Shah Rukh Khan: Dada and the girls love purple

Post My Name is Khan, Shah Rukh Khan is back to business. This time, it's for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

After two years of defeat in the tournament, the team is changing its colours. Literally. KKR has not only changed the colour of its jersey from black to purple (the gold remains), but also undergone a change in attitude.

Shah Rukh Khan says, "We have a new attitude, new coach, new system, new partner and new colour of jerseys."

But has superstition made Shah Rukh change the team colours?

"If I were superstitious, I would've changed it after the first year itself. I heard that the Indian team is superstitious, but I'm not. What is important for me is that the harder I work, the luckier I feel. We don't want to depend on luck, but have a change of attitude," replied Shah Rukh.

And what is that new attitude?

"We're more upbeat, happy – it's very difficult being happy when you're not winning. That's where I come in (to get the right attitude)."

So, why the colour purple?

"Dada (Saurav Ganguly) likes purple; my daughter feels I look good in purple. It's a conspiracy between Dada and Juhi (Chawla). We've changed everything. We want to leave everything behind and start afresh. Also, the girls like it. So, we will make money out of it, and the girls will be all on our side," says Shah Rukh displaying his trademark wit.

KKR has quite a few young, new members in the team, as Shah Rukh was keen to "get guys on the threshold." He said, "We want to encourage youngsters, under the tutelage of senior players."

As for making some profit from his new team, Shah Rukh said, "We're not a public limited company. We have limited resources. I have never equated this team to making money. Yes, we haven't performed to the fullest. We'll go and play till we win it. They (players) all love to win and hate losing more than I do."

He went on to add, "I've not been graceful in defeat. Now, we will gauge our success by the way we play (not how many matches we win). We want to win the trophy."

And what about competition? "The more the merrier. I know the media can't believe this. Ye har saal aisa bolta hain, lekin karta kuch nahin (Every year he makes these claims, but does nothing)," Shah Rukh jokes.

About the controversy regarding rights to news channels to air IPL clippings, Shah Rukh said, "I don't know. Is it still banned? Oh. So we're just promoting the team like that? (laughs) IPL is so complicated, convoluted, difficult. Hopefully the issue will get resolved."

When asked whether he would step in to resolve it, Shah Rukh said, "I'm not resolving it. Saari duniya ka gham main thodi naa uthaoonga yaar (I'm not shouldering the burden of the whole world)."

About the team's new sponsor, the drink XXX, Shah Rukh says, "It's difficult to get a sponsor if you have not been winning. Inshallah, we will do better this year. XXX is a friend, just like Nokia. It's for anytime you need more energy. I don't know, I'm planning to give up smoking… (and take to XXX)."