IPL 2010: Knight Riders back in the hunt

Kolkata Knight Riders snapped Delhi Daredevils' four-match winning streak with a 15-run victory in their DLF-IPL III match at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday.

Needing a victory to stay in contention for a semifinal spot, Knight Riders rose to the occasion to win its fifth match in 10 games. It was Daredevils' fourth loss in as many games.

Batting first, Knight Riders put on a challenging 181 for three and restricted Daredevils to 166 for eight.

Disastrous start

Daredevils' chase began on a disastrous note as David Warner was castled by Ashok Dinda off the fifth ball of the innings. Skipper Gautam Gambhir joined Virender Sehwag and the two took the attack to the Knight Riders camp. Angelo Mathews came in for harsh treatment, conceding 30 in his first two overs.

At 99 for one in the 11th over, Daredevils seemed well on course when Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly, who had a delightful day, ran out Gambhir.

Sehwag, however, continued in characteristic fashion. He made 64 off 40 deliveries with six fours and three huge sixes. The Daredevils opener had earlier enjoyed a reprieve on 35 when Iqbal Abdulla, playing in place of the injured Murali Kartik, spilled a sharp chance at deep midwicket off Ajantha Mendis.

Turning point

The game turned on its head when Ajit Agarkar bowled Sehwag with his team still needing 48 for victory. Daredevils then kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually finished 15 runs short.

Earlier, Sourav Ganguly won his third successive toss and opted to bat. He also began the innings with a flurry of boundaries as Knight Riders raced to 22 in two overs. Daniel Vettori, bowling the second over, conceded 15.

Chris Gayle, content to play second fiddle, opened up in the seventh over, sending Amit Mishra over the long-on fence and hitting two more boundaries. Rajat Bhatia, introduced in the ninth over, provided Daredevils the breakthrough by dismissing Gayle. The openers added 94 in 10.2 overs to set a solid platform.

Ganguly reached his 50 off 42 balls with eight fours and a six off Paul Collingwood before falling for 56. Brendon McCullum, playing his first match, survived a run out chance as soon as he arrived at the crease before being dismissed in the same fashion.

Brisk scoring

Mathews and Manoj Tiwary scored at a brisk rate in the closing stages, adding 51 off the last four overs. The former smashed two sixes and three fours in his 28-ball unbeaten 46 while Tiwary was not out on 26 (18b, 1x4, 1x6).

The two strung together 70 in 6.5 overs for the fourth wicket to give Knight Riders a total that proved beyond Daredevils.

The scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Ganguly b Vettori 56 (46b, 8x4, 1x6), C. Gayle b Bhatia 40 (21b, 5x4, 2x6), B. McCullum (run out) 6 (7b), M. Tiwary (not out) 26 (18b, 1x4, 1x6), A. Mathews (not out) 46 (28b, 3x4, 2x6); Extras (lb-1, w-6): 7; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 181.

Fall of wickets: 1-94, 2-104, 3-111.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: Maharoof 3-0-30-0, Vettori 4-0-30-1, Sangwan 3-0-30-0, Mishra 4-0-41-0, Collingwood 2-0-19-0, Bhatia 4-0-30-1.

Delhi Daredevils: D. Warner b Dinda 0 (5b), V. Sehwag b Agarkar 64 (40b, 6x4, 3x6), G. Gambhir (run out) 47 (29b, 6x4, 1x6), P. Collingwood c Mathews b Mendis 2 (3b), D. Karthik c McCullum b Dinda 20 (17b, 2x4), K. Jadhav c Ganguly b Mendis 5 (8b), F. Maharoof b Abdulla 2 (3b), R. Bhatia (run out) 1 (3b), D. Vettori (not out) 12 (6b, 2x4), A. Mishra (not out) 4 (6b); Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-4): 9; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 166.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-99, 3-103, 4-134, 5-144, 6-147, 7-149, 8-152.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Dinda 4-0-21-2, Agarkar 4-0-36-1, Mathews 3-0-43-0, Mendis 4-0-22-2, Ganguly 1-0-12-0, Abdulla 4-0-27-1.

SRK to dub 'My Name Is Khan' in English

Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan is on a roll. The film that has reportedly touched the life of scores of people across the globe, plans to continue with its winning streak overseas.

The original Hindi version is the No.1 grosser in the UK and it has also broken several records in the regular diaspora markets across the US. Now, Karan and Fox Star Studios will release a re-edited, two-hour long version (that’s minus 45 minutes!) in 25 countries like Germany, Poland and France between April and June, with SRK dubbing his lines in English.

Karan says, “Right from the beginning we had plans to release a fresh cut meant mainly for the non-diaspora markets in North America, Russia and certain parts of Europe. We will have a platform release in the art-house circuit. MNIK is the first global movie with the ethos meant for a world audience and Phase II was designed to take it to markets where no Bollywood film has ever been.’’

In Indonesia, the film is said to have broken records of all previous Hindi movies with a box office of 1.5 million USD. And the local distributor Harris Lasmana says, “My Name is Khan has appealed to the Indonesian audience, where Islam is followed by the majority of the population. Moreover, the film reviews have been excellent.’

Delirious with the praise that has been coming his way from across the globe, Karan says, “It’s humbling and heartening at the same time to hear from people almost every single day as to how MNIK has touched their lives in so many ways. It has empowered SRK and me to continue with releasing this film in markets where Bollywood has never had a presence. The cumulative gross of MNIK makes it SRK’s biggest hit overseas.’’

Speaking of the accolades that have come to SRK for his outstanding performance as Rehan Khan in MNIK, Karan says, “It is and will remain one of SRK’s most special and memorable performances. And, I’m happy that I made this film for him and with him. You have no idea how encouraging the feedback on the film has been.’’

Shah Rukh Khan MNIK in English, shorter for Germany, Poland, France!

Shah Rukh Khan, the badshah of bollywood who played the character of Rizwan Khan in Karan Johar’s ‘My Name Is Khan’ and earned the goodwill of the UK, US audiences with his seasoned performance, is all set to woo countries like Germany, Poland, France with English version and a shorter duration film (about two hours) this April-May.

In fact, the flick has been totally edited again keeping in mind the tastes of these countries where Indian audiences or NRIs are not present in large numbers. To this end ‘My Name Is Khan’ has been trimmed of its flab and song numbers and now will not have the portions of about forty five minutes.

Sources close to Karan Johar’s production house say that the plan was to release the film after Shah Rukh Khan completes the dubbing of his lines in English language, which is easily understood in these countries. The buzz doing the rounds in the industry is that Fox Star, which has the distribution rights of the flick, was elated by the response to the film and wanted to tap the areas which have been traditionally out of bollywood’s ambit so far.

The industry watchers say that the main factor which has been aiding Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer flick in different countries is its humanistic theme. The storyline of the flick, which is based on problems of Muslims in the US after the New York bombing, is such that people everywhere feel sympathetic towards the plight of the beleaguered religious group.

Shah Rukh Khan plays the part of a person who is suffering from Asperger’s syndrome and is detained by the US security agencies at an international airport due to his name having the word ‘Khan’ and his unusual behavior. Kajol plays the part of his wife and supports him during this ordeal. Shah Rukh Khan’s efforts to meet the President to save his love, is touching.

Shahrukh Khan spent all day in hospital

Shah Rukh Khan is very worried about his friend Bobby Chawla, who is also the CEO of his company Red Chillies Entertainment. Bobby, who is actress Juhi Chawla’s brother, recently collapsed at a restaurant and was admitted to hospital in a critical condition. It is believed that he suffered from a brain hemorrhage.

Shah Rukh went to visit Bobby yesterday and posted on his Twitter account, “At hospital all day. strange to see my friend bobby who is most frisky during shoots so still in the midst of one. all pray he should be bak.”

Later SRK wrote about how Bobby’s position at Red Chillies meant that the team would have to take on his many responsibilities for some time. “Have a long day tom as we all get together to take on his responsibilities at work. its a tall order but v will all try.”

Shah Rukh added, “I realise now that how precious & fragile our bodies are. need to take care of it as if our life depends on it becos it really does.”

We hope Bobby Chawla makes a speedy recovery.

Shahrukh Khan and Ra.One: Is SRK fit enough to do the stunts?

Bollywood buffs must be pretty abreast of the facts that SRK was out the entire last year carrying a sling owing to his excruciatingly painful shoulder injury. And the King Khan has also battled an agonizing back pain in the years gone by.

And now, a persistent knee problem is bothering him for which he is undergoing treatment by Andrew Leipus, the expert physiotherapist from his KKR camp. However, these constant niggling injuries are not only giving him and his fans heart ache but also are coming in as a barrier to his career. His next flick Ra.One, which is a superhero flick, demands tons of stunt actions which need a fully fit and agile SRK. However, SRK is keeping his knees (err…fingers) crossed.

“SRK is doing some high energy stunts in his home production Ra.One which will be filmed soon. The last two days of the shoot were cancelled because of Bobby Chawla’s (CEO of SRK’s Red Chillies) health scare. The next schedule of Ra.One is drawing near and SRK hopes the exercises Andrew has prescribed will fix his knee problem in time.”

“Ra.One is a superhero film and Shah Rukh’s character will have to do several high risk stunts and he really needs to be physically fit to pull them off.”

Now, it would be an uphill task for the Badshah but then adversity brings the best out of him. Right?

A dose of star power!

Shah Rukh Khan was recently busy shooting a schedule of his home production Ra One in a picturesque village in Goa called Aldona in a colonial Portuguese-styled house.

But of course, when the Badshah is in town, can his die-hard fans be far behind? Sources tell us that the village witnessed never-seen-before traffic jams on an everyday basis. However, no one was complaining and instead kept hoping that they’d get a glimpse of the star. Now, the house where he was shooting is just off the main road and hence, SRK’s vanity van was parked at a distance. That is where all the fans would gather hoping to get a dekho of the actor. But his security entourage made sure no one got within an arms distance of the actor. And they maintained this stance on the sets too. According to a source, the grandchildren of the elderly house owners came over in the hope of seeing the superstar in action, meet him and get his autograph. The guards, unfortunately, wouldn’t allow them either anywhere close to SRK. No amount of pleading by the grandmother melted their hearts and the tots had to go back empty-handed and maha disappointed too.

SRK wants it Polanski way!

Shah Rukh Khan recently threw a party for the team of Ra One after Goa’s schedule wrapped up successfully. On the occasion, he gave a special gift to his director Anubhav Sinha who is on the task of re-creating the image of desi-superhero. He gifted him a special book on filmmaking which talks about the techniques of direction by acclaimed Hollywood director Roman Polanski. You never know this must be SRK’s approach of telling him to make the film Polanski way!