Bollywood Badshah's offer to Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa knew that the SRK is a demigod among his Sinhala constituents back home...

Bollywood's Badshah, Shahrukh Khan, has told the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa that he will help the Sri Lankan film industry raise its technical standards.

Sinhala language films, like those from Kerala and West Bengal, are of high quality thematically and in terms of performances, but they lack the slickness and the technical finesse of Bollywood films of today.

Shahrukh, who is into all aspects of film making, made the offer when he met Rajapaksa during the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi on last Saturday. Having been a film actor himself, Rajapaksa grabbed the offer with alacrity, a source in the President's entourage said.

"It was Shahrukh who sought the meeting with the President, but the President too was eager to meet him. To avoid fans, who were milling around the Taj Palace Hotel, Shahrukh had to be smuggled in through the kitchen!," the source said.

"And it was not just a cordial meeting. It was a friendly one," the source further said. Rajapaksa knew that the Indian icon was a demigod among his Sinhala constituents back home, and that pictures of bonhomie between him and the actor will go down well in Sri Lanka, as indeed they did.

Apologises for bomb blast

But the Sri Lankan leader was also eager to apologise to Shahrukh for the bomb blast which shattered his show in Colombo back in December 2004, when he was Prime Minister. Rajapaksa told Shahrukh that, shocked by the ugly incident which had claimed two lives including that of a female fan, he had felt an urge to fly to India to apologize personally. Manifestly touched, Shahrukh thanked the President for his concern, and said that nothing would deter him from visiting Sri Lanka
again.

The investigations into the blast led to a dead end, but it had coincided with an agitation by a group of Sinhala Buddhist puritans who argued that a glitzy show featuring Bollywood stars was uncalled for at a time when Sri Lankan Buddhists were observing the first anniversary of the death of the popular monk-preacher Gangodawila Soma Thero under mysterious circumstances on a visit to Russia. But most Sri Lankans thought that the objection was uncalled for.

When the conversation turned to the film industry in India and Sri Lanka, Shahrukh told the President that he would be happy to help Sri Lankans improve the technical quality of their films. There is much room for collaboration between Bollywood and Collywood. For example, Sri Lanka can provide idyllic locations for Indian films.

The island also has the technical and organizational infrastructure to serve foreign film makers, and Hollywood has been using Sri Lankan locales and support systems, off and on since the shooting of David Lean's Bridge on the river Kwai on the Kitulgalla river and several locations in Colombo in 1956.

Hindustan Times

Battle Lines Drawn for Diwali

The battle lines are drawn this Diwali. King Khan is all set to make noise but there is a twist in the tale. The distributors of Saawariya and Om Shanti Om have decided to tone down the competition but just a bit.

"I am going to put up a tough fight but in good way, so what if the Americans have invested in Sawariyan I am Chak de India. All Indians will watch Om Shanti Om on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and the Americans can go watch Saawariya," said Shah Rukh Khan, actor.

Read More.....

Who looks best opposite SRK

Shah Rukh Khan, we hear, is hunting for a heroine for his latest film, Robot. Apparently, he wants an athletic actress in the Shankar-directed film, because the script demands so.

The SRK regulars -- Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji - are out. This, in spite of the fact that Preity seems to have lost a lot of weight recently.

The contenders for this role, so far, are Deepika Padukone,Shilpa Shetty and Priyanka Chopra.

SRK is keenly awaiting the audience reaction to Deepika, when she makes her debut opposite him in Om Shanti Om this Diwali. And that's why the shooting for Robot will begin only in December.

Priyanka has already proved her martial art skills in Farhan Akhtar's Don, opposite SRK.

Shilpa Shetty, who has starred in only one film with SRK - Baazigar and has tried her hand at action in films like Dus.

So lets make this easier for SRK. Who do YOU think would look best opposite King Khan in Robot? There's a good chance SRK may heed your wishes!

Kindly vote here: VOTE

Gullu Gupshup, Rediff

Priyanka enjoying a nice little jig with SRK

Guess who is getting nostalgic in Om Shanti Om? It is none other than Priyanka Chopra who is enjoying a nice little jig with Shahrukh Khan in the instant chartbuster track by Vishal-Shekhar 'Deewangee'.

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SRK & Big B play Games

It started with a game, and could well end with one.

The protracted 'cold war' between Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan that has kept scribes busy for months now, may have died a sporty death in Mehboob Studios, Mumbai recently.

Even if for a few moments.

Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan were shooting at the studio for Ravi Chopra's Bhootnath. The schedule had been interminably delayed, with neither of the stars willing to give dates. That, coupled with the great wedding controversy (to which SRK was not invited), had led to the assumption that the rift between the two superstars was perhaps deepening. But then reports of Amitabh sending lavish gifts to SRK emerged.

Even then, director Vivek Sharma and producer Ravi Chopra were completely at the mercy of the two stars to complete the project. They finally came face to face after much water had flowed under the bridge.

But those who expected sparks to fly, were disappointed.

No fireworks, no cold shoulders, but a genuine warmth. "Contrary to popular perception, Bachchan and SRK were getting along like a house on fire," say our sources. This was in fact corroborated by Vivek Sharma, director, Bhootnath. "All through the schedule, the two superstars were extremely friendly with each other."

"In fact," says Sharma, "They were playing a mock KBC." Interesting, since the cold war between the two stars started with SRK replacing Bachchan in the popular TV show.

According to Sharma, other members of the crew would join in the games too, with both the actors laughing heartily at every opportunity. "Shah Rukh is good with Trivial Pursuit (a game that tests your IQ). But Bachchan was better," reports Sharma. "He would almost always win."

Why are we not surprised!

Johnny Vaz, Buzz18