Angels for Shah Rukh's Knights

Style, personality, attitude, rhythm and a fit body - that's all Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is looking for in cheerleaders for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team.

The star will pick six cheerleaders for his Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming second season through his TV show "Knights & Angels". The show is being produced by Shah Rukh's Red Chillies Entertainment and will air on NDTV Imagine, a source from the channel told IANS.

“Knights & Angels” will be the first ever-televised hunt for cheerleaders and have other popular stars on board as well.

The details of the show are yet to be announced by Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh Khan desperately vying for a National Award

Forget Filmfare, Stardust or any other commercial awards; King Khan has his heart and mind set on a National Award. The actor, who has walked away with some of the most sought after awards over the years, is now yearning for the prestigious off beat national award and is focusing all his energies to bag one this year.

After proving his mettle time and again and bagging a maximum number of commercial awards, the actor is now vying to add a National Award to his kitty of acclaims. He has decided to do whatever it takes to get his want. From playing off beat characters to intense roles this year, King Khan is ditching his lover boy avatar to prove his ‘national’ excellence.

However, before you start jumping to conclusions, let us warn you that Shah Rukh won’t be abandoning his commercial appeal altogether. The actor has decided to find a midway and do roles that have a National-Award-potential and are yet commercially viable.

Speaking to a news daily, King Khan said, " To do something different-which can be put up for the National Awards and still be commercially viable-is a challenge".

Starting this year on, the actor will be seen playing two off-beat roles in ‘Billu Barber’ and ‘My Name Is Khan’. While the former will have him play a superstar with a twist, ‘My Name is Khan’ will have him essay the role of an autistic.

What’s more, Shah Rukh feels that he should have won a national long ago. "National Award! I think I should have been given a National Award 20 yrs ago when I decided to become an actor. If they don’t give me an award, fair enough, I’ll work harder", he exclaimed.

We don’t know about his acting, but his gung-ho spirit surely deserves a National Award.

No subject good enough for Shah Rukh: Benegal

He is full of admiration for Shah Rukh Khan and his on-screen charisma, but veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal rues that he doesn't have a subject to cast the superstar.

"Shah Rukh is a truly brilliant actor. When he comes on the screen, you hardly look anywhere else but at him - he is that kind of an actor," Benegal said.

Asked if he would like to cast the King Khan in any of his films, a disappointed Benegal said, "How can I cast him? I don't have a subject that might even interest him."

Shahrukh Khan dogged by injury

The indefatigable superstar has been dogged by a shoulder injury that seems to be affecting his work.

Shahrukh Khan is known for his unflagging energy and hard work. He’s the man who would land from an overseas flight and report straight to work. Jet lags and other minor fatigues don’t dampen his enthusiasm. At least they weren’t until he sustained a shoulder injury while shooting a stunt scene for Dulha Mil Gaya in which he has a cameo.

Reports say SRK continued shooting the film despite injury only to make it more serious. On top of it he had to leave for a long outdoor schedule for Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan which is being shot in the US.

Before leaving for the US, SRK reportedly underwent many physiotherapy sessions to heal the injury. And heal it did to some extent. But while shooting ‘My Name Is Khan’, the pain returned and became so strong that SRK had to visit a hospital in Los Angeles.

X-rays and MRI scans were reportedly conducted and SRK was advised by the doctors to rest his arm for a few months.

But SRK, being SRK, has been shooting for Johar’s film as usual but is taking all precautions to make sure that the injury is not aggravated.

Otherwise it would be dard-e-disco for real.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi wins Aaj Tak’s Movie Awards

The viewers of Aaj Tak have voted Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi as the best film of the year 2008.

This year end, Aaj Tak’s Movie Masala awards, which bases its honors’ on the votes of the viewers have also declared Anushka Sharma as the debutante of the year and Aditya Chopra as the best directorial return of the year.

Sharma says, “It is honor enough to work with Aditya Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan and the entire Yash Raj Films team. To win any kind of recognition on top of that is just like icing on the cake. I hope that my subsequent work will live up to the expectations that viewers have of me after this kind of a stellar launch that Yash Raj Films has given me.

Shah Rukh Khan to start promoting Billu Barber

Shah Rukh Khan will start the promotional campaign for his home production, Billu Barber on 25 January, after his return on from Los Angeles where he is shooting for Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan.

Prior to his departure, Khan already shot with the media partners of the film like CNN IBN and MTV along with two special episodes as making of the film.

The making of the film will feature SRK and Irrfan Khan, both seated on chairs used by barbers to talk about the film.

Directed by Priyadarshan, the film has Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta in key roles, while Khan will make a guest appearance essaying the role of a superstar. The film is set to release on 13 February.

'No more guest appearances!'

Guess what’s Shah Rukh Khan’s New Year resolution? Not to do any more guest appearances or cameo roles in films for friends!

Yes, the Bollywood Badshah has come to this reluctant decision even though his short and special appearances have often proved to be the good luck factor for filmmakers close to him. It’s done always as a gesture of love and goodwill — at no charge, and, at best, takes just two days out of the superstar’s busy schedule. Yet SRK has said enough is enough, “I always end up hurting myself.”

The actor, who is busy shooting for Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan in LA, admitted that he’s going to stick by his resolution. He’s done many guest appearances recently, including films like Achanak, Army, M F Husain’s Gaja Gamini, Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega, Samar Khan’s Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye, Saathiya, Boney Kapoor’s Shakti — The Power, Khalid Mohammed’s Silsilay, Alag and Karan Johar’s Kaal, Sajjid Nadiadwala’s Heyy Baby, Rakesh Roshan’s Krazy 4, and Ravi Chopra’s Bhootnath. But, he dislikes being mentioned in the publicity of the films because it sends the wrong signal and viewers then expect him to have a larger role in the films.

If sources are to be believed, the big fallout between Salman Khan and Shah Rukh last year came after the Bollywood Badshah refused to do a guest appearance in Sohail Khan’s film Main Aur Mrs Khanna starring Salman and Kareena Kapoor. But Sohail’s dates clashed with Vivek Vaswani’s Dulha Mil Gaya which was already awaiting a guest appearance by SRK to be complete. He might just bend his resolution for Vivek Sharma’s Kal Kisne Dekha because Vivek has worked in his office for 14 years. But that again depends on Shah Rukh’s schedule once he returns from LA. And how strong or weak he is about keeping New Year resolutions.