SRK Will Quit Smoking, Soon...

Much Ado About Something...
...waiting for Shah Rukh Khan to make chewing on neem-twigs sexy!

Well, here's the world and its wife's take on SmoKing SRK...

Actor Shah Rukh Khan, said in an interview that the thing he hated most about himself was his inability to stop smoking. "I know I have to. I know as a role model I shouldn't be sending that message," he said. "It's a horrible habit. I have to work harder to stop."

Emily Wax, The Washington Post - Seattle Times

King Khan’s item number in Krazzy 4

Shah Rukh Khan is not flaunting his six-pack abs (that was for buddy Farah Khan, remember?) in the item number for Rakesh Roshan’s Krazzy 4, directed by Jaideep Sen.

The actor features in the song in a buttoned-up shirt though he does flaunt his ponytail.

Choreographed by Ahmed Khan, the track is Break Free Gotta Get Some Chutti sung by Vishal Dadlani and composed by Rajesh Roshan.

The promos of the song go on air this week.

Mid-Day

Shah Rukh Khan launches Zee Radio UK

KING of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan officially launched the UK’s first Bollywood radio station from ZEE Network.

It was launched at the sold-out ZEE Carnival 2008 last weekend to a rapturous response.

Shah Rukh Khan, who was the face of the sold-out, three-day extravaganza at the Olympia, London, congratulated ZEE on its new initiative.

He said: "I would take this opportunity to congratulate Zee for the launch of their new radio, Zee Radio 558 AM (and DAB). All the best Zee!! I hope you all listen to it."

He was also joined on stage by UK Top 10 sensation Jay Sean who added to the celebrations encouraging listeners to tune in.

A specially choreographed dance sequence representing the flavour of the station was presented on stage as a part of the launch.

The Asia News, UK

King Khan to play Superman

Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan is a superhero flick lover. He always wants his father to star in a feature film where he will get to see him doing some unimaginable stunts and action. So, to fulfill his son’s dream Shahrukh will very soon shed off his lover boy image and play the role of Superman.

In this flick, SRK will be seen donning a cape and flying across the sky at super-speed. Another important protagonist will be a 12 year old boy. The hunt is going for the lucky charm that will get to share screen space with SRK. The film will be produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and will be directed by Anubhav Sinha. Since, the film will include different types of computer graphics; it will be an expensive offering from the Red Chillies Entertainment.

Shahrukh is working very closely with Anubhav Sinha on the dream project of his son. Anubhav is also very excited as he will get to work with King Khan for the first time. This supernatural film is surely going to be matter of great interest among the children. Both Shahrukh and Anubhav have decided to incorporate all those things that appeal to children. The shooting of the film will start very soon and it is expected to hit the theatres before the end of 2008.

Bollywood Mantra

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”.