Lets talk VFX , baby!

It’s been Shah Rukh Khan’s long-cherished dream to do an Indian Spiderman, a gift to his son Aryan who’s a big FX/SRK fan. He has chosen Anubhav Sinha to direct what will unarguably be the most expensive film ever produced in India.

It will not be an animation film, as reported earlier, but a feature film starring King Khan and a 12-year-old protagonist and will be produced by Red Chillies Entertainment.
A hunt is on for the boy who will get the dream opportunity of being part of Shah Rukh’s fantasy of donning a cape and flying across the sky at super-speed.

Actively there

Shah Rukh is actively collaborating with director Sinha in the writing of the script. The idea given by the director to SRK is based on gizmos, computer games and a super-hero on the lines of Spiderman, and is being worked on by SRK.

Whether he’ll finally take credit for the screenplay or not remains to be seen. At the moment, all systems are geared to start work on his most expensive project before 2008 ends.

SRK surprises

Sinha says, “I’m surprised at how accessible Shah Rukh is to me. I was always given the impression that he likes to work with directors with whom he already has a certain comfort level. Shah Rukh didn’t know me at all. But he’s all there for our film together.”

A year’s work

Anubhav says that talks between Shah Rukh and him have been on for nearly a year. “But in the last three months, we’ve been meeting very seriously, thanks to a common friend (journalist Mustaq Sheikh).”

“Yes, it’s an FX–driven fantasy for children and the child within every person, on the lines of Spiderman. It’s definitely NOT an animation film, as wrongly reported”, reveals the director of the Dus and Cash as he gears up for the biggest challenge of his career.

Mid-Day

Shah Rukh Buys 'Team Kolkata' for $ 5 Million

Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Vijay Mallya, celebrity owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, on Wednesday said it was natural that Indian players went for huge premiums as they were in a position to attract huge crowd to the playgrounds.

The IPL tournaments open in Bangalore on April 18 and the final will be held in Mumbai on June 1.

India's young stars like Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa and Ishant Sharma emerged brighter than the bigger and more established players from across the cricketing world. They were sought after like hot cakes by the eight-franchisee owner-bidders at the auction here Wednesday.

At a jam-packed media interaction in Hotel Hilton shortly after the end of the marathon auction sessions of IPL, the trio assured that the tournaments have been designed to ensure high international standards.

"This tournament will be in the same standards of the English premier league and it will be a huge success," Mallya said.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh, who owns the Kolkata team, said he was not so much worried about the returns from his team. "I am not sure of what the returns will be. But it's a passion for me and I have full faith in my instincts," he said.

Preity, the bubbly film diva, appeared pleased with the outcome of her Mohali "catches" and endorsed Khan's opinions while talking about her passion for the gentleman's game.

In fact, even IPL chairman Lalit Modi expressed his pleasant surprise over the good rates commanded by Indian players vis-à-vis their foreign counterparts. "I can just say that this is good for the Indian players," Modi observed.

Stalwarts like Ricky Ponting (Kolkata) and Stephen Fleming (Chennai) were bought for $400,000 and $350,000 respectively even as Indian youngsters far outpaced them in the bidding figures.

Several others like Glenn McGrath, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Ramnaresh Sarwan and S Chanderpaul had to undergo the ignominy of remaining "unsold" in the initial rounds.

This is what Shah Rukh spend on his Kolkata team :

Sourav Ganguly India Icon
Ishant Sharma India 950,000
Chris Gayle West Indies 800,000
Brendon McCullum New Zealand 700,000
David Hussey Australia 625,000
Shoaib Akhtar Pakistan 425,000
Murali Kartik India 425,000
Ricky Ponting Australia 400,000
Ajit Agarkar India 350,000
Umar Gul Pakistan 150,000
Tatenda Taibu Zimbabwean 125,000

Sify India

SRK Maintains his Position on Power List 2007

Proving once again that the golden levers of power in Bollywood are really behind the screen and not on it, the father-son team of Yash and Aditya Chopra have, for the third year in a row, come out at the top of the Filmfare Power List.

The Filmfare Power 2007 survey was conducted by AC Nielsen-ORG MARG, the largest market research and information company in South Asia. Respondents included actors, technicians, financiers, distributors, exhibitors and photographers. The results have some major surprises and some rude shocks in store.

Following the Chopras is Shah Rukh Khan, who maintained his No 2 position, riding largely on the success of his home production Om Shanti Om and the Chopras' Chak De , the two biggest grossers of the last year.

At No 3, in a surprise elevation is Akshay Kumar, who had not two but four hits in 2007 - Namastey London , Heyy Babyy , Bhool Bhulaiyya and Welcome .

Amitabh Bachchan, No 3 last year, has slipped four notches to No 7, and is now only one ahead of his pretty daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Bachchan. Between Akshay and Amitabh is the solid bankable quotient - Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and A R Rahman. Aishwarya, who leads among the heroines, has pipped Rani Mukerji, who is a hair's breadth below at No 9.

Karan Johar may have sat the year out as far as film-making goes but his natty turn as television anchor in Koffee With Karan has won him the hamper at No 10, ousting in the process the more productive competition.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Saawariya and Vidhu Vinod Chopra Eklavya don't seem to have cut the mustard, with their lavish productions having failed to stir the box office.

According to Filmfare, the criteria that decides the winners include factors like their box-office draw, their ability to generate funds for others, and their ability to call the shots no matter what.

Which perhaps explains why Yash and Aditya Chopra, who gave the country an anthem of sorts of with Chak De India , were catapulted to top spot despite four damp squibs - Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle .

Times Of India