SRK’s Gets Into his Marathi Skin!

 

Now, the Baadshah of Bollywood took that very habit of his into real life earlier this week, when he was present to inaugurate the ‘Abhijit Kadam Memorial Football tournament’ in Pune. In keeping with the true ‘Puneri’ tradition, King Khan was spotted wearing a pink turban and if you think SRK must have been feeling ‘thoda’ out of place in this new get up, you couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Shah Rukh seemed completely in his element with ‘pagdi’ et al and needless to say, entertained one and all with his antics.

What’s more, later he was even seen kicking ball, enjoying football as he always had. Must say this is truly one hero who can enact each and every role with élan, be it in reel life or real life. Chak De SRK…

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Cricket Conflict

 

Two days after Jagmohan Dalmiya queered the pitch over Kolkata’s IPL episode, it’s now Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s turn to take a stern stand on the snowballing imbroglio.
In what now appears to be hurtling towards a major tussle, Shah Rukh’s production company Red Chillies Entertainment has put its foot down at the face of protests from the Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) dissidents over the sharing of Eden Gardens’ tickets for the IPL carnival.
Trashing claims from the CAB’s Dalmiya-led opposition over a “fairer” ticket-sharing arrangement with the CAB, a top functionary from Red Chillies who is directly handling SRK’s Kolkata IPL chapter has told The Indian Express that they want the BCCI to intervene and sort the dispute out as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to get into the CAB’s internal matters, whatever they are turning out to be. And we don’t want to know in detail what is exactly going on there. All that we want is that the BCCI should ensure that we get a clean Eden Gardens ground for the tournament. We don’t want to know about the CAB’s internal problems,” the top Red Chillies official told this daily today.
Shah Rukh’s company bagged the rights to Eden for a Rs 10-crore booty, and has offered to share with the CAB 20 percent of the 86,000 tickets for free, while keeping the rest 80 percent for public sale.
Trouble began when Dalmiya & Co protested last Tuesday at the CAB’s special general meeting, claiming that the Prasun Mukherjee-led CAB administration should ask Red Chillies to share with the state body over 50 percent of the tickets for the seven matches it hosts.
However, Kolkata team owner Shah Rukh is in no mood to compromise on the 80-20 ticket-sharing arrangement. Says the Red Chillies official: “We have decided to share 20 percent of the tickets with the CAB, that’s it. We don’t know what happened after that. We hope the BCCI ensures that everything is fine with the venue.”
Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies owns the Kolkata team for the 44-day Twenty20 IPL tournament, which is slated to begin on April 18. Eden Gardens, one of the eight venues for the event, is slated to host seven home matches of the Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata team’s 14 league matches.
Even as Shah Rukh took a tough stand on the IPL impasse, throwing the ball in the BCCI’s court, the CAB top brass as of now has no idea how to sort the matter out. Says CAB joint-secretary Samar Paul: “We don’t know right now what’s the status, but we are sure something will be worked out sooner or later. From their (Red Chillies Entertainment) point of view, they may be right over the 80-20 ratio, but we have to take into account everything in the present scenario and work something out. We need to discuss the matter with the Board.”

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SRK’s Bindaas Performance

 

We had all heard a few days back about the The Global Indian TV Honours show.

This show was presented by Bajali group and Ekta Kapoor was the brain behind this grand event. The mini screen celebrities received awards in 28 different categories.

The best part of the event was the entry of SRK who shook a leg with all the beautiful women of mini screen from Tara to Tulsi. This show was choreographed by Ganesh Hegde.

It is reported that King Khan thoroughly enjoyed the show as well as performing with the lead ladies.

Shah Rukh seems to have an emotional bonding with the tele world because that is where he started his career.

There were also performances from other Bollywood personalities like Lara Dutta, Tushar Kapoor, Rohit Roy and many others.

A program as this in the tele medium is a real boost to every one involved and Ekta and her entire team have done a commendable job making this show a huge success. There was also a tribute from to Ekta to her friend and director Karan Johar.

Ekta Kapoor the lady behind this mega event is reported to have conveyed her gratitude to SRK as well as the entire team for their wonderful performance and for their excellent co-ordination, without which a grand event of this scale would not have been possible.

And for all you viewers out there, you can watch this grand show tomorrow at 8 pm on 9X.

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Naseetuddin Shah Speaks Up!

 

Naseeruddin Shah is a very angry man just ahead of the release of Khuda Ke Liye, the first Pakistani film to be released in India. Shah plays a liberal mullah in the film.

Wrong focus:

The actor blasts conservative elements for attacking Sania Mirza and Shah Rukh Khan. Says Naseer, “I don’t think the majority of people in any community should be identified with the views expressed by a handful of religious fundamentalists. Look at poor little Sania.

Why focus on her skirt when she’s doing our country proud? Why not concentrate on real issues like women’s education?” He continues, “Some guy in Chattisgarh pulls up Shah Rukh for smoking. Some people decide that listening to music is haraam…. Who gives them the right to decide?”

Important:

At 59, Shah continues to be as outspoken as ever. Says he, “A film like Khuda Ke Liye is brave and must be watched in the smaller cities like Aligarh and Surat. So I hope the distributors aren’t planning a metro-centric release. I’m surprised to know it’s being released in India.

It’s the first Pakistani film to be released in India, and that makes it even more important. It was well received in Pakistan. I wonder how it will be received in our country!”

Naseer’s role:

Naseer plays a rational clergyman who’s summoned to interpret the Quran when a young girl is accused of moral misconduct. “My role in KKL is only a cameo. I come into the picture two hours into the story.

The film belongs to the young Pakistani actor Shaan, who plays a rock star. He’s the SRK of Pakistan. And hats off to him for playing such a role and being in a film that’s not about entertainment.”

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SRK’s PR Skills!

 

To,
Honorable Mr.P.Chidambaram,
Minister of Finance

Respected Sir,

Today as you are getting ready to put up the biggest show of the year… The nation’s annual budget, which is going to shape up the economy of our country in the coming year, we would like you to introduce you to a man, who we all lovingly call ‘King Khan’ and learn from him what it takes to become popular and win over your worst critics and detectors.

Agreed Badshah Khan has an acquired a six –pack, but there’s more to him than his physical glory. What makes SRK… the brand King Khan or Badshah Khan as he’s popularly called in Bollywood. Is he a media made, PR savvy or a marketing whiz kid? We try to analyze and unfold the brand called King Khan..

He once had a production company called ‘Dreamz Unlimited’! The company shut shop soon after its maiden venture Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani went bust at the box office, but he continued to dream big and paved his way to create the million dollar brand called … King Khan! “It’s been 18 years in the industry and people say I’m the King of Bollywood and trust me I enjoy it. I’m not pompous, but I don’t know how it feels not to be successful, so I don’t know how it’s not to be the King of Bollywood. I feel it’s my birthday now,” says SRK.

Love him or hate him, but you simply can’t ignore him, that’s his power, charisma and skills. “He knows what he wants it and he gets it, courtesy his innovative marketing strategies and his cut sharp PR skills, which never fails him,” says a leading city based journalist.

What’s astonishing is that he doesn’t have any trappings of a conventional hero… in Bollywood’s lingo the ideal gora and chikna hero. “But the fact is that all his films sell like hot cake and media loves to write about him. He knows how to play the game and has played it to the gallery,” says filmmaker Sangeth Sivan.

A fact endorsed by SRK’s friend and colleague Salman Khan. “The way Shah Rukh saab promotes his films, he doesn’t give much scope to others, filmmakers won’t find a better marketing guy than him,” he feels. SRK’s PR skills and the way he pushes his products are widely known and recognized throughout B- Town. Says, ace Ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar. “SRK as a brand is much bigger than the actor and thanks to his media savvy and PR skills.”

A fact echoed equally by Akshaye Khanna “Hats off to Shah Rukh the producer. I’m amazed by the way he went blazing all guns for his home production ‘Om Shanti Om’, I don’t think any other guy in his position could have pulled this off.”

Bollywood is aware of SRK’s marketing and his expertise in PR skills, but it came into the limelight during the release of Janeman and Don .

It was the clash of the titans. Three of Bollywood’s biggest superstars, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar were tied up in a cat and mouse game of superiority on the big screen. On one side were Salman and Akshay, on the other Shah Rukh Khan. Bollywood’s two biggest films, but at the end it was SRK who walked away with the cake. “When you have Shah Rukh Khan as your competitors, you can’t do much about it. You either run away or face it; I decided to face it bravely,” reminisces Sajid Nadiadwala the producer of the film. A fact echoed by the hero of the film Salman “We were helpless, can’t beat him when it comes to promoting a film,” he says.

While Amrita Rao who acted with SRK in Main Hoon Na says “He thinks ten times ahead of us, his mind works like computer, marketing strategies, promotion, you name it and he has it everything in his head. And importantly media loves him, because he is a natural charmer.” The feeling is mutual for Showman Subhash Ghai, “Amazing PR skills, I don’t see any other Bollywood actor coming anywhere closer to him. He is a class apart. One day he should write a book on marketing, it will be a best seller,” he opines.

While SRK admits that media played an important role in his career, “I’m a media guy and the media have all the right to write about me, it good, bad or ugly,” he once told this writer.

And probably that’s why to acknowledge the importance of media, he promised that if his latest home production ‘OSM’ hits the bull’s eye, he will share the profits with the media and true to his words, a week after the film was declared a run away hit, he placed full page Ads in all the leading publications. “It was his idea of paying back to the media who supported and helped him in promoting his films. He wanted to share the revenues with them,” says an executive of his production company, Red Chillies Entertainment.

The move might come as a step forward towards sharpening his PR and marketing strategy, but the fact remains that unlike others, he didn’t hire a full time PR firm to help with the promotion of ‘OSM’. Just a lone lady, veteran journalist turned PR, Nilufer Qureshi was at the helm, while on the other hand Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Sawariya had the strong backing of the entire Sony Picture’s PR machinery which worked overtime and round the clock, but they were no match to Khan’s overwhelming power and charisma.

He single-handedly pulled out all stops to promote his home productions and emerged winner leaving his competitors away behind in the rat race. “The PR hired for ‘OSM’ handled only Farah and Deepika while Shah Rukh handled himself. He’s a one man army and he doesn’t require any PR manager to handle him,” laughs a veteran trade pundit. While Madhur Bhandarkar says “I thought no one can beat me, when it comes to dealing with the media, but SRK beats me hands down, we have so much to learn from him.”

Even the PR managers shares the same views about King Khan, “When you have a client like SRK, half of your job is done, he’s a marketing wizard and a PR’s delight,” says Alok Mathur, journalist turned PR. Mathur further unfolds the mystery why media loves him with an interesting anecdote “It was around 7 years back, I was a journalist and SRK by then had become King Khan, the superstar. I was in Film city, one night, waiting for an auto rickshaw; it was slightly drizzling, suddenly out of nowhere this shining black Mercedes stopped in front of me. The guy sitting in the backseat rolled down his tinted glass…it was Shah Rukh Khan, he rescued me that night by giving me a lift and ever since he became my hero. Call it his PR skills or a simple gesture from King Khan, but it certainly went a long way and I don’t think I could bring myself to do any negative stories about him after that,” he laughs.

While another senior crime reporter Nirmal Mishra remembers how one of his stories landed SRK in a soup. “I broke a story on SRK’s office property. There was some irregularity about in the deal and when the story came out SRK was fuming as expected, I wanted to meet him and explain my stand, but he wasn’t available. Next couple of days back he sent word through a common friend saying he wanted to meet me. I went to meet him in Filmcity where he was shooting for Main Hoon Na . He called me inside his van and told everyone to leave; I feared the worst, but he causally asked me what’s the source of my story, I told him I can’t reveal my source and told him I was just doing my job. He smiled and said its ok, but you should have checked with me, maybe I had something to say in my defense, next time please check before you write anything, shook my hand and the meeting was over in 5 mintues. I heaved a sigh of relief. Months later, I saw him at a party and was trying to avoid him, Shah Rukh quietly sneaked behind, tapped my shoulder and hugged me. Needless to say, I have turned into an avid SRK fan ever since,” says Nirmal.

Bollywood’s leading villain Gulshan Grover remembers an incident while shooting with Shah Rukh Khan for Yes Boss , “We were shooting for Yes Boss , and once we were sitting inside his make- up van and there were a couple of journalists with us. There was not enough space for everyone on the van, Shah Rukh opened his washroom and sat down on the toilet seat, it was hilarious, but I’m sure the journalists become his fans for lifetime. Shah Rukh can turned his worst enemy into his friend.”

While another veteran journalist reminds how SRK stood up for one of her colleague years back on the set of Rakesh Roshan’s Karan Arjun . “We had gone to cover the shooting and as usual Salman had a tiff with a lady journalist and started throwing tantrums. He told the driver to stop the bus and offload the lady. No one dared to question him, except for SRK, he took up for the lady. He told everyone, if the lady goes, so am I.,” reminisces the veteran journalist.

So MR. FM, how about hiring SRK as your adviser or maybe swapping roles with King Khan, Mr.P.Chidambaram? I am sure that your budget will be applauded and the Opposition will hail you as a Saint for rescuing the Indian Republic. Pl give it a thought. It is worth it.

Yours truly,

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My Name is Khan Plot Leaked!

 

One of Karan Johar’s most awaited films Khan is said to go on floors in October this year. But even before the first scene is canned we have the plot for you. A source involved with the film tells us that ‘Khan’ has turned out to be Johar’s biggest Bollywood risk till date.

“He is really pushing himself this time around. Shah Rukh plays an activist in Khan who gets kidnapped by terrorists and how subsequently his attitude and point of view towards the situation changes,” says the source.

Karan is currently scouting and finalizing locations for his film in USA and the film is expected to be shot entirely in Los Angeles and New York. According to the source Khan will have nothing that the audience has come to expect from Johar’s films.

“The film will have no song whatsoever. So all the grand sets and music and costumes we associate with KJo’s films will be missing of sorts. The budget is still big. The designers are there and the locations will be grand but at the end of the day it is quite a serious film,” he adds.

Khan will star KJO’s favourite stars – SRK and Kajol – as husband and wife. However, convincing his best mate, Kajol, to do the film which is set against a backdrop of post 9/11 America didn’t come easy for the ace director.

“He is currently working out the entire schedule about how many dates and where. Although Kajol has agreed to do the project she has always maintained how she won’t stay away from her daughter for too long. And so Karan has developed a shooting schedule that will allow the actress to be with her daughter quite a lot during the filming,” adds the source.

Following the success of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kajol took a sabbatical from full time acting for five years. She gave birth to her daughter Nysa in 2003. However, she then made a comeback in Kunal Kohli’s Fanaa in 2006 opposite Aamir Khan.

Both SRK and Johar had been quite disappointed when Kajol chose to make her comeback in the non-Dharma camp and since then Karan has been quite blatant about the fact that he will do anything to have Kajol as the lead whenever he began his next film.

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Sports Ambassador SRK?

  

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan,who owns the Kolkata team of the Indian Premier League (IPL), on Wednesday said he opted for cricket because it is commercially viable for him and not because he favoured the popular sport over other disciplines.

“Commerce and business are very important in today’s world. Cricket is commercially viable and we need to make money from this sport,” Shah Rukh said in Pune.

However, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi appealed to the superstar to share his celeb status with other sports also.

“I am very happy with Chak de India and the work you did for hockey. But I’m disappointed you went back to cricket. I want you to be made the ambassador of the Commonwealth Games and Olympic sports in India,” said Kalmadi at the inauguration of the Abhijit Kadam Memorial Football Cup.

“There are around 10 nations playing cricket at the moment and over 200 countries competing in Olympic sports. Cricket has many fathers and I would love to have you as the brand ambassador for the Commonwealth Games,” he added.

However, the comments did not go well with the actor, who took a jibe at Kalmadi.

“Please don’t feel bad that I am backing only one sport. Sports should be part of our second nature and I am a sportsperson by heart.”

“I have played hockey and a bit of cricket. I have something to clarify to Kalmadi also … please don’t feel bad that I am backing the cricket team. I need to make money from this sport and then move to other sports,” added Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh said he believes that the next step for sports-loving persons like him is to take the money he earns from IPL to other sports.

“[My] next step would be to take it [money earned in IPL] to hockey, football, kho kho, also kabaddi and gulli danda,” he remarked.

The film star said one should not look down upon any sport and added he wants to see the football team playing in the World Cup.

“We should not look down upon any sport. We need to use this sport [cricket] to uplift other sports.”

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SRK’s Football Extravaganza!

 

He came, he saw and he won, hands down. Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan was in his element today as he enthralled fans with his presence. The actor was in the city for the inaugural function of Abhijeet Kadam football Tournament at the Bharati Vidyapeeth campus at Dhankawadi.

This was the first time that Khan was in the city for any kind of inaugural function. Well before his scheduled arrival at 5.30 pm, a sea of fans waited for the actor with excitement. It was at 7 pm that King Khan arrived, dressed in a black T shirt and blue jeans. Amidst bursting of crackers, he went straight to the football[soccer] ground and wasted no time in sending the ball into the goal. The shutterbugs just could not stop clicking as they struggled to get a glimpse of the superstar. The crowd went into a frenzy as Khan went up on stage.

Also present on the occasion were Suresh Kalmadi, MP, Cooperatives Minister Patangrao Kadam, son Vishwajeet Kadam and ace football player Sunil Chettri. After a clutch of speeches by the dignitaries who spoke about the tournament and the position of Pune on the global sports map, it was time for the king Khan to speak. “I am here not because I am an actor or a sports fan. I am here because this is for a good cause. We are putting a lot of money in cricket. All we need to make sure is that we utilise that money for various other sports in the country,” he said. “There is nothing impossible in this world. For all the youngsters out there I would just like to say one thing, never neglect your education. If you have the will and the confidence, you can achieve anything in this world.” A cheque of Rs 10,00,000 was presented for HIV-affected children. The crowd was yelling and shouting everytime Khan looked at the audience.

The hightlight of the event was Khan coming back on the field and taking a round at the ground, with security personnel and the media finding it tough to match his pace. Khan left the stadium amidst scenes of jubilation.

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Steve Hewitt On SRK

 

As Farah Khan’s OM SHANTI OM releases on DVD, complete with a 16-page booklet that gives an insight into the cast and crew of the movie, I caught up with one of the stars of the film: Simon Hewitt. Simon who? Shah Rukh Khan’s bodyguard. That’s who.

Movie buffs will recall Simon as the foreign bodyguard who appeared constantly by the side of Shah Rukh’s Om Kapoor character in the blockbuster. Clad in a black suit, with ever present dark glasses, the 6′ 3″ Australian born actor cuts an imposing figure on celluloid. At the scheduled interview location, a Mahim coffee shop, on the edge of Bombay’s filmi society; the patrons excited whispers of OM SHANTI OM rebounds as Hewitt enters.

So how does a thirty something Australian end up in the biggest Bollywood film of all time? “I got the part through an audition” Simon narrates, “In fact I got a couple of films for SRK’s production house Red Chillies in that one audition; the other being MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES”.

Hewitt, who swapped Melbourne for Mumbai 4 years ago, states, “I knew it was a big film. The hype was huge before we had even finished it. But who could have foreseen the circus that was to come following the release”. Looking back on the experience, Simon reflects, “I shot for 25 days over about 4 months. I had no idea what the film was about while I was shooting. In fact it seemed a bit silly, but of course at that stage I didn’t know that it was deliberately tongue in cheek”.

But of the superstar himself, Simon says, “Shah Rukh seemed like a nice guy. A good mix of being both intelligent and practical. In one of the shots he fixed my sunglasses when they kept falling off my face”. Along with many other fans of Khan, Simon shares the view that the star is approachable. “I felt him to be busy but not stressed”. Hailing from a foreign background Hewitt accepts, “I didn’t have the same awe of Shah Rukh as the other members of the film and would often sit next to him to watch the monitors”.

“Farah, on the other hand, used to stress me out with her microphone”. The actor remembers a time when he was suddenly needed at the last minute to shoot on the ‘Deewangi Deewangi’ sequence. For those of you who came in late, the song that was picturised on 31 of the industry’s hottest stars. However, Simon was out of town and could not be contacted. Fortunately, Farah was forgiving when she found out that Simon’s date problems were the result of an outdoor shoot in Bangalore with none other than Aamir Khan.

It is not everyday that an actor gets to shoot every single one of his scenes with screen idol Shah Rukh. And that with no dialogue. “25 days shooting and not a word spoken that’s got to be some kind of film record”, joked Simon. “Actually, the script said I was to say one word. I remember when it was time to shoot that section, Shah Rukh laughing and saying live it up, knowing it was the only word I would get to say”. And Simon’s last word on SRK? “The guy is pretty mellow”.

(Steven Baker is a UK writer who divides his time between London, Delhi, and Mumbai. Best known for his writing on the Hindi film industry, his work regularly appears in a range of Indian, NRI, and international publications. Steven Baker is presently the Co-ordinator of the British Council’s Creative Writing course in New Delhi. He has also appeared in 15 Bollywood films.)

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The Khans are Winners!

 

SRK was all smiling as he won the Black Lady for his performance in Chak De India.

“You know both my kids brought home a gold from school today. They did well in Taekwondo. And I wanted to take home an award too, just for them,” says Shah Rukh.

So there are three celebrations at home tonight. That’s ‘chweet’ alright! But it looks like the Khan children prefer going the Akshay Kumar way.

Never mind the light and camera, but ‘action’ seems to be on-going in the Mannat home that night!

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