Entertainment Editor Rajeev Masand in an exclusive interaction.

Early at the onset, Pitt was quick to pre-empt that inevitable question of Bollywood offers.

“I would never make it in Bollywood because I can’t dance,” laughed Pitt.

“Oh you will, in Bollywood we make everyone dance,” reassured SRK, and went on to voice his appreciation for his gifted Hollywood comrade with two left feet and made a special mention of movies like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Twelve Monkeys and Burn After Reading.

Khan in his signature self-deprecatory mode explained our Bollywood brand of dancing to Pitt with one of his most famous/infamous moves.

“There’s a style I invented where I spread my hands and just stand like that!” dissolving the audience into splits.

“As long as you’re a nobody at home, you can be a big star like Brad Pitt. My children don’t like my films and that's okay!” said Khan cheekily, taking off from Pitt's need to ‘compartmentalize time for friends and family’.

The producers behind some of the most popular and important cinema in Hindi and English agreed that the brand of cinema they backed hinges on the people making them.

"I just happen to work with the best people,” said Pitt when quizzed on making this year's Oscar winners Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave.

“The people you work with are sometimes more important than the story,” added Khan.

“When I came in 25 years ago I wanted to make some films and I haven't made all of them because you have to be a part of the system. I produce films that no one else will produce, films that nobody else wants to make. Now, we make some films to make money to produce those films,” said Khan in a statement that takes time to wrap your head around on paper perhaps!

Brad Pitt touched upon one of the other big dilemmas of every producer world over. "So many films are judged by the opening weekend and that's such a wrong test of longevity".

Most importantly, SRK conceded that Bollywood has some catching up to do with Hollywood on some aspects.

"If we don't adopt professionalism, technology and screen writing from Hollywood, the Indian film industry will be in trouble in the next ten-fifteen years. With global streaming services the comparison is side by side."

As for the changes that await cinema on the threshold, Pitt shrugged, "I don't pretend to know but it's obviously a very exciting time."

To catch the entire conversation tune on Thursday evening to CNN-News18!

(With inputs from Shilpa Rathnam)