Abu Dhabi Preview Of ´My Name Is Khan´ Makes Sheikhs Cry!

Probably the first preview show of the much anticipated 'My Name Is Khan' outside Bombay was held two weeks back in Abu Dhabi. It was for the owners of Imagena­tion which often partners 20th Century Fox in the distribution of its Hollywood ventures in the Middle East and which is also a partner with Fox in MNIK.

Reliable reports have it that the Sheikhs of Imagenation were so moved after watching the film that they were all crying.

MNIK is about a young Mus­lim man, Rizvan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), who is out to prove that merely because his name happens to be Khan, it doesn’t make him a terrorist.

Perhaps, spurred on by the response at the private show, the film’s distributors (Fox) and producers Karan Johar and Shah Rukh have decided to hold a premiere of the film in Abu Dhabi on 10th Feb­ruary.

Warsaw excitedly awaits 'My Name Is Khan' world premiere

Shah Rukh Khan posters are up and advance booking for tickets has begun. This Polish capital, home to a large number of 'King Khan' fans, is all set for the world premiere of "My Name is Khan" Feb 12.

To cash in on Shah Rukh's immense popularity in Poland, the distributors 20th Century Fox has selected Warsaw for the world premiere of his latest film, which sees him paired opposite Kajol after eight long years.

Directed by Karan Johar, the film is about Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh), an autist, who is mistaken for a terrorist while travelling in the US.

The Indian community and Polish Bollywood buffs are thrilled as this will be the first time a Hindi movie will be shown in Poland along with other western capitals and important cities around the globe simultaneously.

"We cannot believe it but still it is going to be a historic day when we can see Shah Rukh's movie on the very first day of its release. Till this day we normally get (to see) Bollywood films which are normally a year old or so with Polish subtitles," said J.J. Singh, president of the Indo-Polish Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Big posters have been pasted at important corners of the city and a brisk advance booking of the forthcoming film has already started.

"Finally Poland is on the radar for Bollywood movies and luckily both the producer and distributor understand the value of the Polish market. In five years time, when 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' took Poland by surprise in December 2004, we have covered much ground to be acknowledged as serious lovers of Bollywood movies," said Janusz Krzyzowski, president of the India-Poland Cultural Committee.

"This is great news for us Indians. Let us hope many more Bollywood producers will take a cue from Karan Johar's initiative to release their latest film in Poland. The profile of India has changed dramatically since 2004 and now sky is the limit for cooperation between India and Poland," Rajesh Vaishnaw, Indian charge d'affaires, told IANS.

It was the release of "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" with Polish sub-titles that made Shah Rukh a household name in Poland. Later, with films like "Main Hoon Na", "Kal Ho Na Ho" and "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna" among others he almost became synonymous with Bollywood in Poland.

The songs of his movies became instant hits and young girls and boys started pasting his posters in their rooms. Last year a biography of Shah Rukh penned by Anupama Chopra was translated into Polish.

Preity throws her weight behind SRK on Sena attacks

Even as the Shiv Sena workers went on a rampage and tore down posters of Shahrukh Khan's film 'My Name Is Khan' in Mumbai for his comments on Pakistani cricketers, old friend and filmstar Preity Zinta has thrown her weight behind the actor.

''Guyz just for the record.. Shahrukh is the most secular and the fairest guy I know! It’s unfair to judge his movie based on his opinions!'' said Preity on her Twitter.

The actress, who has co-starred with SRK in films like 'Dil Se,' 'Veer Zara', Kal Ho Na Ho' and 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna,' also said she loved the man and would defend him if any ''nonsense'' was written about him.

''I do love Karan Johar and Shah Rukh! Both are very dear to me and I will defend them if someone writes nonsense about them!'' tweeted Preity, who is away in Dubai for her birthday.

The damsel is known for publicly speaking her mind and even was awarded the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award for being the only witness not to retract in court her earlier statements against the Indian mafia in the 2003 Bharat Shah case.

Shahrukh Khan welcomes Amitabh to his home

The growing proximity between the Bachchans and Shahrukh Khan just got thicker. On Thursday, Shahrukh called up the Bachchans and requested for a print of Rann to kick-start his newly-constructed home theatre at his residence.

Says a source, "Shahrukh specifically wanted to inaugurate his home theatre with a Bachchan starrer. Luckily, Rann was on release this week. So he asked Karan Johar to quickly dial Mr. Bachchan, who put him through the producers of Rann. The producers gladly arranged for a print of Rann to be delivered to Shahrukh's place on Thursday evening."


After watching the film till very late on Thursday night, Shahrukh Khan sent an appreciative sms to the film's producer which read, "Very kind of you to send the film across. Very intense, very topical...good performances all round. The viewpoint is very current."

Apparently, Shahrukh wanted to invite Mr Bachchan to view Rann in his home theatre. Alas! Amitabh Bachchan was in Delhi on Thursday night attending the premiere of Rann.

You would think with his sworn lack of empathy with politics, Big B would run as far away from politicians as possible. Surprisingly, politicians rather than stars dominated the Delhi premiere of Rann on Thursday night.

Those VIPs (very important politicians) who attended the premiere on Thursday night included Yashwant Sinha, L. K. Advani, Sheila Dixit, Sachin Pilot and the current Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi - Tajendra Khanna. Plus, of course, Amar Singh. This was Mr. Bachchan's first politician-dominated premiere in years.

The entire Bachchan parivar was in full attendance, though Jaya arrived separately from the rest of the family. An ever-enthusiastic Vivek Oberoi also saw the film though in a different screening from the Bachchans.

A perception that Rann indulges in serious bashing of the electronic media had the film's leading man Amitabh Bachchan stationed in the Capital for most of Thursday inviting the city's most influential journalists for the premiere.

Most of the who's who of Delhi's press corps melted under the great Bachchan charm. The man himself was baffled by the widespread belief that the film was against the electronic media.

Said Mr. Bachchan on Thursday afternoon, "I'm in Delhi meeting various members of the press trying to understand why Rann is being perceived as being against them. Or why I'm being seen to have issues with the press. Not at all! I've always respected the press."

Tell him the perception of Mr. Bachchan being anti-press goes back to those years in the 1980s when he had banned the press.

Says Mr. Bachchan, "I banned them because they had banned me. But now that's in the past. Writing my blog has made me understand the duties and exigencies of the media much better than before."

Shahrukh Khan has a strange attachment with socks. Read it to believe it!

Bollywood’s numero uno Shahrukh Khan, who is all geared up with his next offering with dear Kajol in ‘My Name is Khan’, has revealed an unknown and quite weird obsession of his. He holds a strange attachment with ………tell you what…….Socks!!! And his fussiness for socks is weirdly weird. Note this:

1. He is so obsessed with his socks that he can miss a flight for them.

2. He doesn’t wear nylon socks with sneakers (at any cost).

3. He must have a good feeling after putting his legs into one. If he doesn’t feel right, he immediately pulls them off.

4. He hates brown socks (any guesses why?)

5. He loathes different-coloured socks. Ok, that’s understandable.

6. And he insists that socks are the only things that bother him in shoots. (The rest he can tackle; no hassles with dialogues or scenes; its’ just socks …socks…socks)

Tell you what; he is a very soxy…oops……sexy actor!

SRK on his upcoming film 'My Name is Khan'

This is the first film Red Chillies is co-producing with Dharma. Any particular reason?
My Name is Khan (MNK) is an expensive film — actually, Karan does not make cheap films. There are two reasons we joined hands: one because I am of the opinion that when you make a film you should try not to pre-sell it, specially if it is a little. Second, I did not want Karan to take a loan for this film and also I wanted to own (even 50%) of a film which is called My Name is Khan! A film like an Om Shanti Om, can be pre-sold , as it is a regular commercial film. But films like say Chak Deor MNK, require a freedom to be made with a free hand, without any commerce in mind.

Is the film a viable project then?
MNK the most expensive film Karan and I have done. A 90-day shoot in the US done within SAG rules (US union rules) with a staff ratio of 60:40 works out at least 20-25 % more expensive. Add at least five to ten recces before the final 90-day schedule began and you know how expensive it can get.

Commercially, of course, it is not a very viable film for the actor, director and actor-producer at this point, as we have not included our fees because then it would be too expensive. So we made it in just the money Fox Star gave us for it. But it’s our film and it’s special. Like the fantastic writer of ‘Iron Man’ Hawk Ostby told me, “Some work you do for business, some you do for love,” so this one is for love.

However, I don’t think the box-office will really be an issue. It will open up very well because this is a film which will work for the class — what we call the multiplex audience as well as the single-screen audience but not for very different reasons either. Actually, one can always give an outstandingly corporate answer as well. The business has worked for Karan and me because the greatest businesses are done in the greatest simplicity. I have never done so many tours for a film — I go to Indore and Lucknow over the next two days. I have done it for big cities but this film has an Islamic aspect so I want to go to the interiors and tell the Muslims to take a look at this part of the film which is part-Islamic. I want the message of the film to reach the largest number of audience. I truly believe that 90% of successful businesses are passion decisions-whatever number-crunching people do in boardrooms, thoughts and ideas and marketing, it is the idea which is the mainstay. And, therefore, no apprehensions . When film-making becomes only business it will make money, but it will not be mind-numbing anymore, it will not be breaking any paths. It has to be a passionate decision and also make some business sense.

Do you see the expense justified?
Absolutely. It was also necessary as MNKis largely a journey film, it needed to look interesting visually or it would just have been in a bus going to wherever. Even in terms of scale this is very different from what Karan has done before. There are no set havelis, no dancers, there is no big costume drama... it is just a story of one man travelling across the continent. So, for Karan to bring in scale in the vision: whether it was with helicopter shots, terrain shots or bike rides it was all necessary to the film. Of course, there were times when I told Karan that we could do a lot of what we did on VFX which would cut the cost, but Karan is not a believer in that. He is a more an on location kind of film-maker. But I am glad that Dharma and Red Chillies are doing MNK together.

You have the juggernaut might of Fox Star, Fox Searchlight and Fox for a huge strategic release across 65 countries, of which many markets are new, many have become opportunities because of your fan following. How does it help?

At a very minuscule level, I hope between Kajol, Karan and me we are able to open up at least two new markets and turn them into traditional markets for our films. Yes, of course, we are premiering at Abu Dhabi where I believe I have some fans as well as Berlin where we show at the film festival and, of course, Germany where we are doing some 50 prints! At this stage, all I want to ensure is that there are three things in my life I would never want to portray wrong — a disrespectful portrayal of a disability (I have been careless once, in Badshah where I portrayed a blind man in a comic way and I feel it was completely wrong in hindsight) or a religion and usage of language in a film.

How convincing is the film’s message?
There are two messages. One, you don’t have to be extraordinary to do extraordinary things. As a matter of fact, you can be less than ordinary. Like in the case of MNK, because the character is afflicted with a disorder — Aspergers. And you don’t have to do great things to become great. Just keep it simple, be true to the original idea and your final product, will be great. Secondly, I think there is an issue where Islam is concerned across the world. There is an image issue and it’s not whether Islam is wrong or right or bad or good. I think it is because a lot of Muslims have not explained what their religion stands for — so you need to send that message. I cannot blame someone for something that they do without understanding why they did it. So I need to explain to people that this wrong impression that you are getting is because of certain “in-your-face” activities of a few people who happen to be Muslims and it is not what Islam stands for.

The message of Islam is that there are only good people and bad people. It is such a simple idea. If you read the Koran you will know that this is what it is and you recognise it in other religions as well and the misinterpreted moments like Jihad and other few wrongly interpreted terminologies need to be explained in a nice and simple way. The film is not an image-building film for Islam but a message to say this is what Islam stands for which is goodness and humanity and all that is encased in the old Karan Johar belief that love conquers all. Like Karan says: If you see it from far it’s a sweet obstacle-ridden love story. You come up close and you realise that there are layers in it — of Islam, autism, disability , subtle racial discrimination...

My Name is Khan has a lot riding on me: Karan Johar

Marketing, structuring and pitching a films’ release has to be done with creativity and intelligence. In fact, we are still gaining ground in the world of marketing and many movies are still marketed in a wrong manner. There are two important factors: one is structure the film to demographics and secondly, understand the various tools to be used to leverage that demographic. You have to know where you core audience is, where it lies and how to achieve it. Evolutionary changes like social networking sites must also be understood and leveraged for certain urban-content films.

Critically, there is still a huge audience in the heart of the country that gives single screens a tremendous amount of business, a fact we had started denying, for no particular reason, believing that multiplexes
are everything.

Multiplex is just a glamorous term. There is still a large India whose thinking and sensibilities have not changed dramatically and we should not deny its existence.

In colloquial film parlance, audience is divided into A, B and C class. But we have a limited understanding of how to reach these markets. I think we did a better job a decade ago, catering to them. Today, we have stopped visiting single screens because we have stopped caring about them.

Because of the strong Islamic content in My Name is Khan, there is a connect for a large Muslim audience which, I feel, must watch this film and it is up to us to reach out to reach out to them effectively. It is about goodness and humanity, both universal concepts. And though, the story is based in the US and may have an international texture, its core and gut is Indian, which is why the pan-Indian audience.

Take a film like 3 Idiots, which is a pan-India film and can reach out to every home and audience. I think what Aamir did was clever... in that he connected to the core root of the country because the tonality of the film is far more pan-India then even the content. Its tone and texture was fantastically universal and it needed that kind of
connect. Something Aamir did so with Ghajini as well.

SRK ties up with Centuryply

Centuryply, the king of the plywood industry, joined hands with the Badshah of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan at a recent meet-and-greet programme in Mumbai, to reveal the secret behind being the undisputed leader for the last two decades, with the strength to go on.

The brand has chosen the glamourous Bollywood industry to create a niche in the lifestyle segment as well — Centuryply is enamoured with the charisma of SRK and have partnered with one of his movies earlier. Now, taking the same trend ahead, they have partnered with the biggest film of 2010 — Dharma Productions and Red Chillies My Name Is Khan.

My Name Is Khan is a movie wherein the protagonist goes through various ordeals in life to achieve the unattainable. Rizwan Khan, a Muslim man from India, moves to San Francisco and lives with his brother and sister-in-law. Rizwan, who has Asperger’s, falls in love with Mandira. After September 11, 2001, Mandira is devastated and they split. To win her back, he embarks on a touching and inspiring journey across America. Rizwan Khan’s strength to go on through every upheaval exhibits the spirit that resembles the making of Centuryply, the leader. Both cases show leaders with the strength to go on. Sanjay Agarwal, Jt MD, Centuryply, said, “The spirit of Rizwan Khan in this movie has strengthened our faith, that if you are true towards your goal, nothing can stop you from achieving it. Everything else becomes meaningless as long as the fortitude is to reach the destination. The same attitude has brought us to the pinnacle and has kept us there.”

Further commenting on this association, Abhra Banerjee, VP, marketing, Centuryply, said, “The undying spirit of Mr Khan in this movie is what appeals the most and has a strong resemblance with our brand Centuryply. The brand Centuryply demonstrates the statement ‘Never Say Die’ in its mannerism and this is the spirit that the team lives by. This is the second time that we are associating with SRK and hope to keep this association in future as well.”