Stage shows a way of partying with fans: Shah Rukh

It’s not for the money or the fame that Shah Rukh Khan does stage shows, but to get up close and party with his fans. “These shows are not a show of talent or some amazing skill that you possess. This is our way of partying with people who have shared so much love and happiness with us,” Shah Rukh Khan said in the course of a media interaction here ahead of his Temptation Reloaded stage show scheduled for Saturday night.

“I have been working for 21 years and I don’t really get the opportunity to thank each of my fans personally,” he said.

“I am old now,” he continued, “and it is quite difficult to do live shows. Some days, I get up and I say I don’t really have to do this. It is not for the money, not for the fame any more.”

Shah Rukh returns to Dubai after a gap of four years for a live stage show.

Dubai is part of the Temptation Reloaded world tour that the Bollywood star is doing along with Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kapoor.

The tour started in Rotterdam in Holland in June and continued in Singapore.

The show will be compered by MTV video jockey Anusha Dandekar and choreographed by Ganesh Hegde of “Lagaan” fame.

Britain based desi-rapper Hard Kaur will also perform before the Dubai audience.

The show is being sponsored by Country Club Group of India, which has opened a new resort in Dubai this year.

According to the organisers, the show is expected to draw around 18,000 people at the Dubai Festival City Arena.

Dubai is home to around 700,000 of the 1.5 million expatriate Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Event organiser threatens legal action against Shah Rukh

The organiser of a Shah Rukh Khan international show has decided to take legal action against the actor for cancelling at the last minute.Says Qasim Ali, global manager of Sensasian Media which was managing the Temptation Reloaded show, "After Shah Rukh Khan decided to cancel the shows, I sent him an SMS requesting him to do at least one show but he did not revert. We have lost about one million euros in this whole deal and will demand compensation from the actor.''

Qasim Ali says a clause in the contract he signed with Khan states that the star has the right to keep the down payments in case of cancellation. "So, we have come to the conclusion that the shows have been cancelled on purpose,'' he said.

Khan had reportedly exited three days before the October 17,18 and 19 gigs in Germany because the "organiser had defaulted''. Industry watchers say this is the first time the box-office boss, known to be a professional, had pulled out of a show. When contacted, Khan said, "They can say what they want, all this will be dealt with in a legal way as it should be. So I am not really the right person to ask. The cancellation was a decision based on the requirements most important for the show, including finance, accommodation, travel etc which were not met. The legality of it is being followed by the legal department and things will take their course.''

In an attempt to keep the show rolling, Sensasian Media renamed Temptation Reloaded `Temptation Unloaded'. German television comedian Kaya Yanar took the stage at Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. Almost 10,000 SRK fans Khan who had bought tickets to all three shows were promised a refund.

Khan also called off the Spanish leg of the tour (organised by another party) since it followed the shows in Germany. An industry insider said that this is not the first time Sensasian Media has bungled. "It happened earlier this year in the case of Shilpa Shetty and the Bachchan family's Unforgettable show. The company failed to organise these shows,'' the source said.

Shahrukh Khan to bear cost of travelling Malaysia

Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, who will receive his Datukship on Nov 29, will bear all expenses during his one-night stay here.

Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the state government would not spend a single sen to bring the actor here.

"He is paying for his ticket but of course as our guest we will provide him with accommodation. It's only polite that we do that," he said at his Hari Raya open house at Rumah Melaka in Jalan Bellamy yesterday.

Ali said the actor will spend a night in Malacca after the installation ceremony, which will be carried live on India's most popular television channel Zee TV.

"The ceremony will begin at 10am at the Dewan Sri Negeri and his fans can also come and see him there if they want to."
Later the actor will be taken around the state to visit places like the Malacca river, Taming Sari and the Eye on Malaysia.

On criticisms the Malacca government has received since announcing that Khan would be conferred the award, Ali said: "Believe it or not, all those criticisms have been good for us as it has actually given us a boost in terms of popularity and many people know us more now."

He also said the actor's agent had informed the state government that Khan was keen to film more movies in Malacca.

"He will do more films here and promote Malacca as the new hub for Bollywood films.

"I believe the scenic views here have much to offer the Bollywood film industry and the best thing is that we don't have to pay a single sen for it as others are popularising Malacca for us without any cost."

SRK & his Knight Riders will Rock!

As the curtains come down on former India skipper Sourav Ganguly’s international career after the Australia series, he will still have a major role in leading Kolkata Knight Riders in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), said team owner and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.

Most of the team policies are decided by him (Ganguly’s) and we will all sit down with him and discuss where he stands and, inshallah, he will play as well for the Knight Riders as he did last season, Shah Rukh told IANS here.

Shah Rukh said that his team will start the next season with a three-week camp in January ahead of the second edition of the tournament slated for May. In that pre-season camp, we will all sit down and Sourav will form an important part of that decision (making process), Shah Rukh said.

In the first edition, the Knight Riders failed to make the semi-finals despite getting off to a good start. On Ganguly’s retirement, the actor felt that great players could only decide when to go.

I respect him too much. It’s an honour that he is a part of Kolkata Knight Riders. If Kolkata Knight Riders becomes a force to reckon with it will only be because of Sourav, he said.

Shah Rukh also said that the management has already started planning for an improved show in the second edition of the IPL. We don’t want to disturb him (Ganguly) yet. We have started having meetings for the Knight Riders for the last five-six days and by January we will sit down with him and take his decisions into account, he said.

NGO steps in to free Pakistani SRK fan

Sparc seeks intervention of Indian high commissioner in Islamabad to release teenager, a diehard Shah Rukh Khan fan, who crossed border to make it big in Bollywood.

A Pakistani NGO has approached the Indian high commissioner here, seeking the release of a teenager — a diehard fan of Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) — who crossed over in pursuit of a career in Bollywood but landed up in an observation home in Faridkot, Punjab.

In a letter to Satyabrata Pal, Rafiq Khan, national manager of Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc), says Nasir Sultan, 15, was arrested by the Border Security Force (BSF) for illegal infiltration, after which Ferozepur Police booked him under the Passport Act of 1920.

He says the “innocent” Nasir left home on August 16, 2008, for school but did not return home.

“Sick with worry, his parents started a search for him. Nasir is a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan and always wanted to meet him,” his father said in an interview with Sparc.

He added that “it is quite likely that the boy may have crossed over to show his love for the great Indian idol, since we would have never allowed him to go to India”.

Two months later, on October 15, 2008, Nasir told his parents over phone from Faridkot district court that he was in a jail for children. He said he crossed over to the Indian side and was arrested by the BSF.

Khan says Nasir’s parents are worried and would like to see their son back home as soon as possible.

“At the same time, they are aware of the complications because of the relations between the two countries. Nasir’s father Zareen Khan works at a petrol pump in Chitral. Obviously, with limited resources, it will be difficult for this man to pursue his son’s freedom effectively without the help of the state machinery. Therefore, Sparc has taken up the case.”

The letter further states that the young man’s life and future are at stake.

“Therefore,” it adds, “We would request you to take up the case of Nasir with your government at the earliest and shorten his confinement in India. His case requires sympathy and compassion on the part of both the states and we hope and pray sincerely that Nasir will be with his parents in Dir Upper very soon.”

SRK is back on TV as a Producer

Shah Rukh Khan is set to make a mark as a producer on the small screen. Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd is producing a weekly sitcom called Ghar Ki Baat that will air on NDTV Imagine. Ghar Ki Baat is Red Chillies’ first production on television.

Says a source, “Ghar Ki Baat is a weekly show that will air on NDTV Imagine. The shoot is going to commence from the 24th of this month. Juhi Babbar, Sumeet Raghavan, Swapnil Joshi and Jayati Bhatia are part of the show. Aziz Mirza is the creative director while Ananth Mahadevan will direct the show. Ghar Ki Baat is probably going to be on the same lines to that of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi.”

Though he didn’t reveal anything about the show Sumeet Raghavan did confirm being offered the show. On the other hand, Jayati Bhatia admitted to being part of the cast. It is also buzzed that there may be similarities between Ghar Ki Baat and the old time mega hit Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. When asked to comment on this Jayati replied, “I don’t think so. The only thing similar is that it’s a weekly sitcom.”

We called up Samar Khan of Red Chillies but he refused to comment and asked as to contact the channel.

Imagine programming head Shailja Kejriwal remained unavailable for comment.

Even if the show is remotely ‘inspired’ by Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi viewers are in for a rollicking time.