Shah Rukh Khan Commentary

 

Deepika Padukone said to the media that she wanted to touch my body? Why? She should have talked to me! Do you want to touch my body?

Mansoor Khan once told me, ‘Finally, we have some ugly faces becoming heroes.’ I told him, ‘Are you talking about Ajay Devgan?’ Jokes apart, I think Ajay and I are the two ugliest heroes around.

You want to see my muscles? Let me tell you, I have muscles in all the right places.I want to start an academy; I don’t want to sit on my money. I am not saying that I am doing social work. It’s just that I have principles in life. If that can change anything, I’ll feel as if I fulfilled the purpose of my life. Hopefully, by the end of it, I will be able to change many youngsters’ lives.

T20 is not a gamble – it is sheer passion. I wanted to start from the sport that is popular – cricket – and use the profits to help develop other sports as well. If I go to a cricket match, it is because I like to watch sports. I also enjoy badminton, tennis, or for that matter, kanche. Main kanche bahut acche khelta tha!

Why should I have tried for the Delhi team? In any case, I would not have been able to afford them. But then, don’t regionalise the game. It is, after all, about India. I am not a businessman. I have reached that juncture in my life where I can give something back to the youth. I would like to provide the best infrastructure to the youth. I wanted to go to hockey matches, football matches. I don’t think I need any medium to promote my films. If not an actor, I would surely have been a sportsman. I used to play hockey and football in school and college. It was when I realised that I couldn’t be a sportsman that I came to Mumbai to be an actor.

It’s strange that I am considered a youth icon. I believe that the youth likes me for the kind of person I am and not because I dance well or act well or look good. It’s been a 17-year-long career and they have seen the hard work I have put in. They see me and get motivated to go for the gold. Make your dreams come true, go to a town where nobody knows you and make a name for yourself there.

(On smoking) Actually, people have more intelligence than you credit them with. I have also watched movies as a kid, but they never motivated me to copy them. Finally, what we do is what our heart tells us to do. There are very few people whom on screen characters can sway. Even in Don, I tell Kareena, ‘Don cigarette chodne ki koshish kar raha hai. It kills you…’ We want to convey the message subtly. Whenever I come to Delhi, people don’t say that he is drunk, vulgar and a smoker. Instead, they say that he is an educated, articulate and well-bred guy.

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Shah Rukh’s Comments

 

Actor Shah Rukh Khan on Tuesday reacted to the insider versus outsider debate raging on in Maharashtra. The actor was addressing the media while announcing the Indian version of the Australian reality TV show, Are You Smarter Than 5th Grader.

“A lot of these issues which get raised are more political than personal. I wouldn’t take any of it personally nor should any educated Indian. I am averse to any kind of angst and violence. We Indians are like that we tend to over-react. Everybody has the right to be anywhere in India or anywhere in the world and make the country proud,” he said.

Meanwhile, even as Mumbai remained calm through the day, the anti-migrant violence spread to Nasik and Pune.

Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers vandalised shops owned by north Indians in Nashik on Tuesday, injuring one shopkeeper.

Tension gripped the city when MNS workers attacked fruit vendors and shops belonging to north Indians. Banks and schools were shut after the incidents.

In Pune too, state-run buses were attacked by MNS workers and shops in Laxmi Road area downed shutters after some stall owners were attacked.

Shops in some Mumbai areas were also shut and opened only after police assured safety of shopkeepers and took 213 people in custody and deployed police in vulnerable areas

Sources in the government say that the decision to arrest Raj is now with the police. The Maharashtra police are believed to be supplementing forces in Nashik and Pune before they take any action.

“Arrest depends on the investigations in the case. Arrest is not mandatory according to law,” said Mumbai DGP Pasricha.

Pasricha also assured north Indians that the state was peaceful and there was no reason to be worried.

Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray showed no signs of toning down his anti-North Indian stand. In a cartoon, published in Tuesday’s edition of the Maharashtra Times, Raj depicted the north Indian migrant population as striking at the base of Maharashtra while the state government looked on

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Kolkata Team Stadium Search

 

For the first time since Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan took over the Kolkata team for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), his representatives came to town and took a good hard look at the Eden Gardens.
And accompanying the Red Chillies Entertainment team was BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi, who is the key man behind the Board’s ambitious project. The Kolkata team’s likely skipper Sourav Ganguly, too, had come over for the high-profile summit at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) office.
However, even as Modi later stressed on the need for Eden’s administrators to pull up their socks as far as spectator arrangements are concerned, a huge question mark hangs over how much the CAB will be able sort things out as per plans.
The bidding of players for the eight teams is slated for February 20 at a gala function at Mumbai, where Kolkata’s stake will be spearheaded by not just SRK, Juhi Chawla and Red Chillies representatives, but also by Ganguly himself, now that he is playing a significant role in forming the team.
However, even as Modi & Co went about a recce of Eden Gardens, the stadium’s long pending lease from the Army has become a thorn in the CAB’s flesh.
Eden’s seating arrangements for the general spectators has always been suspect, and it’s no wonder that Modi stressed on the need to improve the facilities for the crowd. “There can be no question about Eden. It’s the Mecca of cricket. But we have in mind certain improvements and recommendations that need to be worked out slowly in a phased manner. Those include the toilets for the spectators and the overall seating arrangements, among other things. Public comfort is the main focus,” the BCCI vice-president said.
For CAB, the problem is that it can’t yet get started on revamping the current concrete seating arrangements, since the Eden is Army-owned and the Army is yet to renew the CAB’s lease.
Eden’s lease expired last summer, and the renewal has been pending ever since, and indications are clear that the matter will drag on for long. As long as the CAB fails to get the lease renewed, the Army won’t grant the CAB permission to carry out infrastructure work at the stadium.
Interestingly, while Modi is being seen by many as the man running the IPL show, Modi himself clarified his stand today, explaining that the entire responsibility lies with the eight franchisees. Refusing to divulge if Ganguly was indeed the Kolkata team’s skipper, Modi rolled the ball in Red Chillies’ court. “It’s upto the franchisee to decide that. Let me clarify, the Board is not hosting these matches. It’s all being organised by the franchisees themselves. We are only acting as facilitators,” he said.

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The Very Filrtatious SRK

 

The King was inside while his subordinates waited patiently outside. They were young and old, fat and thin, men and women. But, for this King, there were more women than men and more young than old. They love him because “he is so flirtatious”. As one of them said: “He can even flirt with a pillar”.

They waited for hours to catch a glimpse of their new King, one who has begun to rule their hearts from several thousand miles away. Many of them carried his photograph, DVDs of his latest blockbuster, and a few carried books – the story from his film or his biography. A woman had even carried a small stool with her, to get a better view. At regular intervals they all shouted – in unison – Shah… Rukh, Shah… Rukh. It could have been at any place in India.

But, in fact, this was Berlin. A quiet Sunday, a theatre on Stresemannstrasse, about a kilometre from Potsdamer Platz, venue for the Berlin Film Festival. Shahrukh was here to address Berlinale Talent Campus, part of the festival. Inside, he was speaking about the ‘love’ film genre along with Nigeria’s Kate Henshaw Nuttall and Germany’s Maria Schrader. But, the crowd was there only for SRK. Most of them were Germans.

There were some Turkish men with dark hair, and women with scarves covering their heads, and about twenty South Asians. To passers by, it would appear as if Berliners have gone crazy. As a matter of fact, they have. German media reported that there were 20,000 enquiries for tickets for Om Shanti Om (screened as a part of the international film festival) and they were all sold out in seven minutes. Some waited outside the venue the entire night to get in.

Take for example, Alexandra Venetikidiz, a high school girl, who was there to catch a glimpse of SRK. She has seen Om Shanti Om over 20 times. Two years ago she hit upon a Shahrukh movie when she was looking for an Amitabh Bacchan film recommended by a friend. Now, she is a committed Shahrukh fan. She says she has seen all his movies. “I get DVDs from local shops or order it over the internet,” she said.

She was at Stresseman Strasse with about half-a-dozen friends, who seemed as excited as her about the Bollywood hero. “There is a huge internet forum for Shahrukh and th-at’s how we connect,” she said. She is relying on the internet to learn Hindi. “Indian movies are not good in the German language,” she said. But learning Hindi is not that difficult. “I have seen his movies so many times, and am familiar with many Hindi words,” she said. As if to prove the point, her friends – all Germans – hummed a bollywood song.

“This started about two years ago, and has been picking up since,” says Renu Gautam, a film maker born in Germany, who is shooting a documentary on Berlinale and the Shahrukh phenomenon. She and two others were ready to capture it during Germany’s biggest film festival: “You would be wondering what’s going on here.”

Gautam has spoken to a number of Germans to understand what’s behind the craze. “Many think he is exotic. He is so flirtatious, he can flirt with a pillar. They like it. In Germany, movies have no space for romance – they meet, kiss, go to bed and get married. In Bollywood, it’s different, and Germans love it. Many of them also like Bollywood movies as they are optimistic,” Gautam said.

That should not be surprising. Germany’s predominant mood appears to be pessimism – about the economy, about world affairs, about almost everything. Indian movies, with their colour, dance, music and eternal optmism, bring a whiff of fresh air. Obviously, not everyone is raving about Shahrukh Khan in Berlin, but his popularity is rising. Many would recognise his name. Media coverage is increasing.

Earlier, for Germans, for those who knew something about India, movies were about Satyajit Ray. Today, it’s Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh’s popularity started with the Turkish population in Berlin – there are over 800,000 of them here. They have a liking for Indian movies and one could get dubbed versions in Turkish shops. Soon, a couple of theatres started showing these movies occasionally. Last year, a German TV channel, RNF, showed Bollywood movies, mostly Shahrukh Khan’s.

Hours had gone by and the crowd was still waiting. Whenever the door to the building opened, the decibel levels went up. Finally, at around quarter after twelve, the King appeared, dressed in a blue jeans and a long black jacket. The decibel level reached a new high. The crowd went wild jumping, swooning and craning their necks

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“I Love the People”

 

“Maybe I’m German since the people here like me so much. I can’t explain it any other way,” India megastar Shah Rukh Khan quipped about the Bollywood and King Khan frenzy sweeping not just Berlin but also Germany.

“You don’t need to sit down and understand a film, you have to make cinema that is felt,” he said. “I think the Germans are feeling it.”

Police vans and security guards flanked the International Theater on Friday when Khan walked the red carpet as the premiere of his film, “Om Shanti Om,” screened as a Berlinale Special selection. Fans who had lined up for hours broke into the film’s song and dance numbers not only along the red carpet but also during the screening.

The star wattage of the Indian actor also known as “SRK” to his loyal admirers equals that of Tom Cruise + Brad Pitt x 10 to these fans.

“It’s a very humbling experience for me,” Khan told The Hollywood Reporter. “I never imagined that, not knowing the language or the culture of our country, the audience would react to a movie that is a take-off on the Indian movie industry and like it so much.”

Typically, when a star-studded Hindi-language film premieres in major cities around the world, Bollywood-mania strikes enthusiastic fans who mostly are NRI’s (non-resident Indians.) But what is unusual in Germany is that this fan base is not just Indian but German. The growing popularity of Hindi-language films shown on local TV channels here has created a newfound interest in all things Bollywood.

Khan, whose fan base in India could well reach hundreds of millions, is himself amazed at the Bollywood craze in Germany. “I can’t intellectualize and say that love and art crosses all boundaries and binds us together in globalization of cinema, but people have suddenly started realizing India is in the time of celebration.”

The melodramatic tone of a typical Bollywood film spiced up with song and dance is what draws the German audience, says Stephan Holl, whose Cologne-based company Rapid Eye Movies is a market leader in distributing Indian and Asian films in Germany.

In 2003, the company began distributing Bollywood films theatrically and on TV channels like RTL2. The television exposure further helped the DVD sales, Holl said. The company’s DVD catalog now includes more than 200 titles.

“It’s a cult phenomenon — the audiences can connect to the emotional films,” Holl said. “It’s a relief for the German audience to cry once in a while, me included.”

He added: “Lets forget about the Bollywood name. In Germany, it’s a Shah Rukh Khan market. He is a guarantee for boxoffice.”

Holl cautioned that because of the heightened interest, the German market is flooded with Bollywood films, some of them mediocre. Therefore, the market has dropped.

Khan is keen to build on the growing popularity of the Indian cinema in Europe. “The novelty that has allowed us to enter the hearts of European people in Germany, France or Poland, we should not let go of this opportunity,” he said.

But changes are needed to sustain this interest, like trimming films’ length from their usual three hours.

“We shouldn’t make movies that require an interval,” Khan said. (In India, the interval or intermission is generally the time for a chai and samosa break.)

Still, the Indian way of storytelling should be maintained, the actor-producer said.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Khan said. “Unabashedly, without being ashamed of the fact, I say that our cinema is kitsch, it’s got a lot of songs and its loud, but that’s who we are.”

Khan, who has produced six films, including “Om Shanti Om,” under his Red Chilies Entertainment banner, does not want to direct.

“Direction is a lonely job, and I’m not cut out for being lonely,” he said, smiling. “You’ve seen the crowds. I love the people.”

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Kajol’s Not Made Final Decision

 

Love is blind, but not when it comes to business. One would think that if Kajol is proposed a Karan Johar project also starring Shah Rukh Khan, she would simply jump at the offer. And news has it that she’s done just that.

However, Kads shocks us with, “I haven’t even read the script! Once I read it, I’ll decide!”

So, this talented actress doesn’t turn a blind eye where work is concerned. One the contrary, it’s the eyes-wide-open phenomenon that takes over when it comes to scripts.

And if she doesn’t like it she’ll simply say no! But let’s hope she manages to say kuch kuch hota hai while reading this one. We’re sure KJo is hoping!

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SRK Obliges Yet Again For a Friend

 

Shah Rukh Khan has been there for close friends whenever they’ve called on him with a favour. He does it once more for Samar Khan’s Shaurya.

“I consider Shah Rukh my lucky charm. He played himself at the end of my earlier film Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye,” recalls Samar. “Now for Shourya, Shah Rukh will be doing something he has never done — reciting poetry.”

Says Samar, “I wanted the film’s writer Jaideep Sarkar to pen a poem that describes the film’s mood. He came up with Shourya Kya Hai? Jaideep’s lines were extraordinarily lucid.

I needed a voice and a presence that could make those lines weighty and still accessible to every person in the audience.”

Samar flew down to Goa to speak to SRK about the poem. He adds, “Shah Rukh agreed immediately. He wanted to record the poem on his laptop. But I wanted him to do it properly in a studio.

The theme of the poem is: we need to find the courage within us to fight injustice and prejudice. Shourya is the film I wanted to make first. But didn’t have the courage and the vision to handle as my maiden film.”

Inspired?

The buzz is that Shourya is inspired by Rob Reiner’s 1992 court-martial drama A Few Good Men. Samar shrugs off the charge. “Shourya is about the court-martial of a man accused of a war crime.

But it’s not the same as A Few Good Men. We tend to bring that up in my movie’s context because it’s the only film in living memory about a court martial.”

The poem by Shah Rukh will be part of the Shourya soundtrack. “Adnan Sami has scored the music. We’ll be giving Shah Rukh’s poem a musical interpretation for the album,” informs Samar as he readies his film for an April release.

The cast of Shourya includes Rahul Bose, Deepak Dobriyal and Seema Biswas.

Time for buddies

Roles Shah Rukh has done for friends:

Item boy in Soham Shah’s Kaal

Narrator in Khalid Mohamed’s Silsiilay

Special appearance in Samar Khan’s Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye and in Viveck Vaswani’s Dulha Mil Gaya.

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Shah Rukh, Ranbir & Deepika in Pepsi Ad

 

Pepsi, the drink that stands for its youthfulness, irreverence, and dare for more spirit, is back with a bang! Pepsi has roped in Bollywood’s hottest sensations and emerging young faces – Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassadors!

The duo will be seen with Shah Rukh Khan in Pepsi’s first campaign of 2008. This is the first time ever that Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir and Deepika will feature together in a Pepsi ad!

Ranbir and Deepika join Pepsi’s brand ambassadorial team comprising of Bollywood’s mega film stars-Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham as well as India’s leading cricketers – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Sreesanth and Robin Uthappa.

Each of the brand ambassadors personify Pepsi’s youthful imagery and exemplify the same characteristic dynamism attached with the brand. They not only possess a great aspirational value with the youth but also mirror the dreams of millions!

Sandeep Singh Arora, Executive Vice President – Marketing, Cola, PepsiCo India said, “The inherent qualities of Pepsi – the youthful spirit, irreverence and competitive streak, hold the key while signing on a brand ambassador. The brand ambassadors of Pepsi are not only the face of the brand but also help strengthen the brand’s connect with its consumers. We are very happy to associate with Ranbir and Deepika and welcome them on board.”

Ranbir Kapoor, the newly appointed brand ambassador of Pepsi said, “I am extremely proud to be associated with Pepsi – an iconic drink of today’s youth. It is a privilege for me to join Pepsi’s league of such eminent achievers. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Deepika as Pepsi’s new brand ambassador. It has been a great experience working with SRK and Deepika in the new Pepsi Ad.”

Deepika Padukone, the fresh new face of Pepsi said, “I would like to thank Pepsi for choosing me as its brand ambassador. I have always loved the drink and enjoyed the youthfulness of its commercials thoroughly. I would also like to congratulate Ranbir on becoming Pepsi’s new face. It was fun working together with Ranbir and Shah Rukh Khan in the new Pepsi ad”.

Most of the Pepsi ads have had iconic stars such as SRK, Aishwarya, Sachin etc. featuring in them. This will be the first time that Ranbir and Deepika will be seen together on screen in Pepsi’s new commercial. The new ad of Pepsi will break soon and will unleash a 360 degree activation from the brand. The creative minds behind the commercial are Agnello Dias and Soumitra Karnik from JWT. The TVC has been directed by Abhinay Deo from Ramesh Deo Productions.

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SRK’s BFF Gives Birth!

 

Farah Khan and her husband Shirish Kunder are absolutely ecstatic over the arrival of their newborn triplets – two baby girls and a boy. The 43-year-old choreographer and director gave birth to triplets at Jaslok Hospital. Farah had scheduled the C-section operation at 9.30 am yesterday morning[2/10/08]. Dr Firoza Parikh, who operated and treated Farah says, “The baby boy was delivered at 9.44 am followed by two baby girls who were delivered three to four minutes after the baby boy. The babies weigh 2.4 kgs, 2.1 kgs and 2.4 kgs respectively.”

Farah’s husband Shirish Kunder and her brother Sajid Khan were beside her at the time of the delivery. Sajid Khan told Zee News that both Farah and the babies were in the pink of health and doing well.

The ace director’s close friends which include Shahrukh Khan, Gauri Khan, Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala are expected to arrive at the hospital soon.

Earlier last month, producer-director Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan`s wife Gauri Khan had organized a baby shower for Farah with a lavish function held at SRK`s palatial Bandra bungalow `Mannat` in Mumbai. The function was attended by stars like Rani Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra, Karisma Kapoor, Tabu and wives of Farhan Akhtar, Suneil Shetty, Atul Agnihotri and many others.

Hope these bundles of joy will multiply Farah’s happiness!

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Shah Rukh Talks Politics

 

In an interview to NDTV, Shah Rukh said every statement has a political agenda.

NDTV: You will be going back to Mumbai. One man who is in the news these days in Mumbai is Mr Raj Thackeray. If you had to say something to him, what would it be?

Shah Rukh: I have nothing to say to anybody because I tell you honestly, I have tried to keep myself as insulated as I can, even at the risk of being considered a person not interested in the welfare of my country.

I think a lot of things that go out have an agenda of politics attached to it.

Whether it’s Mr Thackeray, Mr Bachchan, myself or anybody else in this country, we all are proud to be Indians and I don’t think it should be taken any further than that.

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