Lets talk VFX , baby!

It’s been Shah Rukh Khan’s long-cherished dream to do an Indian Spiderman, a gift to his son Aryan who’s a big FX/SRK fan. He has chosen Anubhav Sinha to direct what will unarguably be the most expensive film ever produced in India.

It will not be an animation film, as reported earlier, but a feature film starring King Khan and a 12-year-old protagonist and will be produced by Red Chillies Entertainment.
A hunt is on for the boy who will get the dream opportunity of being part of Shah Rukh’s fantasy of donning a cape and flying across the sky at super-speed.

Actively there

Shah Rukh is actively collaborating with director Sinha in the writing of the script. The idea given by the director to SRK is based on gizmos, computer games and a super-hero on the lines of Spiderman, and is being worked on by SRK.

Whether he’ll finally take credit for the screenplay or not remains to be seen. At the moment, all systems are geared to start work on his most expensive project before 2008 ends.

SRK surprises

Sinha says, “I’m surprised at how accessible Shah Rukh is to me. I was always given the impression that he likes to work with directors with whom he already has a certain comfort level. Shah Rukh didn’t know me at all. But he’s all there for our film together.”

A year’s work

Anubhav says that talks between Shah Rukh and him have been on for nearly a year. “But in the last three months, we’ve been meeting very seriously, thanks to a common friend (journalist Mustaq Sheikh).”

“Yes, it’s an FX–driven fantasy for children and the child within every person, on the lines of Spiderman. It’s definitely NOT an animation film, as wrongly reported”, reveals the director of the Dus and Cash as he gears up for the biggest challenge of his career.

Mid-Day

Shah Rukh Buys 'Team Kolkata' for $ 5 Million

Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Vijay Mallya, celebrity owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, on Wednesday said it was natural that Indian players went for huge premiums as they were in a position to attract huge crowd to the playgrounds.

The IPL tournaments open in Bangalore on April 18 and the final will be held in Mumbai on June 1.

India's young stars like Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa and Ishant Sharma emerged brighter than the bigger and more established players from across the cricketing world. They were sought after like hot cakes by the eight-franchisee owner-bidders at the auction here Wednesday.

At a jam-packed media interaction in Hotel Hilton shortly after the end of the marathon auction sessions of IPL, the trio assured that the tournaments have been designed to ensure high international standards.

"This tournament will be in the same standards of the English premier league and it will be a huge success," Mallya said.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh, who owns the Kolkata team, said he was not so much worried about the returns from his team. "I am not sure of what the returns will be. But it's a passion for me and I have full faith in my instincts," he said.

Preity, the bubbly film diva, appeared pleased with the outcome of her Mohali "catches" and endorsed Khan's opinions while talking about her passion for the gentleman's game.

In fact, even IPL chairman Lalit Modi expressed his pleasant surprise over the good rates commanded by Indian players vis-à-vis their foreign counterparts. "I can just say that this is good for the Indian players," Modi observed.

Stalwarts like Ricky Ponting (Kolkata) and Stephen Fleming (Chennai) were bought for $400,000 and $350,000 respectively even as Indian youngsters far outpaced them in the bidding figures.

Several others like Glenn McGrath, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Ramnaresh Sarwan and S Chanderpaul had to undergo the ignominy of remaining "unsold" in the initial rounds.

This is what Shah Rukh spend on his Kolkata team :

Sourav Ganguly India Icon
Ishant Sharma India 950,000
Chris Gayle West Indies 800,000
Brendon McCullum New Zealand 700,000
David Hussey Australia 625,000
Shoaib Akhtar Pakistan 425,000
Murali Kartik India 425,000
Ricky Ponting Australia 400,000
Ajit Agarkar India 350,000
Umar Gul Pakistan 150,000
Tatenda Taibu Zimbabwean 125,000

Sify India

SRK Maintains his Position on Power List 2007

Proving once again that the golden levers of power in Bollywood are really behind the screen and not on it, the father-son team of Yash and Aditya Chopra have, for the third year in a row, come out at the top of the Filmfare Power List.

The Filmfare Power 2007 survey was conducted by AC Nielsen-ORG MARG, the largest market research and information company in South Asia. Respondents included actors, technicians, financiers, distributors, exhibitors and photographers. The results have some major surprises and some rude shocks in store.

Following the Chopras is Shah Rukh Khan, who maintained his No 2 position, riding largely on the success of his home production Om Shanti Om and the Chopras' Chak De , the two biggest grossers of the last year.

At No 3, in a surprise elevation is Akshay Kumar, who had not two but four hits in 2007 - Namastey London , Heyy Babyy , Bhool Bhulaiyya and Welcome .

Amitabh Bachchan, No 3 last year, has slipped four notches to No 7, and is now only one ahead of his pretty daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Bachchan. Between Akshay and Amitabh is the solid bankable quotient - Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and A R Rahman. Aishwarya, who leads among the heroines, has pipped Rani Mukerji, who is a hair's breadth below at No 9.

Karan Johar may have sat the year out as far as film-making goes but his natty turn as television anchor in Koffee With Karan has won him the hamper at No 10, ousting in the process the more productive competition.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Saawariya and Vidhu Vinod Chopra Eklavya don't seem to have cut the mustard, with their lavish productions having failed to stir the box office.

According to Filmfare, the criteria that decides the winners include factors like their box-office draw, their ability to generate funds for others, and their ability to call the shots no matter what.

Which perhaps explains why Yash and Aditya Chopra, who gave the country an anthem of sorts of with Chak De India , were catapulted to top spot despite four damp squibs - Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle .

Times Of India

Will King Khan Quit from Bollywood ?

It has been reported in the Indian press that Shah Rukh is building himself a bungalow in New Delhi, near the posh Jor Bagh area, fuelling rumors that he could well be thinking of retiring from movies and settling to a quite life - back in his hometown.

The house is being built exactly opposite from where his late mother used to run a restaurant during his school days. Many top names currently reside in this area, including Mahindras, Mittals, and Nandas.

If this is true… then this would be Shah Rukh Khan's third 'Mannat', as he has one in Mumbai and another in Dubai.

What if the rumors do intend to be true… would you be able to live without a regular dose of King Khan films?

Should Shah Rukh Khan retire from making movies while he is at the top… or does he have a few years to go…?

Rajiv Dutta, India Target

Shah Rukh-Farah Accused of Plagiarism

Farah Khan has delivered three healthy babies but we hear that it wasn't the easiest pregnancy. She couldn't put her head on the pillow for the last trimester of her pregnancy. Fashion writer Ajay Monga has been knocking her doors and demanding Rs 1.25 crores for alleged copyright violation. According to Monga, Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan (producers of Om Shanti Om) have copied the first half of OSO from a script which he handed over to King Khan's office.

Monga is hell bent on getting his due and is even taking his battle to court. Monga tells us, “Yes, I demanded Rs 1.25 crore from Red Chillies but nothing moved ahead. So, I went to Cine Writers' Association, but that too to no avail. The Cine Writers' Association agreed that the first half of OSO was similar to my script. However, they did not take any action against Farah and SRK. I am not giving up and am taking this complaint to a legal level.”

Raj Joshi (of Cine Writers Association) says that he saw OSO and compared Monga's script. “There are similarities but it's not a straight lift. That does not tantamount to copying. Hence, we did not entertain the complaint further.”

However Monga says, “The similarities are not few but many. The second half is a mixture of Karz and Madhumati. But people don't know that Mushtaq has not conceived (OSO writer) the first half either. It's lifted from the script, which I wanted to cast SRK for. Not only many instances in the first half, but the plot too revolves around a male wannabe and a female superstar.”

What did he want to cast SRK for? Monga replies, “I wrote a story for which I appointed a director and we decided to cast Vikram. But that did not happen. Then I thought of making the same film with SRK. That is when I gave my script to Sushma, the then secretary of SRK. This was much before OSO went on the floors.”

Monga adds, “I was shocked when I saw OSO. I called up Farah, but she did not talk much at that point since she was pregnant. Red Chillies heard me out and said that they would solve the matter. However, they kept dilly-dallying and sent me to Juhi Chawla's brother Bobby Chawla. Bobby did not take me seriously.”

When contacted, Farah said that she was aware that Monga had demanded Rs 1.25 crore. She added irritatedly, “However, we are not fools to pay him any money. I don't even know when he gave a script to Red Chillies and what it contained. Yes, he did meet Bobby Chawla, but his claims are all false. And why blame Mushtaq? Mushtaq was brought in much later after I had conceived the entire story.”

Well let's hope Monga does not have to wait for re-incarnation to sort this out!

Vickey Lalwani, Mumbai Mirror

OSO-Saawariya War to Continue

It seems the embers of the fireworks of last Diwali have not died down, just yet. Even as one thought enough newsprint had been dedicated to the coverage of the ‘clash’ between Om Shanti Om and Saawariya, it seems the next round of the duel is about to begin.

The makers of both mega-budget movies have decided to release the home video versions of the two films around the same time.

Slated to hit the shelves this week, the DVDs and VCDs of both these films will relive the hype and hoopla that reverberated beyond Tinseltown.

So although there isn’t any real need to bring on the story about the eventual winner, all this while it seemed that the dust had settled on it.

And like SRK’s character says in Om Shanti Om, “picture abhi baaqi hai dost”.

SRK woos Shoaib

The Rawalpindi Express is gearing up to thunder over the Indian cricket scene in a big way. Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is in Mumbai to meet Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who is also the owner of the Kolkata IPL team.

On Monday night, Shoaib met King Khan at his Bandstand bungalow, Mannat and another meeting is scheduled for later. Shoaib is currently staying at the Hilton Towers and will be in the city for eight days.

A well-placed source in the industry, who is close to Shoaib, says, “Shah Rukh will definitely offer Shoaib a bomb of a price to be on his team. However, both are unlikely to disagree over money as they go back a long way. Shoaib and Shah Rukh are very friendly and have interacted with each other on more than one occasion.”

The source adds, “Shah Rukh has made it clear to all his associates that he wants very fiery players on his team; players who will only play to win."

Shoaib has already met with Shah Rukh’s associates and team members. Sources say that Shoaib is also eager to meet with Sanjay Dutt while he is in Mumbai. He apparently called Dutt as soon as he landed on Monday morning and Dutt has agreed to meet him.

Meanwhile, prospective Kolkata IPL skipper Sourav Ganguly said on Sunday that there was no question of IPL games moving out of Eden Garden. Ganguly capped the controversy regarding IPL matches in Kolkata, saying, “There is no question of the matches being played anywhere else.” Asked about the demands made by the members for tickets, he said, “The Cricket Association of Bengal will get Rs 10 crore. If the members don’t agree, buy them tickets with that money.”

Indian Premier League commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi threatened CAB that the Kolkata team would be withdrawn and brought to Ahmedabad if CAB does not adhere to the rules and regulations of the glitzy event set to roll out in April this year. Modi’s terse four-line reply was in response to a number of queries raised by CAB president Prasoon Mukherjee. One of the key points raised was allotment of tickets.

Spinner Mohammad Rafique, who will retire when Bangladesh’s home series against South Africa ends in March, has evinced interest in playing for Kolkata, but has said he will wait before making a final decision.

Ganguly is apparently in talks with hard-hitting Australian batsman Adam Gilchrist on Shah Rukh’s behalf to rope him in for the team.

Before reaching his hotel on Monday morning, Shoaib Akhtar headed straight for Haji Ali Dargah where he offered a chadar of Rs 5,000.

Shah Rukh has made it clear to all his associates that he wants very fiery players on his team; players who will only play to win, says source close to Shoaib Akhtar.

Mumbai Mirror

You can call me King Khan or an idiotic actor : SRK

In Delhi for the promotion of his new TV show, Shah Rukh Khan talks to Madhur Tankha about his association with the small screen.

For someone who has kept the cash registers at the box-office ringing for over a decade and a half, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan asserts that there is no formula that guarantees a hit.

The charismatic actor, who came calling to the Capital this past week to promote his show “Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?” on Star Plus, says he has evolved as an actor over the years. “Having acted in so many movies, I have come to realise that forceful acting is not necessary. So I am taking it easy like I did in ‘Chak De India’ that became such a huge hit.”

Entertaining the masses is the actor’s primary objective, whether on the big screen or the small one. “I started my innings on television. While I have given a nod to television shows like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?’ I will not appear in soap operas as they are too time consuming. Even television shows are very exhausting as you have to do them all in one take.”

Shah Rukh is unfazed by criticism of his style of acting. “I have passed the age when you start to get angry. You can call me King Khan or an idiotic actor but I won’t mind. There are certain scenes of mine in which I would award myself 11 marks out of 10, but overall I would give myself 4 or 5 points..”

As the race for the Filmfare awards enters the home stretch with child actor Darsheel Safary of “Taare Zameen Par” being nominated along with Shah Rukh, the superstar is not unduly bothered. “I cannot comment on Darsheel’s performance as I haven’t seen the film. Aamir has told me to watch it and whenever I get time I will.”

Dismissing speculation that he is one of the main actors along with Amitabh Bachchan in Ravi Chopra’s “Bhootnath”, Shah Rukh says he only has a five-minute role. “I’ve done the role for director Vivek Sharma, who is employed in my company, and producer Ravi Chopra, who is like family to me. I have two other films lined up besides an animation. I will be doing Aditya Chopra’s film in May.”

Shah Rukh feels that children should not be encouraged to host television shows. “I don’t think it is reasonable to expect them to work round-the-clock and then catch up on sleep in the early hours of morning and also attend school. It would be a type of child labour, and personally I don’t think such things should be tried.”

The 42-year-old actor says he wants to focus only on core competence in his company: “Initially we wanted to make films that we believed in and not just for the money. Then films like ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ and now ‘Om Shanti Om’ became hits. In Red Chillies Entertainment, my employee strength has swelled. So it is self-sustaining. As I don’t want to share my creativity, I will not be collaborating with an international company in making films.”

Giving his take on the war of words between the Bachchans and Raj Thackeray, the superstar says: “Well, both Raj and Amitji are friends. I think the trouble being witnessed on the streets of Mumbai has to do with the fact that there are certain people who have their own political agendas.

The Hindu

SRK causes massive stampede in London

Shah Rukh Khan gave proof of his crowd-pulling ability in London when his presence at the Zee Carnival caused a stampede and police prevented entry into the venue sending thousands of ticket-holding fans home.

Fans of the Bollywood star converged on Olympia to catch a glimpse of their idol from early Saturday morning and by 4 pm the hall was heaving, forcing security to shut the gates preventing any more fans from coming in.

Van loads of Metropolitan police formed a ring round the venue to hold the crowds back. Amid pushing and shoving, irate fans who had bought tickets in advance fought and jostled with the police in the hope that they would be allowed in to see the star. Inside the hall, security guards closed the main doors as fans pushed and argued with them to open the gates.

Zee holds its annual three-day extravaganza at the capital’s largest and most prestigious exhibition hall, Olympia in upmarket Kensington pulling crowds of more than 30,000 daily from all over the UK and Europe. The mela-like atmosphere with 100 odd stalls selling everything from Indian food, clothes, jewellery, property, hair care, etc. all under one roof, is peppered with stage appearances by Indian TV stars and Bollywood personalities. In the past Rani Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra and Arjun Rampal have appeared at the Zee Carnival but have not caused such scenes. “Shah Rukh is certainly the biggest star we have had at the Carnival since we began three year’s ago and advance tickets have been selling faster than we can get them to our agents,” a Zee official told DNA.

Olympia has a total capacity of 12,000 at any given time and Zee sells around 30,000 tickets per day with the expectation that there is a steady flow of patrons. However, this year because of Shah Rukh’s appearance, all 30,000 ticket holders wanted to be in the hall at the same time.

“The queues were going all round the outside of Olympia and up Kensington high street. All those who came early, just wouldn’t leave and so we were prevented from entering, even though we have tickets,” said a disappointed fan who had come all the way from Holland.

“There is nothing we can do, this is a health and safety issue and it is the police who closed the venue, we are powerless against them,” explained an apologetic Zee official.

Sajeda Momin, DNAIndia

Yeh Hai 'Youngistaan' Meri Jaan

Pepsi is launching its new campaign for 2008 featuring three brand ambassadors - Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in a refreshingly new light.

Developed by JWT, the campaign is dubbed "Youngistaan." This, according to the company, is "but an attitude."

The mega initiative is being supported by a 360-degree activation across television, radio, outdoor, modern trade, web and wireless.


Clearly targetting the youth, the campaign will begin a dialogue with its consumers by unbottling their imagination of what "Youngistaan" means to them.

An official statement says, "As the name suggests, it represents a world of the youth, where the young generation likes to be in control. It brings forward their never-failing attitude, their desire to take on challenges and the power to turn things around.

"The new campaign attempts to capture not only the youth attitude of today but also the great sense of optimism, success and buzz about India and the Indian youth."

The first of this zestful campaign will break on 17 February, and is summed up through its catchy tagline - "Yeh Hai Youngistaan Meri Jaan."

PepsiCo India executive director of marketing Punita Lal said, "The Youngistaan idea captures the energy, excitement and irreverence of the young, confident India. This is a big idea that brand Pepsi will leverage to connect with a whole new generation."

Lal is confident that the expression "Yeh Hai Youngistaan Meri Jaan" will resonate very well with the Indian youth. "It speaks their emotion, in their language," she said.

PepsiCo India's EVP of marketing (cola) Sandeep Singh Arora said, "Only Pepsi as the leader of youth values has the scale and guts to brand this generation, to celebrate their attitude and their achievements, and give them a rallying cry to go out and make things happen."
JWT VP Hari Krishnan said, "Youngistaan is a feeling that is racing through every youthful nerve in the country today. Brand Pepsi will simply tap this energy and help the youth express this emotion."

The expression is simple, light hearted and versatile "in true Pepsi style," added Krishnan.

The new brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor says, "I am young, I believe in myself. I have dreams and I chase them. This is what Youngistaan means to me; it's a way of being, it's an attitude. In Youngistaan, I work really hard, but I party harder! Trust me, in Youngistaan somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known."

Padukone, the fresh new face of Pepsi, says, "Youngistaan is about making choices and where life has endless possibilities. As a part of being a Youngistaani, it's not about where I am but about thinking fun, thinking big! It's about just being yourself and being confident."

Long-time Pepsi brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan said, "Youngistaan to me is a state of feeling young at heart. The first aspect of being a part of Youngistaan or having that state of heart is to believe that the best gift in life is life itself. I think you need to be successful, work hard, spread happiness and live life to the fullest. Yeh hai Youngistaan meri jaan."

Indian Television