Shah Rukh to be honoured by South Korean government

The South Korean embassy will Thursday confer two special honours on Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan here.

“The Korean government has decided to confer an honorary belt in taekwondo to Shah Rukh and they are also giving him the title of an honorary ambassador for culture and tourism,” Shah Rukh’s spokesperson told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

The event will take place at the Taj Lands End hotel here.

According to his spokesperson, the talks for the honour had been underway for “a couple of days”.

This will be Shah Rukh’s second international honour this year after he was presented an honorary doctorate in arts and culture by Bedfordshire University in London for his contribution to culture in July.

For the doctorate, the 43-year-old was nominated by Routes to Roots, an NGO that works across the SAARC region to bring South Asian people together, in recognition of his exceptional achievement as a film actor and producer.

Can Shahrukh Khan steal Salman’s thunder?

On Tuesday evening, Salman Khan created history of sorts by bringing out half of the film industry on the ramp for his ‘Being Human’ show at HDIL India Couture Week. The show turned out to be an eye-grabber as the menagerie of Bollywood stars (Katrina Kaif, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan, Govinda, Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt) walked the ramp in ‘Being Human’ togs.

Now, as the Couture week draws to its closing day, attention shifts to Shahrukh Khan who will walk the ramp as the showstopper for good buddy Karan Johar on the final day.

K-Jo will launch his clothing line along with designer Varun Bahl and the event could turn out to be a show of strength for the SRK camp.

Themed ‘Rock Star’, the show will begin with Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan, good chums and heartthrobs for millions of their fans, sashaying down the runway. It will end with SRK and wife Gauri Khan walking the ramp as showstoppers.

A lot of film folk are likely to take the first row. The buzz is that invitations have been sent to K-Jo and SRK’s common buddies like Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra and, of course, the Bachchans.

Meanwhile, after his ‘Being Human’ show Salman made light of his much-reported rivalry with SRK. Sallu said there’s no cold war between him and SRK and that most of this rivalry is created by media. Now, we can’t wait to hear what SRK has to say to that!

Will their dostana be revived this Diwali eve?

Emami renews contract with Shah Rukh

Kolkata-based FMCG company Emami has renewed its contract with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan for its men’s grooming product, ‘Fair and Handsome’ as part of a strategy to make it a Rs 200-crore brand in the next two-three years.

“Our association with Shah Rukh Khan has been very rewarding. We have renewed the contract with him for the next two years,’’ the Emami Director, Mr Aditya Agarwal, told PTI.

Mr Khan was signed up as the brand ambassador of the product in 2007.

Mr Agarwal claimed that ‘Fair and Handsome’ brand has been one of the largest selling men’s grooming products in the country and has crossed over Rs 100-crore sales over the last three years.

“With the changing trend, men’s outlook on grooming has also changed. Our product has been doing very well and we expect that in the next two-three years, it will be a Rs 200-crore brand,’’ he said.