I'm a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan: Akon

International R&B singer Akon, who is here to record songs for Shah Rukh Khan's film Ra.One, says he is a big fan of the Bollywood superstar and that he will not only have shows in India during his world tour, but would also do more work here soon.

"I am a big fan of Shah Rukh. I am very familiar with Shah Rukh's work. I am meeting Kareena [Kapoor] for the first time today," Akon said.

He is not only singing, but also composing for Ra.One.

"I am also composing. You know, I will give him [Shah Rukh] a couple of versions of the song, the way I do it. And I will also integrate it with the traditional way the Bollywood films are done. I will give them options and they will decide, which one to use in the film," said Akon.

Produced by Red Chilies Entertainment, Ra.One will see Shah Rukh playing a superhero.

Asked if he is planning to do more work with Indian music directors, he said: "You will see me doing more things in India soon."

The singer insists he finds African entertainment culture quite similar to what he sees in India.

"You know the tradition in Africa is not different from India. There is the same type of entertainment going on, the difference is only in language. I always wanted to expand my horizon, explore and enjoy," said Akon who will soon go on a world tour.

He is looking forward to performances in India as well.

"The world tour is coming soon and India is one of my biggest market so I will do number of shows here," said Akon.

The singer dedicated two lines from his song Beautiful to actress Kareena Kapoor, who was present at the event. She plays the female lead in Ra.One.

WATCH: Akon seeks Haiti help from Shah Rukh Khan

Singer plans to take SRK's aid in raising funds for the earthquake affected area. Hip-hop and R&B singer Akon is in town to record a song for Shah Rukh Khan's Ra One. Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the sci-fi flick features Shah Rukh and Kareena in lead roles.

Akon seeks Haiti help from Shah Rukh Khan

Singer plans to take SRK's aid in raising funds for the earthquake affected area

Hip-hop and R&B singer Akon is in town to record a song for Shah Rukh Khan's Ra One. Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the sci-fi flick features Shah Rukh and Kareena in lead roles.

Vishal-Shekhar score the music. Akon, popular for chartbusting tracks like Smack That and Mr Lonely, lends his voice to a track in the film and will also appear in the music video.

However, apart from talking music and doing business with SRK, he's also here to talk about something serious. Akon, who's worked with another musician Wycleaf Jean on the Haiti relief work, plans to talk to Shah Rukh about joining hands and raising money for the affected.

Talking about the situation in the earthquake-affected Haiti, Akon says, "There is so much more that can be done and needs to be done. I visited Haiti a while back and it was a moving experience. I think it's not something that's restricted to one particular part of the world, but a global situation that needs to be addressed.

I definitely plan to talk to Shah Rukh and see what we can do to raise aid for those in need. The plan is to get as many people involved as possible."

Weeks after the earthquake, Akon and Wyclef Jean performed in Haiti at the Yele Festival. Besides that, he also appeared in the charity single 'We Are The World' which was recorded along with 87 different artistes to raise money for Haiti relief.

Shah Rukh, who has sung only two songs in his career (in Josh and Farhan Akhtar's Don), plans to take active interest in the recording sessions for Ra One. "I am a terrible singer. But I do plan to get more involved with Akon while recording the song. There's a lot to learn from him." Adding that his son Aryan is a huge fan of the Smack That! track he adds, "That's a popular tune in the family. Everyone loves it." When asked if his kids ask him about the adult phrases and lingo in Akon's songs he jokingly says, "Well I am the one who learns from them." While SRK's favourite tune is Smack that!, Kareena picks Beautiful as hers. "I just love the song and think its really romantic." When asked if Saif who's into music and plays a guitar, listens to Akon she adds, "Not really. But we are definitely looking forward to party with him tonight."

Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor get rapping with Akon

Actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor were delighted to welcome singing sensation Akon in Mumbai yesterday. The American singer-songwriter will be belting out a number for Shah Rukh’s home production movie Ra.1, which stars Kareena as the female lead.

We got exclusive access to the backstage of the event held to welcome Akon. There Shah Rukh introduced him to Kareena saying, “She comes from the oldest and most prestigious acting family in India.”

When asked what she loves about Akon, Kareena said, “I love his music. He delivered one hit after another and I am sure he will give us a great number to sing and dance on. We just can’t wait for him to belt it out for us. I have been a big follower of Akon’s music for a long time and I love his songs, especially Beautiful. It’s been on my highest played song list.”

Listening to Kareena shower compliments on him, Akon said, “Bollywood is grand. I have heard great things about the industry and I am glad that I will be a part of it now. Shah Rukh Khan has a great fan following and I am sure we will do great work.”

Ask Shah Rukh why he chose Akon over the rest, and he said, “Akon is one of the biggest musical sensations and we are proud to host him in India. I feel his association with our movie will only make it bigger. I have heard his songs and he is brilliant. He is edgy and he makes people dance. When we make movies, we look to entertain. So, I am sure Akon and we will have great fun.”
Akon shot to world-wide fame with his album Konvicted in 2006. The single 'Smack That' featuring Eminem was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Akon to sing for Khan's 'Ra.One'

New film sets Khan as software engineer who builds robot

Rapper Akon will sing for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming superhero caper “Ra.One,” directed by Anubhav Sinha and written by David Benullo (“Hallowed Ground”).

The announcement was made Tuesday in Mumbai at a press event attended by Khan, Akon and the film's co-star actress Kareena Kapoor. In “Ra.One,” Khan stars as a Miami-based software engineer who becomes a super-hero battling his self-created techno-monster. “Ra.One” is a word play on the Indian demon god “Ravan” from the Ramayana epic.

Slated to begin shooting in the U.S. in the coming months, unconfirmed reports indicate “Ra.One” will be budgeted at $21 million (1 billion rupees). The film will be produced by Khan's banner Red Chillies Entertainment, which co-produced the actor's latest release “My Name Is Khan.”

While Akon has performed in India earlier, the Senegalese-American singer said he was looking forward to perform here again during his upcoming world tour.

Before arriving in Mumbai Tuesday, local media reported that Akon had performed at a high society wedding in New Delhi last weekend.

Signed to Universal Music, Akon shot to worldwide fame with his 2006 album “Konvicted” which included the breakthrough single “Smack That,” featuring Eminem that earned a Grammy nomination for for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

New releases fail to impress, 'M.N.I.K.' continues to dominate abroad

‘My Name Is Khan’ continued to dominate the key markets, for the fourth weekend in a row. The new release, ATITHI TUM KAB JAOGE?, hasn't found patronage in U.K. and U.S.A. Last week's KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK had a drastic fall, while ‘Teen Patti; is a colossal disaster.

Weekend: March 5 - 7, 2010.

U.K. BOX-OFFICE
MY NAME IS KHAN [last weekend: No. 15, this weekend: No. 23]: In its fourth weekend, the film has collected £ 87,141 on 56 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 1,556. Total: £ 24,79,880 [approx. Rs. 16.93 crores].

My Name Is Khan Sets New UK Record

My Name Is Khan has broken the long standing lifetime record of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in United Kingdom.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham grossed £2.5 million in 2001 and My Name Is Khan had a similar total by the end of business on Tuesday. My Name Is Khan is likely to end with £2.62 lifetime business in UK. The top grossers in UK are as follows.

1. My Name Is Khan - £2.62m (Expected)
2. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham - £2.5m
3. Veer Zaara -£2.02 million
4. Three Idiots - £1.86 million
5. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - £1.75 million
6. Devdas - £1.69 million
7. Kal Ho Na Ho - £1.67
8. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - £1.50 million
9. Don - £1.43 million
10. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge - £1.40m

Shah Rukh Khan: Dada and the girls love purple

Post My Name is Khan, Shah Rukh Khan is back to business. This time, it's for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

After two years of defeat in the tournament, the team is changing its colours. Literally. KKR has not only changed the colour of its jersey from black to purple (the gold remains), but also undergone a change in attitude.

Shah Rukh Khan says, "We have a new attitude, new coach, new system, new partner and new colour of jerseys."

But has superstition made Shah Rukh change the team colours?

"If I were superstitious, I would've changed it after the first year itself. I heard that the Indian team is superstitious, but I'm not. What is important for me is that the harder I work, the luckier I feel. We don't want to depend on luck, but have a change of attitude," replied Shah Rukh.

And what is that new attitude?

"We're more upbeat, happy – it's very difficult being happy when you're not winning. That's where I come in (to get the right attitude)."

So, why the colour purple?

"Dada (Saurav Ganguly) likes purple; my daughter feels I look good in purple. It's a conspiracy between Dada and Juhi (Chawla). We've changed everything. We want to leave everything behind and start afresh. Also, the girls like it. So, we will make money out of it, and the girls will be all on our side," says Shah Rukh displaying his trademark wit.

KKR has quite a few young, new members in the team, as Shah Rukh was keen to "get guys on the threshold." He said, "We want to encourage youngsters, under the tutelage of senior players."

As for making some profit from his new team, Shah Rukh said, "We're not a public limited company. We have limited resources. I have never equated this team to making money. Yes, we haven't performed to the fullest. We'll go and play till we win it. They (players) all love to win and hate losing more than I do."

He went on to add, "I've not been graceful in defeat. Now, we will gauge our success by the way we play (not how many matches we win). We want to win the trophy."

And what about competition? "The more the merrier. I know the media can't believe this. Ye har saal aisa bolta hain, lekin karta kuch nahin (Every year he makes these claims, but does nothing)," Shah Rukh jokes.

About the controversy regarding rights to news channels to air IPL clippings, Shah Rukh said, "I don't know. Is it still banned? Oh. So we're just promoting the team like that? (laughs) IPL is so complicated, convoluted, difficult. Hopefully the issue will get resolved."

When asked whether he would step in to resolve it, Shah Rukh said, "I'm not resolving it. Saari duniya ka gham main thodi naa uthaoonga yaar (I'm not shouldering the burden of the whole world)."

About the team's new sponsor, the drink XXX, Shah Rukh says, "It's difficult to get a sponsor if you have not been winning. Inshallah, we will do better this year. XXX is a friend, just like Nokia. It's for anytime you need more energy. I don't know, I'm planning to give up smoking… (and take to XXX)."

Shahrukh Khan’s KKR-all set to rock this year’s IPL

If you think that KKR’s disastrous result in last year’s IPL has made the players and the owner –Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan go underground, be ready to face a pleasant surprise.Khan,unnerved by last year’s performance, has high hopes for his team this year.

The energetic actor is believed to have said that the team has moved on and all are set to rock this year’s IPL.The players are ready for new challenges and are working really hard to win this year’s IPL.

Khan revealed that they have brought changes in many departments-including administrations, staff and colour.He jokingly remarked that the owner, however, remains unchanged.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly added that they are now focusing on playing freely, because that is what is most important. Enjoying the game and keeping it simple is the key.

Khan had commented that he needs to take the IPL trophy this year so that he can prove to the world and to himself that his choice of team was absolutely right.

Even though the result of the KKR team in the last two seasons did not manage to bring a smile on the face of the owner, Khan refuses to lose his optimism and jest. He admitted that they did mistakes in the past and he could not make a cohesive team, but all that is past now.