Shahrukh Khan at JAI JAGANNATH Premiere

In an attempt to introduce different genres of films to patrons, Cinemax associated with the much-awaited mythological movie JAI JAGANNATH in a big way! Cinemax not only hosted the premiere but also conducted the music launch for the film in 15 different languages for the very first time in history. All this was held in the magnificent foyer of Cinemax Versova. Making the event even grander were luminaries such as Shah Rukh Khan along with his wife Gauri, Mani Ratnam and Shankar attending the event.

To launch the movie’s music in an extraordinary manner, Cinemax presented a beautifully organized skit with God’s favourite “Naradmuni” as the host. For every new language, Naradmuni, famous for his wit and humour, invited a different celebrity guest present to release the melodious tunes.

Mr. Devang Sampat, Vice President, Marketing & Programming, CINEMAX, said, “Cinemax has hosted different genres of films till date but this is our first experience with a mythological film. India being a very religious country, mythological movies hold a very special place in the hearts of people. Another highlight of this event, which makes it unique and unusual, is that for the first time, in the history of events, a Music Launch is being hosted immediately to be followed by a Premiere! And of course, we are immensely pleased to welcome King Khan, Mani Ratnam along with Shankar at our property.”

Shahrukh Khan's New Look

Not only has King Khan lost oodles of weight, he’s got a new, messy haircut too!

Just what’s happening to all our stars! After Kareena Kapoor, John Abraham and several other actors, ShahRukh Khan too seems to be aiming for size 0.

King Khan had already lost most of the flab for his character in ‘Don’, but now it seems he is losing even more weight, add to that his new messy haircut (which, we must admit, makes him look quite yummy!).

Well, new look or not, the actor has certainly not lost his star appeal abroad. Khan fever swept the UK as thousands of dedicated fans queued for many hours to get a glimpse and chance to meet their favourite star at the fourth Asian Lifestyle Show in Olympia, London.
Not even the UK’s biggest sports weekend, Wimbledon tennis finals, the British F1 Grand Prix, Tour de France, live earth concert and all the road closures around London, could put people off coming to see the King Khan.

His fans got the opportunity to get up close and personal as he signed autographs, appeared on the two huge stages at the venue, charmed and inter-acted with the crowds, enacted his favourite film dialogues from his recent blockbuster ‘DON’, a scene from ‘Devdas’, and even sung a few lines from his all time favourite movie ‘Dilwale Dulhania...’ .

Any doubts now as to why he’s still Bollywood’s Baadshah!

ShahRukh Khan carries his laptop wherever he goes

But a birdie near his Bandra abode tells us that SRK has two e-mail IDs — one is an old Hotmail account that he uses for professional reasons, while the other is a Mac account purely for personal contacts.

Apparently, SRK is very protective about this ID and only gives it out to friends and close acquaintances.

So where does that leave his zillions of fans?

Sorry darlings, but you’ll just have to make do with his personal website!

Work starts on Shah Rukh Khan's Sci Fi film

Director Shirish Kunder has started work on a Sci Fi film that will feature Shah Rukh Khan in the lead, most probably as a super hero.

When asked how it felt to be directing Khan, Kunder said, "He is the coolest star I have worked with so far."

Kunder made his directorial debut with the musical Janeman (2006) featuring Salman Khan, Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar in the lead. The film, whose production was marred by differences between Salman and Kunder, had a long production run and eventually bombed at the box office.

Kunder is the husband of Shah Rukh Khan's business partner, choreographer Farah Khan. He has earlier edited two films for Khan's home productions, Red Chillies Entertainment - Main Hoon Naa (2004) and Om Shanti Om. The latter is in post production.

With Hrithik having already made his mark as India's first super hero with Krrish , and Abhishek Bachchan firmly sitting in the superheroes bandwagon with the in production Goldie Behl's Drona, there is an urgency for Shah Rukh Khan to catch up.

SRK may easily do that because he has one big advantage - He owns a state-of-the-art VFX studio with a team of 40 world class professionals, a combination that is probably the best in the country.

Recently it was reported that entertainment colossus Walt Disney Pictures is set to invest a whopping $30 million in the studio.

In the past SRK's VFX team has worked on Main Hoon Na, Paheli and more recently, Don.

Shah Rukh to make an appearance in Sajid's directorial debut

On Monday there was a very hush-hush post-completion spot of extra-special shooting for Sajid Khan who’s much-talked about take on Leonard Nimoy's Three Men & A Baby entitled Heyy Babyy is being readied for release.

However one song accompanied by a few comic scenes had been left behind. Says a source, "Sajid wanted Shah Rukh to make an appearance in his directorial debut. After all, his sister Farah Khan has directed both her films with SRK in the lead. When Sajid requested Shah Rukh to put in a guest appearance in Heyy Babyy, SRK agreed without a second thought. His only condition was that Sajid would have to wait until SRK returned from his family holiday in London."

The minute SRK returned to Mumbai he allotted the dates to the anxious debutant director.

SRK's comic scenes and songs with Anupam Kher were shot at Film City from Monday onwards. Anupam and Shah Rukh had created a very special chemistry in Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Mahesh Bhatt's Chahat and Amol Palekar's Paheli. Apparently Sajid has tried to create the same crackling and cackling chemistry in the Kher-Khan scenes.

Says the source, "The crew was in splits watching the duo's antics. The unit had a ball on Monday at Film City. Anupam and Shah Rukh added to Sajid Khan equaled a laugh riot. Loud laughter and grand guffaws kept emanating from the studio floors where they were shooting."

Shah Rukh Khan is the king and he has no close competition

It pays to be a Shah Rukh Khan, more today than ever before! Why? Because Shah Rukh as an actor-producer is minting money like nobody else! On a very realistic estimate, his home production, 'Om Shanti Om', starring himself, must have cost Rs. 35 crore to make.

Now to the revenues. There are several corporates bidding for the worldwide distribution rights of the film, directed by Farah Khan, but the highest bid is by Eros and is said to be in the region of Rs. 55 crore. Add to that around Rs. 6 to 8 crore for audio rights and another Rs. 14-15 crore for satellite and other electronic rights, and you have a recovery of over Rs. 75 crore on the table, before release! That means, it's a straight doubling of investment and even more.

This arithmetic is making other top actors go crazy. Reportedly, a couple of them have decided to further hike their already high prices. But everybody needs to understand some things about Shah Rukh Khan and 'Om Shanti Om' clearly. One is that Shah Rukh Khan's popularity in the Overseas territory is unmatched.

Therefore, the price an SRK starrer commands for overseas circuit is one that no other hero can dream of. Secondly, on the satellite and DVD circuit too, Shah Rukh Khan is the king and he has no close competition.

Given this mathematics, it doesn't make economic sense for Shah Rukh Khan to act in any other banner's film except his own. Of course, exceptions for close friends like Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra will always be made.

"Chak De India" with "Partner"

As we had told you last week, the trailor of Yash Raj's CHAKDE! INDIA, which made its first appearance in the prints of their JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM, released last month, did not find much appreciation, as per a section of the media.

Also the fact that JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM has now been removed from most theaters (after its dismal third week run) means that the CHAKDE! INDIA promo won't be able to get the type of coverage that Yash Raj wanted.

We now hear that the new follow-up trailor of CHAKDE! INDIA may be included in the reels of David Dhawan's Govinda, Salman, Lara and Katrina starrer, PARTNER, which is expected to open to bumper houses on 20th July.

While on CHAKDE! INDIA, the Shimit Amin directed, Shah Rukh Khan starrer will be released / distributed by Yash Raj all over on August 10.

Karan Johar's Next Film Titled "Khan"

Shahrukh Khan has always been a part of Karan Johar’s films and he will be seen in the latest venture too. However Karan has pulled a coup of sorts by finally roping in the reluctant Kajol as she was not very keen to take up a film which will be shot outside the country as that would mean being away from her daughter for a long period. SRK and Kajol have shared great chemistry in their earlier films and once more Karan hopes to capture that magic in his new venture titled ‘Khan’. The film has been tentatively titled ‘Khan’.

However it was not an easy feat for Karan to convince Kajol about taking up the film. Kajol is not worried about her film career now; she is happily enjoying motherhood and wants to be there for her daughter whilst she is growing up. Kajol in fact has not signed up too many film projects for this reason. Meanwhile Karan’s film ‘Khan’ definitely has a unique title and one wonders if it has anything to with his fixation for Shahrukh Khan. According to sources though Karan is keeping the subject of the film extremely secretive but he has conducted plenty of research regarding social issues, including safety issues and terrorism at NGO’s in the US. Supposedly SRK and Kajol will play husband and wife in the film and it will be shot in New York.

Kajol is currently busy with hubby Ajay Devgan’s directorial venture in which they will be seen together. Kajol and Ajay have also been fianlised to play Ram and Sita in Rajkumar Santoshi’s mega budget project Ramayan. Since Kads already has her plate full, she was reluctant to do Karan’s film. But in the end Karan managed to convince the actress by using a bit of emotional blackmail claiming that he would not make the film at all without her. Well that settled it for Kajol who is also a good friend of Karan's and she agreed to do the film.

Meanwhile SRK will also be doing another film for his home production to be directed by Shirish Kunder. After working with Farah again for his home production Om Shanti Om, he decided to work with her husband director Shirish. The movie will be a mega-budget film and has been titled ‘Joker’. It is based on science fiction and SRK will in all probability play a new kind of superhero. Well move over Hrithik and Abhishek, SRK is gearing up to play a superhero . Also another book revolving around Shahrukh will hit the stands on August 9. The book titled ‘King of Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema in India’ has been authored by noted film critic Anupama Chopra.

"Super Hero" Shahrukh Khan

Shahrukh Khan is finally treading the part of his much younger contemporaries and is set to experiment with a new and varied role. Like Hrithik, SRK is soon set to play a superhero. SRK is in talks with director Shirish Kunder to produce and star in a sci-fi film that will most likely have him play a superhero. The film’s storyline and script is being researched and readied for taking off next year. As for this year, SRK will soon be seen in Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om which is based on the re-incarnation theme and Yash Raj Films Chak De India which according to sources is based on a real life story of an ex-hockey player.

According to sources Chak De India is based on the life of former hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi. The story of Chak De India depicts the life of a former hockey goalkeeper, how he was charged for match fixing after India lost to Pakistan at the Asian Games at New Delhi. Sources claim that Mir Ranjan was the dishonoured goalkeeper who was ousted from the team but later proved himself and was given a privileged position. SRK plays the dishonoured and troubled coach who goes through a struggle when he is suspected of match-fixing. However later on the ex-hockey player goes on to coach a girl’s team and brings home the gold medal. He is then restored to a position in the Hockey Federation with dignity.

Negi has given major inputs to the film to try and make it as authentic as possible. In fact Negi also plays a small role in the film and has accompanied the cast and crew to Australia to give more inputs in the sport of hockey. Negi has personally interacted with SRK sharing his personal traumatic experiences with him and many a times Negi broke down as it was quite emotional for him to re-live those painful memories when he was dishonoured. However owing to the secrecy surrounding Yash Raj Films, no cast and crew members are allowed to confirm any details regarding the storyline.

As for being the next superhero, Shahrukh will be competing with Hrithik who has already starred as a superhero in Krrish and also Abhishek Bachchan who will soon be seen playing a role akin to a superhero in Drona. SRK’s Red Chilies is slated to personally see to the SFX for this sci-fi film. Well SRK’s fans will surely be anxious to see him in a superhero avatar.

Walt Disney Pictures keen to invest in SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment

It is believed that Walt Disney Pictures, the bigwigs in the Hollywood's entertainment business, have approached Shah Rukh Khan.

The company is keen to invest in SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment.

According to sources, they want to invest $30 million in the deal. When SRK was holidaying in London with his family, it is believed that representatives of the company flew down from Hollywood to meet him and strike a deal.

Other international companies like Sony Pictures and Rupert Murdoch's company have also expressed interest in investing in Red Chillies. So far, the actor has not confirmed anything about the deal.

So one will just have to wait and watch.