King Khan 'humbled' on being IFFI chief guest

Panaji (PTI): Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan on Friday said he felt "humbled" for being invited here as the chief guest to inaugurate the 38th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

Khan said he wanted to "learn something" from the works of various critically acclaimed filmmakers participating in the 10-day film extravaganza.

"I am very humbled to be here as chief guest. However, I don't think I have reached that high a position in my life to be eligible for such a huge honour. I would prefer to learn something from the distinguished guests who have come from various parts of the world to showcase their works," Khan told reporters before the inauguration of the IFFI.

The 40-year-old actor said there was a still long way to go in his career, which started in early 1990s, and wanted to work harder to get more success.

"My earlier successes are now behind me and even the recent ones like 'Chak De! India' and 'Om Shanti Om' (which has already crossed one million pound mark in UK and still drawing audiences).

I have lived with my characters like Kabir Khan in Chak De! and Om Prakash Makhija in Om Shanti Om and enjoyed them. But now time has come to work on a new character and portray it successfully," Khan said.

The Hindu

Shah Rukh Khan : The Lord of 2007

It will take more than the combined might of a Hollywood studio and one of India’s most successful directors of date to dislodge SRK from his throne.

So, who’s the king of the castle?

In Bollywood, there’s no formal crowing, no oohs of mock surprise, no clasping of hand-on-mouth for that perfect byte. Everyone knows that 2007 has been, unarguably, Shah Rukh Khan’s year.

This year’s double Diwali dhamaka has turned into almost-universal thumbs-up for SRK’s Om Shanti Om, and almost equal derision for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya. Post that crucial first weekend, trade figures have pegged the former, a 70’s joyride through Bollywood, a clear winner, both in India and overseas (Om Shanti Om is reported to have made more than £5 million pounds in the UK, while Saawariya has barely managed a little over £16,000; in the US too, the former is way ahead in the box-office stakes).

Though it will take another week or so to really get the figures down in India, the clash of the titans has made a couple of things clear. It will take more than the combined might of a Hollywood studio and one of India’s most successful directors of date (Sony Pix and SLB) to dislodge SRK from his throne. And that nothing succeeds like success: India is still going rah-rah after the splendid showing of Chak De: audiences are still in like-mode with the story of a dispossessed hockey coach who whips an unlikely team into a winning machine. SRK will have to do something seriously wrong to start sliding from here on.

In retrospect, it’s very easy to go on a blame-game round, but it was evident from the opening Friday that a light-hearted spoof on all things Bollywood, drawing an arc of 30 years, was a better festive offering, than a relentless black-and-blue-tinted ode to Bhansali’s favourite filmmakers, inspired by a Dostoevsky short story White Nights. Saawariya is more a series of still paintings than a film, gorgeous but which leave you unmoved. You admire the handiwork of the cinematographers and the set designers, but nothing about the plight of the young lovers engages you.

Fun and flashback

In comparison, Farah Khan’s revisiting the 70s’ era of polka-dotted shirts, big collars, bigger hair, and long sideburns is a lark. At least in the first half. So you can sit there, and be transported back to the high melodrama of that time, where filmy moms would feed aloo parathas and kheer to their beloved betas, and know in their dil that their sons will make it big. The second half is unexciting, but it is still possible to coast on some leftover fun-and-games. And like Saawariya’s brand-new lead pair, Ranbir Raj and Sonam, which has been appreciated, OSO’s debutant leading lady, Deepika, has gained huge mileage.

The part of the movie-making chain which will hurt from Saawariya’s performance will be some of its distributors (the producers, Sony Pix, have already made a table profit, before the movie hit the screens). The distributors of OSO, Eros International, who reportedly paid upwards of Rs 70 crore for the film, are crowing about how OSO will be the biggest movie for them this year, even better than Partner, the other comedy which viewers embraced with enthusiasm earlier this year.

So, SRK it is.

King Khan clearly lords it… as 2007’s Hero no.1

(Excerpts)
Shubhra Gupta, Business Line India

SRK is the 'Sexiest Asian' Man in the World

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has emerged as the Sexiest Asian man in the world in 2007, according to a list published by a weekly newspaper here.

Eastern Eye, a leading British-Asian paper, says last year's winner Abhishek Bachchan was relegated to the fourth position this year. Hrithik Roshan came second followed by John Abraham.

It is the first time the 42-year-old actor has topped the list in its three-year history. The first-ever winner was Abraham.

The top ten were: 1) Shah Rukh Khan, 2) Hrithik Roshan, 3) John Abraham, 4) Abhishek Bhachchan, 5) Upen Patel, 6) Aamir Khan, 7) Salman Khan, 8) Ali Zafar, 9) Jay Sean and 10) Saif Ali Khan.

British Asians on the list include Patel, Jay Sean, cricketer Mark Ramprakash (13) and footballer Michael Chopra (25).

On being named the sexiest man on the planet, Khan told Eastern eye, "Me, really? Thanks. I feel too sexy to talk to anyone now!

"I never thought I would be called a sexy guy or be put into that category. It's only because I carry myself the way I am comfortable - that is what is sexy, I think?"

Hamant Varma, editor of Eastern eye and founder of Sexiest Asian Men list and Sexiest Asian Women List said: "Shah Rukh Khan is the complete package, good actor, good dancer, good looking and a showman. He is a great ambassador for India."

DNAindia.com