SRK-Farah-Deepika Come Together, Again...

The Om Shanti Om team - Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and Farah Khan - will work together in a song for Priyadarshan’s forthcoming film Billoo Barber. Only this time, Farah will adorn the choreographer’s hat.

The idea was instigated by none other but Priyadarshan himself. “Although Farah started her career choreographing for me I never worked with her after Virasat. And now I want to bring her back from maternity leave and choreograph the SRK-Deepika number. Call it a lucky charm.

The Deepika-SRK song is special on many counts. It’s first song that Gulzarsaab has written for my cinema. I’ve been a lifelong fan of his work. My films are deeply influenced by him. To have him write one of my songs is a big honour for me,” said Priyan.

The song that Farah choreographed for Virasat (‘Dhol bajane laga’) has a strange history. As the lyrics for the song were not ready, Farah choreographed the number to another song from the same film. “This time, the lyrics and the tune are ready for Farah,” says Priyan.

If Farah’s smashing debut was courtesy Priyan, Deepika too was supposed to start her career with him in a film on music piracy. “But that never materialised. I’m glad Deepika debuted with Shah Rukh. Now I can use the hit pair to create some magic in Billoo Barbar.” The item song will be shot on September 14.

The race between Rajnikant and Shah Rukh Khan to reach the theatres first has been won by Rajnikant. Now the Bollywood trade circles fear that Rajnikant’s Tamil film Kuselan will be dubbed in Hindi and be released before Billoo Barber, which features Shah Rukh Khan.

But director Priyadarshan is quite confident about his film’s success and says, “We’re not in competition with anyone. Kuselan filmmakers are bound by contract and hence can’t dub the film into any other language.”

But will the Kuselan filmmakers not find loopholes in the contract to dub the film in Hindi? According to a source a dubbed Hindi version of Kuselan is being released during Diwali too.

The presence of a poisonous snake and heavy showers disrupted the shoot of Billoo Barber in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu recently. A snake entered Lara Dutta's room late in the night, but she managed to handle the situation and is safe.

Recounts her co-star Irrfan Khan, "Had the snake bitten Lara, it would've been disastrous. But Lara was sensible and brave enough to come out unharmed."

Apart from this episode, heavy showers have disrupted the shooting schedule too. Recalling the shoot, Irrfan says, "Shah Rukh simply had to leave for Mumbai and the rains just wouldn't stop.

And since Priyadarshan had to wrap up the shoot, we had no choice but to shoot in the rain, which was quite harrowing."

Subhash. K. Jha, Mumbai Mirror

Shah Rukh injures himself

Shah Rukh has hurt his neck on the sets of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, while doing a stunt scene. He’s taking a break now and isn’t sure when he will get back to work.

He has sent messages to Adi Chopra and Priyadrashan that he will get back to work when his health is okay.

When Mumbai Mirror contacted SRK regarding his smoking issues, he said, “Someone from the press asked me if I plan to quit smoking and I said ‘I want to’, like most people do. But, it’s not national news! It’s something that I have been intending to do for a very long time. My wife (Gauri) and children have always been against my smoking and I too want to quit. But it’s not that easy after all.

It’s definitely not like I have given up smoking yet, but I am certainly trying. Now if people see me smoking they will only think that I have gone back to smoking after giving it up, which is not the case at all.”

“I hope I quit smoking soon as I’d love to see myself acting with my grandchildren,” added SRK.
Earlier, when Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss asked SRK to learn from Aamir Khan and quit smoking, the actor had defended on-screen smoking saying it was a creative liberty.

SRK’s decision is bound to make Ramadoss happy. “The fact that one more person is going to be happy because of my decision to quit smoking makes me more happy,’’ added SRK in the interview.

SRK, who is in Pollachi for the shooting of Billoo Barber, being directed by Priyadarshan said he had taken the decision to quit smoking during a recent foreign trip. He said that he did not feel like smoking during the 17 hours he spent in the flight, nor did he feel restless without a cigarette.

SRK had started smoking when he was 22 years old. He has been smoking for almost 20 years now. Although old habits die hard, SRK hopes that he will soon quit smoking even though it’s difficult.

Ashwini Deshmukh & Gladwin Emmanuel, Mumbai Mirror

SRK to appear on Rakhi Sawant's show

Rakhi has managed to get a verbal commitment from Shah Rukh to appear on her chat show.

A source reveals that Rakhi bumped into Shah Rukh at Yash Raj studios where she was shooting for her film with Rani Mukerji and approached him.

It is believed that Khan immediately said yes to the actress. Rakhi knows the actor as she worked in SRK's home production Main Hoon Naa.

A insider says, "Shah was on Rakhi's wishlist from the very beginning and she sent him several text messages asking him to be a guest on her show but the actor ignored all her SMSes. But when Sawant pinned SRK at the studio, he agreed to be on her show. Rakhi confirms, "Yes Shah Rukh has agreed to shoot for me.

I am thrilled because I always wanted him to be a guest on The Rakhi Sawant Showz. Since he has been so busy with his films and other work, I wasn't sure if he would agree. But he did, and I am very excited that he finally said yes!"

Rakhi reveals that Shah Rukh later confirmed his presence on her show via SMS. "Shah Rukh even sent me a message accepting my invitation. I don't know the exact date, but I will shoot with him whenever he tells me he's free."

Now that she's got both Aamir and Shah Rukh on the show, will she also get Salman? "Definitely, why not? I would love to have all the three big Khans on my show. It's an honour to have them on the show."

Tushar Joshi, Mid-Day