Fox to distribute My Name is Khan

FOX STAR Studios, a joint venture between 20th Century Fox and STAR today announced its tie-up with superstar Shahrukh Khan and filmmaker Karan Johar to finance and distribute their upcoming film My Name is Khan.

FOXSTAR would market and distribute the film in India while Fox Searchlight Pictures, which marketed and distributed the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire in the US, will release the film in United States.

20th Century Fox International will distribute the film outside India and US. Filmmaker Johar said "for us, this tie-up was important to find a partner who is like-minded, has a similar vision and the capability to take Indian cinema to the international market."

"This movie is about human emotions that are relevant to people across the world and I am happy that the audience which is unfamiliar with these films will get a chance to see what Indian cinema has to offer to the world," Johar said.

The film, which has been co-produced by Khan and Johar, examines how a life of a Muslim man from India, living in San Francisco, embarks on a remarkable journey across the United States and inspires people, inviting debate, creating an accidental revolution.

Salman-Shahrukh war bothers Karan Johar

Filmmaker Karan Johar is certainly one of the coolest guys in the Indian film industry. He is unstoppable when he opens his mouth and faces camera even better than the actors. But there is one thing that bothers this cool guy – the Khan War.

Karan said that the stories on the fight between Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan might be right but a lot of it is not. He feels that the media makes a mountain out of a mole hill. He revealed that he is bothered when the media exaggerates stories, as people tend to believe everything that is written.

Well, Karan should speak to the Khans over coffee and end the war!

Shahrukh Khan defaults Income Tax

The Income Tax department has dragged Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan to the Bombay High Court. The case relates to King Khan's foreign earnings as the brand ambassador for Swiss luxury giant Omega. The department appealed against the December 2008 order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) which had allowed Shahrukh’s appeal over a tax deduction dispute.

Shahrukh had declared an income of almost Rs 20 Crores, including Rs 29 lakh as foreign income as the brand ambassador of Omega brand for the financial year 2002-03. The IT however says that the foreign expenses related to this income have to be calculated and under no circumstance is Shahrukh eligible for tax deduction as claimed by him under Section 80RR of Income Tax Act.


This is not the first time that the IT Department has dragged the superstar to the court. A few moths back the department claimed that Shahrukh owed a sum of Rs 19.43 lakh for the return he filed in 1998-99. Interestingly on that occasion too the case related to his foreign income from Jeanne Arthes Perfume which had named a perfume after him.

Shahrukh hosts management quiz competition

If you are one of those who suffer from the 'bites' of the quizzing bug, and SRK happens to be your silver screen matinee idol, then, thank your stars as you have just hit the jackpot! Something what the students of IIPM also did, when they experienced a whirlwind called Shahrukh Khan, who, also happened to be their Quiz Master for their prestigious event called Dare'09. This event was jointly organized by IIPM, the largest B-School on the planet along with '4Ps Business and Marketing', one of the most widely read Business and Marketing magazines in the country.

When SRK is at the helm of things, it totally becomes needless to say that, a lot of razzmatazz and glamour must have been the vital elements of the event. So much so that, one of the rounds that was based on Shahrukh Khan himself! The quiz saw the clash of the top 6 teams (out of the 150 plus which participated), viz., IIFT Delhi, Judge Business School- Cambridge University, ITM- Mumbai, NITIE - Mumbai, UNC--Kenan Flagler and IIFT-Kolkata.

Not just that, amidst the event, SRK added yet another fan in his ever-increasing fan base, in the form of Prof. Arindam Chowdhary, who went on to say that "Shahrukh's presence in the event will obviously add the kind of glamour and brand value that such a world-class event so dearly deserves, as no brand in this country is as big as him".

On his part, Shahrukh Khan said, "I would like to thank IIPM, '4Ps Business and Marketing' and Arindam for giving me this opportunity of hosting the Dare '09. I have always enjoyed quizzing - be it onscreen or with my kids, and I believe quizzing helps in expanding one's knowledge ,so would like to thank IIPM for all good things they have been doing in various fields." Shahrukh also added that he has known Prof. Chaudhuri since a long time and has been a great fan of his book "Count your chickens before they hatch" as he just loved the title. Some SRK gyaan this!

The juice on Shahrukh's My Name is Khan!

Bollywood badshah Shahrukh Khan's latest flick My name is Khan is all set to take over the box office when it releases in 2010 - the gargantuan film has already made Rs 100 crore!

Fox Star studios have snapped up the film's distribution rights for the humongous amount and the film has now attained the status of being the hottest, most widely released Bollywood flick ever. No other movie in the history of Bollywood has been purchased at this high an amount. My name is Khan more or less obliterates last year's hurricane that was Ghajini.

Aamir Khan's Ghajini was purchased for Rs 90 crore, and while many thought those numbers would be unbroken for years to come, King Khan went the whole Rs 100 crore hog with My name is Khan. The film is produced by SRK's Red Chillies Films, but here's the juice - My name is Khan's minuscule budget was an estimated Rs 38 crore; so SRK and the rest of the cast and crew have made more than twice the money already!

Shahrukh Khan is a bonafide crowd puller - any movie producer is more than safe to have SRK as the film's lead as the film is bound to make at least twice the production budget. Just look at what happened to 'Don', 'Om Shanti Om' and last years 'Rab ne bana di jodi' - they were all box office Godzillas. Even the poorly reviewed 'Rab ne' made three times it's budget just because it starred the mega showman SRK.

Fox Star's Rs 100 crore buyout of My name is Khan proves that Hollywood is gathering more and more interest in Bollywood flicks, and studios are not afraid for a quick cash-in. And who better to set the transition in motion than King Khan? According to a certain film critic, "SRK is a colossal global entity who inspires confidence in buyers and excitement among the audience". I do not dare disagree.

My name is Khan's director Karan Johar was hunting for potential distributors at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. He will bring the finished product to Cannes next year, quite like he did with his last directorial venture 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna'. In case you didn't already know My name is Khan reunites one of the most famous Bollywood screen couples after a gap of almost a decade - Shahrukh Khan and Kajol. The buzz is huge, the money is monstrous, the stars are the absolute A-list; unless it turns out to be like KANK, My name is Khan should certainly beat Ghajini for the all-time Box office top spot.