Shahrukh Khan smokes openly at Star Screen Awards!

Shahrukh Khan was spotted smoking in the front row at the 17th Annual Star Screen Awards.

King Khan can’t stay away from nicotine for long, it seems. For while sitting in the front row when the award function was underway at Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex on Thursday evening, the superstar lit up the cigarette and smoked, caring not a hoot for those sitting nearby and subjected to passive smoking.

Karan Johar, who sat next to SRK, did look a bit uptight when SRK lit up, but did not object.

SRK hosted the major segment of the show and also won an award for Best Actor Popular Choice (male) for his performance in My Name Is Khan.

Catch another pic of SRK smoking on the next page.

RA.One: the most awaited film of 2011

On Day One of 2011, we surveyed a cross-section of distributors, exhibitors and trade analysts to arrive at the film that according to them deserves the tag of the most eagerly awaited film of the year. Predictably, it is Shah Rukh Khan’s RA.One, closely followed by Reema Kagti’s suspense thriller with Aamir Khan.

The curiosity surrounding RA.One is attributed to Shah Rukh’s absence from cinemas after My Name Is Khan in February last year and the fact that it’s one of this year’s Diwali releases. Analyst Komal Nahta of Film Information explains, “The film has kept Shah Rukh on his toes. It’s his most ambitious project so far and one of the most expensive films made in Bollywood. Heavy special effects and constant comparison with Robot have heightened expectations.”

Director Kagti’s second film has become the talk of the town because Aamir, apart from playing the lead, is also co-producing it. Suniel SRKWadhwa, a distributor from the Central Province, believes that the actor’s entry in the suspense thriller genre has added to the trade’s eagerness for the release of the project. “He has a reputation of delivering bigger hits in successive years. So, we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” he adds.

Power of 2

For the Khans, it’s also a year of two films each: RA.One and Don 2 for Shah Rukh, Bodyguard and Ready for Salman, and Dhobi Ghat and Kagti’s next for Aamir. Distributor Sanjay Mehta from Delhi believes that the Don sequel will be intriguing to watch because of its location and the fact that Don with Shah Rukh was a remake of the 1970s hit. “I’m also curious about Agneepath and Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara with Hrithik Roshan. They should be worth the wait too.”

Saif Ali Khan, apart from Agent Vinod, will start filming Aarakshan; Imran Khan will be seen in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Short Term Shaadi; Akshay Kumar has his hopes pinned on Patiala House, Thank You and Desi Boyz; and Abhishek Bachchan is praying for either Game, Dum Maaro Dum or Players to put an end to his run of flops. Trade pundit Amod Mehra asserts that 2011 is poised to be the ‘biggest year’ for the industry because “at least Rs 2,000 crore is riding on ‘big ticket’ films, of which about Rs 400 crore is riding on Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh’s films alone.”

Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts feels that Salman’s Ready will be lapped up with an increased hype closer to its release in May. “Salman also has Bodyguard which releases close to Eid. I’m quite hopeful that it could repeat the Dabangg success for him,” he adds.

The business brains in our survey agreed that the best has been saved for the second half of the year, as always. In the meantime, viewers have No One Killed Jessica, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji, 7 Khoon Maaf, Delhi Belly and Players to choose from.

From the perspective of box office collections, Ashish Saxena of Big Cinemas states that after a lot of films crossed the Rs 50 crore mark last year, the expected stakes and returns on RA.One, Don 2, Ready, Bodyguard, Agneepath and Agent Vinod, to name a few, are higher this year: “We hope to do a lot better this year with a fleet of promising films from leading actors.”

My Name Is Khan might go to the Oscars

The Oscars list for 2011 might just feature a certain Mr Johar on it. My Name Is Khan, starring Kajol and SRK, and directed by Karan Johar has made it to the reminder list of movies eligible for this year's Academy Awards, joining box office heavyweights Inception, Iron Man 2 and Black Swan.

Karan said, "MNIK started off as a movement and it's heartening to hear that today it's in the broad list of films eligible to be in the running in all categories. I am deeply honoured that MNIK has that kind of acceptance level on a global platform and it's the only Indian film to enter this list. Whether it will be selected or not depends on many factors including luck but it's wonderful to know that people all over the world have loved MNIK so much that they felt it should be eligible enough to be an entry."

While it may be early days yet to predict a repeat of the Slumdog phenomenon for India's highest grossing movie overseas, the Oscar buzz around politically charged romance My Name Is Khan is enough to make Bollywood proud.

Shahrukh beats Salman in Best Actor of 2010 poll

So much has been talked and written about Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan’s rivalry though the actors have claimed more than once that all is well between them. Ironically, they fought for the Best Actor of 2010 title, though it was in a poll conducted by Oneindia.

At the end, Shahrukh beat Salman for the Best Actor of 2010 title by a whisker. Shahrukh got 45.54% vote while Salman got 43.25% vote. They are followed Hrithik Roshan (4.72%), Ajay Devgn (4.32%) and Ranbir Kapoor (2.17%).

Among the actresses, Kajol has been voted Best Actress of 2010 with 49.7% of vote, followed by Katrina Kaif (24.36%), Kangana Ranaut (9.55%), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (8.89%) and Priyanka Chopra (7.5%).

In the Best Film of the year 2010 category, Dabangg stood out with 62.67%, beating Once Upon A Time In Mumbai (13.55%), Raajneeti (9.62%), Guzaarish (8.53%) and Peepli Live (5.63%).

Abhinav Kashyap, the man behind Dabangg, is voted the best director of the year, beating Prakash Jha, Milan Luthria, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Anusha Rizvi. Sajid-Wajid and Lalit Pandit were voted the best music directors of the 2010 for their Dabangg music.

Shahrukh Khan – King of Romance

B-town Badshah Shahrukh Khan surely and truly deserves the tag of B-town’s romancer no.1. Look at this picture, doesn’t it say it all? The couple seems so much in love even after 19 years of marriage. SRK married the love of his life Gauri in 25 October 1991 and since then they have remain together in thick and thin.

The picture is perfect example for true believers in the spiritual course of love and every year they ensure that they are destined for each other.

The picture was taken during the marriage anniversary of Hrithik and Suzanne Khan recently.

Gauri and Suzanne are very close to each other and are best pals. Even SRK loves Hrithik a lot.

It was Hrithik Roshan who was the first to comment in support of Shahrukh during SRK’s spat with the Sena during the release of ‘My Name Is Khan’.

The couple had a lovely time together at Hrithik’s anniversary bash where the occasion became the heartwarming narrator of Shahrukh and Gauri’s love where the lovely couple enjoyed every moment of their company.

As we leave the King of Romance with his wife and must say that “We all love you Shahrukh… and we all are ‘touched’.”

"'Ra. One' is the best Indian action film ever" - Karan Johar

For someone who has never fell shy of acknowledging the films of his peers, contemporaries and even rivals, especially so in the last couple of years, Karan takes no time in gushing about buddy Shah Rukh Khan's superhero high adrenalin action thriller - 'Ra.One'.

"I have seen one hour of the film and mark my words, this is the best Indian action film ever made. Period," Karan is all praise for Anubhav Sinha, the man who has made action films like 'Cash' and 'Dus' in the past, "The film totally blows you away. Anubhav has done such a superb job and based on what I have seen of his work, he would certainly go a long way from here. In fact I have no qualms in admitting that after 'Ra.One', he would be hailed as the best ever action film director that Bollywood has today."

If Anubhav Sinha is reading this, it would be understandable if he feels flattered with the compliments. Also, he can afford to breathe easy with the turnaround of events, what with one of the biggest entertainers in the industry hailing his talent even as the film is close to a year away from the release.