'My Name is Khan' to be dubbed in German and Turkish

Fox-Star Studios, co-producers of Shah Rukh Khan’s latest release My Name is Khan will soon release the film in dubbed German and Turkish versions.

Vijay Singh, CEO of Star-Fox, confirmed and said, “We want to expand our audiences beyond the Indian diaspora. Typically Bollywood has a lifespan of two weeks abroad. We went to 45 countries when it released on February 12. Now we plan to go to another 25 countries between March and June. In April we will launch 50 prints of MNIK in Poland with Polish subtitles.”

Explaining why it won’t be dubbed in Arabic and Polish, Singh said, “We wanted to dub it in Arabic, but our representatives said the Mid-East audience wants to see Hindi films in Hindi. Likewise, Poland is no stranger to Bollywood, so we don’t need to dub in Polish. However, to reach out to a wider audience we do need to dub it in German and Turkish. The details are being worked out. We decided to release the dubbed versions after the reception Shah Rukh got in Berlin.”

Singh says that the Star-Fox headquarters in LA was watching the progression of MNIK very carefully. “In the UK we’ve given it the highest number of prints possible. We worked very closely with Karan Johar and then marketed the film according the cultural requirements of the specific countries. Our colleagues all over the world were taken into confidence. We don’t see the international market as a spillover of the Indian market. We spent money in every market to set up the film keeping in mind the specifics,” he said.

'My Name is Khan' pirated material seized

3,000 DVDs worth Rs 4 lakh were captured

Mumbai Police along with AA Khan & Associates managed to stop a huge piracy racket. They raided and seized over 3,000 pirated DVDs and CDs worth around Rs 4 lakh and more. The raid was conducted at Behram Baug, in a godown near Bandra Court in Mumbai.

Around 1,000 blank DVDs, 21 DVD writers, 1 colour Xerox machine and 1,000 CD covers were captured at the location. The pirated CDs and DVDs included the much awaited Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol starrer, My Name is Khan. The movie released on February 12, 2010.

Along with My Name Is Khan, other movies like Striker, The Wolfman and Law Abiding Citizen was also found. Apparently, 3,000 DVDs have already been sold.

"Piracy is a serious offense and one which is rampant within major parts of the city. It has been noticed that major chunk of this happens before or during a big release. Considering the big release this time was My Name is Khan, any pirates attempting to copy or distribute this movie specially are on our radar for this week and the coming weeks that the movie would be running. Piracy of the recently released Striker is also on our list. Pirates should understand that we have zero tolerance for their actions and that they will be raided and prosecuted for the crime they commit,’’ says AA Khan, former IPS officer and Ex. ATS Chief.

In the last two months, AA Khan & Associates have raided about 25 locations in Mumbai and seized goods worth lakhs of rupees and helping the movie industry in curbing the menace of piracy to an extent.