Shah Rukh in the Hot Seat

When contestant Alka Tiwari’s father (she had won 10 lakhs the previous week) said, “Maine usey kaha, beta jeet ke aana, haarkar nahin,” SRK quipped, “Main apni team se yehi kehta hoon lekin woh sunte nahin...”

Obviously, despite low TRPs and his team’s ouster from the semi-finals, King Khan has certainly not lost his famed sense of humour. Our correspondent reports from the sets.

Compared to KBC, you look relaxed and seem to be enjoying yourself on Paanchvi Pass...
This show suits my temperament. KBC was a little stuck up. The drama was different. It was serious. An established show, it had a certain standard and I had to live up to the reputation. I did try to incorporate something new within the given format. On the other hand, in Paanchvi Pass... I have the freedom of moving around. The contestants are more like friends, the questions are simple and with kids around there is a lot of fun. This show should have happened first.

Though the contestants are in awe of you, they act familiar.
By now, people are used to seeing me on television as a presenter. They are friendly with me and I don't mind that at all. All of them are really sweet and nobody has ever crossed the line.

Have you been impressed by any contestant?
Yes, there was this Gujarati guy who played dandiya with gusto. He was very good with his answers. He had come from a small-town and I felt bad when he left with only 10 lakhs. Even this old lady Kusum is great, she is so lively and you saw how well she sang Abhi to main jawaan hoon. (Smiles)

Aren't there more women participants on the show?
I guess around 70 per cent participants are women. I think women give a lot of importance to education as most of them are highly qualified. There have been CAs, dentists and engineers.

Despite all the hype, the show hasn't been able to garner high TRPs like KBC, What went wrong?
Whether it's KBC or Paanchavi Pass... it is not my business to get into TRPs. Many people felt that the show was only for kids. Maybe 8 pm is not the right slot though kids may like it. I think it could have been scheduled at a later time. In any case, all these decisions are taken by Star executives. Frankly, when a show doesn't do well, you find all kinds of excuses. However, I take 70 per cent of the responsibility for the show's poor ratings. I have been paid a huge amount by Star but I am not getting the eyeballs. I heard that IPL has been a big downer for not only my show but also serials.

So, will you have a second season of Paanchvi Pass...?
This is a mini-series of 36 episodes. We have already shot 30 episodes and right now I am shooting the last schedule. We have yet to decide on Season II.

Has your involvement with IPL affected Paanchvi Pass...?
No. IPL is no work for me. I have even stopped going to watch matches played by my team. I am focussed on my show. In fact, when I was doing KBC, I was simultaneously shooting for a film.

Once IPL is over, will the ratings of your show go up?
Yes. It should fill the vacuum that IPL will leave after it's over. People who haven't sampled Paanchvi Pass... will tune into it, which should give a fillip to the show.

Sony thinks that their new show 10 Ka Dum with Salman Khan will fill that vacuum.
Well, it seems like a good show. I have seen the promos, it looks nice.

So, what's it with superstars making a beeline on TV?
I cannot comment on others. I started out on TV and am happy doing it. Television is a huge platform and now the affordability is big, that is channels can afford to pay huge money to stars.

Is your wife Gauri hosting a show for the new channel, Colours.
No. She is not doing any show.

So, what kind of shows will your company produce?
I personally am not inclined towards family socials. I prefer the “Don” kind of shows. But I don't get into the creatives of the shows. I leave it to the expertise of people who have been appointed for it. I do tell them to bring in new ideas and create novel shows.

Screen India

Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra at Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hai

"SRK is like family." - Morani

After romancing the western audiences with the Broadway style musical Miss Bollywood starring Shilpa Shetty, the Morani Brothers (Cineyug) are ushering in the first Bollywood musical titled City of Dreams in India with Ashish Gidwani Productions. The musical will premiere on June 13 in Mumbai.

For the project, budgeted above a crore, big names from tinseltown including Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and Vidya Balan have been roped in.

Co-producer and director Mohammad Morani says, “We’ve been in the industry for 25 years. We’ve taken musical tours abroad. Now, we want to introduce this genre in India.”

According to Nasreen aka Lucky Morani (wife of Mohammed Morani), who is playing the female protagonist; the storyline revolves around the struggles that a small-town aspirant goes through before establishing a foothold in Bollywood. She says, “It is a marriage of theatre and Bollywood. The storyline has
Bollywood as the backdrop. We are weaving it with the best of dance-drama.”

The stars will be acting as narrators. Though they will not perform live, their parts will be presented as audio-visuals. Roping in SRK was easy, admits Morani. He says, “SRK is like family. The script is similar to what he went through during his teething days in Bollywood. Since SRK has a strong theatre background, he will do the starting sequence. The male protagonist in the play is loosely based on SRK and has been named King Kapoor. To represent the Kapoor dynasty we are in talks with Ranbir Kapoor.”

Nasreen also adds, “Bollywood is a world of mystery. A common man wants to know about what goes on behind the scenes. Our musical is a portrayal of that. The big budget for the musical has been primarily channeled into sets and costumes to give it a larger-than-life feel.”

Co-producer Ashwin Gidwani reveals that the musical will go abroad next year. It will tour the Gulf, Far East, Germany, UK and the US. The sets have been designed by Umang Kumar (Saawariya and Black fame).

Sujata Chakrabarti, DnaIndia

“If Shah Rukh is my fan, I am his AC (air-conditioner),” says Lalu

Fan Shah Rukh has met his AC. Lalu Prasad, equally at ease preaching rural brethren on caste issues and lecturing IIM students on the turnaround of Indian Railways, today took the test to see if he was smarter than a fifth-grader during a guest appearance on Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain, the quiz show hosted by King Khan.

The show on STAR Plus has so far had indifferent response, primarily because of the IPL T20 league, which ate into its viewership, but the channel and its producers are banking on the ratings picking up once the tournament gets over on Sunday.

As part of the plan to bolster ratings, the producers have lined up several episodes with celebrity guests, including one with the current hot couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

But the showstopper is expected to be the one featuring Lalu Prasad.

“We have lined up a special episode for the grand finale scheduled on June 20 with Lalu Prasad, Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja,” said Anita Kaul Basu of Synergy Adlabs, which produces Paanchvi.

Lalu Prasad seems to be making a habit of appearing on such shows. Last year, the railway minister wowed audiences with his inspiring speech on music and government systems in an episode of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge on Zee TV.

Today, he charmed Shah Rukh during the shoot.

“This is the first time that I have come to an event on time and it is because of Laluji. As a star, one gets many privileges. One of them is getting to meet people like Lalu Prasad. I am his fan,” said the actor.

The minister, known for his wordplay, was so fast with his repartee that he left even the quick-witted actor speechless. “If Shah Rukh is my fan, I am his AC (air-conditioner),” he replied.

As King Khan played teacher, Lalu Prasad took a crack at questions ranging from geography — the location of Golaghar — to, of course, the railways — how many digits does the railway ticket PNR have.

He also spoke about his student days.

Later, Priyanka and debutant Baweja, who will be seen together in Love Story 2050, shot for the same episode.

Shah Rukh has filmed some episodes with celebrity guests earlier, too. “They will all be telecast after the IPL gets over. We have obviously taken a hit because of that,” said Basu.

The Telegraph India

Shah Rukh's new office coming up on Rs 56-cr plot

The actor zeroed in on the high-profile address in Khar six months ago and construction work is now on in full swing.

The plot, that sources say cost Shah Rukh Rs 56 crore, is a stone’s throw from filmmaker B R Chopra’s office building at the intersection of Ramkrishna Mission Road and 15th Cross Road at Khar (West). “The new office spread over 40,000 square feet of land will be as statuesque as one would associate with Shah Rukh Khan.

His team of graphic designers , experts and technicians will operate from the VFX Studio in this office,” said a source, on condition of anonymity.

Shah Rukh currently conducts business for Red Chillies Entertainment from his offices in his Bandra bungalow and in Lokhandwala, Andheri (W).

Shah Rukh is also taking a keen interest in how his new office is shaping up. According to sources, Shah Rukh regularly visits the property to check the progress on the construction work; he was spotted there at 5 am on Thursday.

“He visits the property at odd hours to check the progress so that he does not attract too much attention,” said a source.

Khan purchased the land from Girish and Nanjibhai Patel of Option Developers. “We were planning to build a residential complex on this plot. But when Shah Rukh Khan approached us, we decided to sell it to him. The deal was sealed around six months ago,” said Girish Patel.

However, construction work on the office began only around a couple of months ago. The property initially belonged to a trust formed by a Catholic Community.

The land, popularly known as ‘Watch Tower’ in the area housed a ground plus two storey prayer hall with a watch tower. It was purchased by Option Developers in 2007.

'Don 2' Plans finally revealed

After speculations, it is finally revealed that Priyanka Chopra has been signed to play the lead again opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Farhan Akhtar's Don 2. Not just Priyanka, even Arjun Rampal and Boman Irani have been signed on to play key roles in the film.

We contacted producer Ritesh Sidhwani, who confirmed the news. He said, "Yes Priyanka has been signed opposite Shah Rukh in Don 2. It is a sequel obviously and when we locked the story and the screenplay, we knew that we needed Priyanka for the film. Similarly, we have also signed on Boman Irani and Arjun Rampal."

However Ritesh is not willing to divulge any further. He added, "The story is indeed ready and everyone is pretty excited about the film. We will start shooting mid next year and we are looking for April 2010 release, so what’s the point talking about the film right now? All I can say is that the film will take off from where Don ended.”

In the final twist in Don, it emerges that the real Don is still alive, and was pretending to be Vijay who he killed and replaced while in the hospital. It was actually Vijay who had died in the hospital. In the end both Don and his girlfriend Anita (Ishaa Koppikar) escape, leaving the police bewildered. Critics believed that this twist was done to setup a possible sequel.

Kunal.M.Shah, Mumbai Mirror

I am waiting for you Shahrukh, says Yash Chopra

Yash Chopra is keen to get behind the camera for his directorial comeback. Accord-ing to rumours, Chopra has a script and wants his two favourites, Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, to play the lead roles in the film.

A source reveals, “Yashji has been working on a script for quite some time now. The movie has the same tone as all his previous love stories; however, this one has a mature undertone. Beta Aditya has co-written the script. Yashji wanted to start his film before his son’s but Adi started shooting for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, earlier this month. This happened because the actors Chopra Sr wants for the project could give him the dates.”

SRK’s dates were with Karan Johar, but later those dates were given away to Adi .

The source continues, “Madhuri told Yashji to shoot the film in the US, as she wants to be close to her family. She doesn’t want to travel back to India. During the making of Aaja Nachle, Yash Raj Films built a crèche at the studio, so she could have her kids with her at all times. However this time, Madhuri feels that her kids will be happier in their environment rather than in India. That wasn’t possible, and Yashji had to put his plans on hold. He now wants to oversee his next mega film RNBDJ before starting his project.”

A spokesperson for Yash Raj Films says, “Yashji is definitely planning his next film. In all probability, the film will go on the floors next year. We haven’t decided who to cast as the movie is in scripting stages. As far as Madhuri being approached by us to do this film, it’s not true. He didn’t even meet her while she in town a few weeks back.”

Amul Sharma, Mid-Day

The Biggest Clash of the year 2008

Aamir Khan’s long-in-the-making Ghajini has now been further pushed back by two months. The film was initially supposed to hit cinemas by October 3 but will now release on December 12, the same date as Aditya Chopra’s much talked about Rab Ne Banaa Di Jodi, which stars Shah Rukh Khan.

An industry insider reveals, “Aamir Khan’s film has been in the making for over two years now. But it’s far from being complete. Aamir has only recently shaved his head off for the film but he couldn’t complete the schedule as he pulled his hamstring during shooting and was advised complete bed rest for five weeks, which added to the delay. Initially, the film was to be make it to theatres by October and clash with Salman Khan’s Wanted Dead Or Alive. But now because of the delay, the film has finally been pushed to December 12 where Aamir will clash with another Khan: Shah Rukh Khan in Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Banaa Di Jodi.”

The source further adds, “Aamir was very keen on releasing Ghajini in December. Last year, Taare Zameen Par was released around the same time. The actor is superstitious about the timing.”

Industry insiders feel that Aamir is just adding more fuel to his supposed feud with Shah Rukh Khan, “Didn’t he just make a dig at Shah Rukh recently on his blog? And now, he’s getting his release date pushed to clash with Shah Rukh. Whatever happens it is going to generate a lot of curiosity for both the projects.”

Ghajini director, A R Murugadoss remained unavailable for a comment.

Amul Sharma, Mid-Day

SRK launches India - The Entertainment and Media Hub 2008

Failures make me more determined to succeed: Shah Rukh Khan

Talking to reporters here, Shah Rukh said, "I did my job with lot of passion. At the end of the day, it is just a sport. At the start of the IPL, it was said that the concept will not succeed. But, as the tournament progressed, the success is all to be seen. I am glad I am part of it. I don't like failures. The more I fail makes me more determined to succeed. I will make sure that I don't lose again," he said.

He said of the 60 odd films that he has done in his entire career, only 20 have succeeded. SRK also said that he will not be part of the three IIFA weekend beginning from June six.

"These are summer holidays for my children. I am keen to spend time with them rather than going to a foreign country for three days. My absence has nothing to do with Mr Amitabh Bachchan as it is being reported in the media in the last few years," he said.

Earlier, he released ASSOCHAM's study on "India: the entertainment and Media hub". His company Red Chilles E Etertainment was enrolled as the member of the ASSOCHAM.

The Hindu