SRK Planing DON 2

Shah Rukh Khan does not give up easily. After the mixed response to his Don, King Khan is all set to make a sequel to the film.

The film will be produced by his production company “Red Chillies” in association with Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s “Excel Entertainment”.

Farhan will also direct the film, which will have an all-new star cast and will hit theatres around the country late next year.

The film will take off from the point where the first movie ended – with Don surviving the final attack.

SRK will go on to become a much bigger and powerful don in the sequel. The character will be completely dark and SRK will be at his evil best.

King Khan Rocks in Heyy Babyy

After showing glimpses of his directorial skills in an episode of Darna Zaroori Hai, Sajid Khan returns with his first full-length feature film Heyy Babyy The movie is not an out-and-out comedy. It has many emotional moments as well.

Sajid Khan has attempted to make a wholesome entertainer by blending comedy with drama and sprinkling some ‘hot stuff’ on top of it to please the young audience. Sajid follows a simple formula – to have at least one interesting sequence in every reel. Most of these sequences do manage to keep your interest kindled, but some of them do fall flat.

‘Heyy Babyy’ is not a copy of the Hollywood movie ‘Three Men And A Baby’. The similarities between the two movies are superficial. ‘Heyy Babyy’ has a very Indian brand of humour and drama. And Sajid treats his subject with simplicity without blowing either comedy or drama out of proportions.

The movie tells the story of three bachelors – Arush ( Akshay Kumar ), Ali ( Fardeen Khan ) and Tanmay ( Ritesh Deshmukh ). All three of them are confirmed flirts who sleep around with girls without the slightest intention of committing to a relationship.

But then the course of their lives is changed with the coming of a little baby. At first, the incurable flirts get on with their lives as usual. But a small tragedy opens up their eyes. Afterward, they transform into father figures for the baby, who becomes the focal point of their lives.

‘Heyy Babyy’ starts off very well but begins to lose steam mid-way. Thankfully, Akshay Kumar shows his incredible comic flair once again and invokes genuine laughs from the audience. The movie has many hilarious scenes but the ones featuring Akshay turn out to be the best.

Along with humour, Sajid Khan maintains a continuous thread of drama in the plot. Several scenes involving the baby will leave you with moist eyes. However, some tend to get a little melodramatic.

The movie’s strength lies in its storyline and appropriate casting of actors in their respective roles.

On top of it cinematographer Himman Dhamija captures the beauty of Sydney well enough.

The music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is groovy but not exceptional.

Among performances, Akshay stands out among the trio. His comic timing is becoming impeccable by the day and his scenes with Vidya Balan are simply a delight to watch.

Fardeen Khan gets his funny lines right and Ritesh Deshmukh is brilliant as usual. But one does get the feeling that Ritesh has not been used up to his potential. Vidya Balan looks absolutely gorgeous. However, her role doesn’t have much scope for histrionics. The little baby Juhaina is cute and loveable. Boman Irani is impressive as usual.

On the whole, ‘Heyy Babyy’ packs in enough masala and emotion to keep you entertained throughout its running time.

The title song with 15 Bollywood hotties and cameos of Shah Rukh Khan and Anupam Kher add an extra zing to the movie.

Interestingly, SRK’s cameo is intelligently conceived by Sajid.

An entertaining watch.

Rating: ***

Aparajita Ghosh, ApunKaChoice

Om Shanti Om Trailer is a Grand Spectacle

Alright, so the hardcore Urdu couplet that kick starts the promo of Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om rewinds you back to the sixties social, a la Yash Chopra’s Waqt where the poetic meaning forewarned us, as to what is going to follow. Well, it goes without saying that the premise of this hugely mounted entertainer has movies as its backdrop. Shah Rukh is a junior artiste with star-gaze as his only respite; while ravishing Deepika Padukone is the proverbial amply-endowed star of the sixties-seventies, with a smile that kisses her dimples like the dewdrops sliding on a nubile flower petal.

The dream girl is off to a premiere of her big ticket flick while love-struck SRK (in a check coat) is driven away by guards forcefully. Montages of transition follow. A convertible biggie car stops with a screech. ‘STAR’ shines on its number plate. SRK has a Filmfare award in his hand while Padukone draped in a Kanjeevram sleeveless sari dances away to glory on a big dhol (obviously it’s an ode to Sridevi of Himmatwala). Helen is not to be left behind, as totally transformed Deepika oozes out of a life like cage draped in the Monika ensemble. Phew!

SRK on his part showcases many of the characters that he has played in his career. There are traces of Raj-Rahul as he dances in a lavish party, sings the open-chested romantic duets, rides a macho bike, the blood smeared Baazigar who also dabbles in Devdas for a while. There’s a Shah Rukh Khan voiceover that takes this ninety second promo forward proclaiming adherence to escapist cinema. Yes, no bad endings for this one. “Picture abhi khatam nahin hui hai,” he says in an inebriated tone. Well right!

The Om Shanti Om first look promo is exciting, grand, opulent and surely spells magnificence. All you guys who missed SRK’s star-power in Chak De India, it seems the king won’t disappoint you in this one. Deepika Padukone is undoubtedly the find of the decade. She Rocks! In fact she overpowers everything that comes in her way. Only disappointment was Shreyas Talpade’s hackneyed hairstyle. A let down one must say. Even Shah Rukh’s Devdas act left something to be desired. Nevertheless, the promo makes you very curious as to what the whole film must be like. Let the fireworks begin….

Faridoon Shahryar, IndiaFM

Everyone wants to look better

In a country where matrimonial ad pages are dotted with requests for “fair-complexioned” girls, it comes as no surprise that a fairness cream has roped in the relatively light-skinned Bollywood darling, Shah Rukh Khan, as its key endorser.

Lately, however, Khan's attempt to get more men to use Emami’s popular skin-lightening product, Fair and Handsome, has raised the hackles of some social commentators.

“When the reigning star of Hindi cinema publicly endorses a cream that openly advocates fairness, lightness of skin as desirable, nay, necessary, it is a damn bad show. How could he do it?” wrote columnist Shailaja Bajpai in The Indian Express daily. She pointed to a media report that said Shah Rukh took eight months to agree to do the ad, and asked: “What overcame his scruples? Money?”

In the television ad, released a few weeks ago, Shah Rukh persuades a dark-complexioned youth using a women’s product, Fair and Lovely, to switch to Fair and Handsome. The young man complies and turns noticeably whiter, attracting attention from a group of women.

Indian ad guru Alyque Padamsee, who was responsible for a successful Fair and Lovely ad campaign in the 1970s, and the Fair and Handsome launch in 2005, rejected charges that the products enforced skin color biases. “All fairness products are really appearance enhancing, more to do with brightness than fairness,” he said.

Fair and Lovely and Fair and Handsome are currently among the fastest-selling consumer goods at their respective companies, Emami and Hindustan Unilever Limited.

“Everyone wants to look better. What’s the difference between a woman using lipstick, Europeans using skin-tan lotion, and an Indian skin lightening cream?” Padamsee asked Forbes.com.

“Market research for the company showed that 25% of the users of Fair and Handsome were men, so I suggested we should push a separate cream for men. Even without endorsements, it’s been a huge success,” he said, adding that the product had made over $12 million in sales within nine months of launching.

Padamsee said Shah Rukh backed the idea only when Emami convinced him that it would not perpetuate colonial hangups over fair skin in India.

Shah Rukh may have it easier because women in India, not men, are under societal pressure to be fair. “The controversy is over women feeling the pressure to be fair. I don’t think an advertisement for a men’s cream has the same impact,” media commentator Sevanti Ninan said.

Shah Rukh, whose latest release, Chak De, is yet another box office hit, is getting paid a reported $1.2 million from Emami to endorse its products. The star has put his name behind a host of products, including for PepsiCo and Hindustan Lever. His ad for the popular soap brand Lux featured him in a bathtub filled with rose petals, a first for macho-man loving Bollywood.

Movie stars give a product tremendous saliency in a country where they are often hero-worshipped, said Padamsee. Popular stars like Shah Rukh and Amitabh Bachhan can make as much as $25 million on their multiple advertisements, he said. In Bollywood, the big stars are known to make the bulk of their riches from lucrative ad deals instead of from big banner films that pay relatively less.

Though stars lend their names to the smallest of brands in India, product sales for the lesser-known products tend to lag after their campaigns end, Padamsee said. Contracts are usually for two years.

Ruth David, ForbesMarket

SRK and Kajol's apprehension comes true ?

The apprehension that was being raised by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol seems to be coming true. The media seems to be veneering towards paparazzi, as it is getting more and more engrossed in the news related to films and film personalities. It was evident in the manner copious discussion was being made about the supposed visiting of storks for the hottest couple in the town AB Junior and Ash. There have been number of new additions in the family of the stars who have recently wedded, but they have never been a part of the prime time discussion as this topic has become. It is hitting prime time slot in various television channels on a regular basis.

Does it then, point out to the fact that page-3 has indeed become Page-1 and this conversion is being fed by multitude of television channels. The initiators of the same must be very happy as when this trend was started by the news media it was scoffed at. Now the repeated manner in which the news related to film industry is hitting the head lines and is forming a part of the panel discussion is clear indicator about the fact that entertainment has started getting serious eyeballs.

The other reason for this prioritization seems to be the way the economy has progressed, dominated by unearthly hours and services industry. With such punishing schedules, it is but logical to catch the eyeballs this kind of news has to be prioritized. This is how CNN had come to establish itself as the news channel, and now news getting updated at the twinkle of the eye, it is the news based on entertainment that gets viewers attention in the first instance. This is part of a human psyche as even in a news magazine or a portal, when it is being viewed it is viewed from backwards in the case of magazine and from entertainment up to political news. The element of sensationalism and the ability to catch the eyeballs, which is interwoven into a news item based on a film star or an event, has success written on it as a story.

It was clearly evident in the manner in which Sanjay Dutt's entourage was followed up to Yerawada Jail, in Pune and this is why there were barrage of mikes being pushed and shoved into him when he returned back on the temporary bail. The soldiers in the form of cameramen carrying the cameras on the shoulder like the kalashnikovs use it in such a lethal manner that it has the profoundest impact.

The conversion to paparazzi is also owing to the fact that the magazines and newspapers may be able to provide information related to entertainment industry is updated on a daily basis, while the electronic media and the Internet has the potential to get updated many times over during this interregnum. The advent of paparazzi should be welcomed, but to the point that it does not become intrusive as when it becomes intrusive it looses its zing. This is a new phase that the country is passing through in which entertainment is defining the contours of news and it should bask in glory of the times.

Source: GlamSham

An Interview With King Khan

The King is back. Shah Rukh Khan, sporting a new look in his latest film, "Chak De India," speaks with INDIA New England about the film, life, and "Kaun Banega Crorepati."

Colas are yet again under scrutiny; so why do you still endorse Pepsi?

Pepsi has said in the past that they are ready for any kind of testing as and when required. I like the product, and I think that anything in moderation does not harm anyone. I used to drink a lot of Pepsi. I even have a Pepsi dispenser at home but I have reduced my consumption in the last few years.

What was your most emotional moment on "Kaun Banega Crorepati"?

There was this man who lost after the first five questions, but he was brilliant in the dummy run. He was not well versed with television or films, else he would have been fantastic. After he lost, his wife kept telling me that he is an intelligent man. “Woh bahut achche hai (he's very smart)," she kept saying. I literally cried. I felt very sad because he indeed was very smart.

What made you decide to do "Chak De India"?

There were a lot of reasons. First is, of course, the director (Shimit Amin). I have known him for years and he is a very simple, hardworking and talented. He has worked with me in the film “Ashoka.” He’s a very sweet, unassuming kind of a guy and to choose a film which is on sports and which is normally neglected say perhaps apart from “Lagaan,” “Hip Hip Hurray” and “Iqbal” now [is great]. We haven’t really made sports films and it’s something that I thought I should be doing when I was younger, but I didn’t get a chance. So, when I am old and grey and over the hill, I am glad someone like Shimit thought that I could sort of fit in a sports film.

What was it like working with a whole lot of newcomers?

Fantastic! Earlier, I thought that working with newcomers would be a bit of a hassle because they would not know their lines, you become a little patronizing, you become a little kind at times, a little agitated and irritated at times because things are not going the way you think they are going. But I think the whole production and the whole team had worked very hard with them. Not to take any credit away from these girls, I think they are very hardworking and wonderful; they put their heart and soul into the film. They have practiced and learned hockey, they have learned the lines, they know the scenes. They knew everything and at the end of it all, after having worked for 18 years as an actor, I got to learn a lot, because there is a bit of rawness when newcomers come and face the camera. After working for so many years, you tend to become a little mechanized.

We know you are a very sporty person. Have you taken any special training for the film? Did you play hockey in school?

Yes, I used to play a lot of field hockey in my school days, I was good at it. But when I went and played for the film, I sucked. I was really awful; I have no stamina left. I think the technique of hockey has changed. Astroturf itself is very tiring. As shameful as it is to say, but I thought I would be able to beat the girls, but they kicked my butt.

Your look in the film is very different and most talked about, can you tell us a bit about it?

I have noticed this that when directors tend to write characters like themselves — like Shimit has a beard so he wanted me to have a beard. I have reached a stage in my career where people are not happy with letting me look the way I look. They cast me and they say, ‘You know what, we don’t want Shah Rukh Khan in the film.’ So they all try to change me, and I think the producer, director and the writer thought that may be with a beard and shorter hair I would look different!

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the words “Chak De India”?

“Chak De” strangely to me, is a line from “Dilwale [dulhaniya Le Jayenge].” I remember we used to say “Chak De Phatte” in “Dilwale...” so I don’t know, but I get reminded of that. I hope “Chak De India” becomes like a sporting thing whenever Sachin is playing or whenever Dhanraj Pillai is going with the ball — somebody screams “Chak De India” which means score a goal or hit a sixer or get Sania Mirza to win the Wimbledon.

Viralbhayani, IndiaNewEngland

SRK's son Aryan kicked a girl in his class because she called his father "fat"

Just about everybody has been wondering what's with King Khan's long mane, bulging biceps and six-pack abs. Not the requirement of another film, says the actor, but his son's wish.

If he is to be believed, son Aryan kicked a girl in his class because she called his father "fat". Not a very nice thing for his son to do, declares Shah Rukh, but the incident made him tone up his physique.

"My son had a skirmish with a girl who said I was an a***ole, and that I look ugly on "KBC", and that I was fat." The last one, the boy could digest and landed a kick on the unsuspecting girl.

"I did get angry on him for what he did but he told me 'You don't look ugly, I know that. You are not an a****ole, I know that. But even I feel that you are fat.' So I had no other option but to work on it," the actor admitted.

Now, that's what we call small inspiration and big determination.

Source: SantaBanta