SRK Romances Kajol, Bipasha, Lara, Preity and Rani

'Rab Ne Bana di Jodi' continues to be strong at BO in 2nd week: Yash Raj Films

Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'Rab Ne Bana di Jodi' has continued its successful run at the Box Office in the second week crossing the gross Rs
30 crore mark.

"After grossing a record breaking Rs 90 crore in its first week worldwide, the film has crossed beyond a phenomenal Rs 30 crore gross in its second weekend. This is by far the highest collection, even surpassing 'Dhoom 2' and 'Chak De India', both of which did outstanding business in their second week," a Yash Raj Films spokesperson said here today.

The total collections for 'Rab ne...' in India over the second weekend are Rs 24 crore gross, while the gross collections in the overseas market, where it continues with its tremendous opening week performance, during the same period are around Rs 7.5 crore (USD 1.5 million).

The gross figures for the first ten days are a staggering Rs 120 crore and more, making the film the biggest hit of 2008. With the long Christmas and New Year weekends ahead, the collections are expected to get a major boost, the spokesperson added

SRK’s ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ makes it to top ten of UK box office

Bollywood movie ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, which stars Shah Rukh Khan, has made it to the top ten of the weekend UK box office.

The film is currently at the seventh position in the list, which has been topped by Teen vampire movie ‘Twilight’, reports the BBC.

The top ten are:

1. Twilight

2. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

3. Four Christmases

4. The Day The Earth Stood Still

5. The Tale of Despereaux

6. Inkheart

7. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

8. Changeling

9. Quantum of Solace

10. Transporter 3

I am still a man of the masses: SRK

Named in Newsweek’s 50 Most Powerful People of the World list, Shah Rukh Khan says, “I think 1.2 billion Indians deserve to be there before I make it on this list.” He is “humbled”, he says, and also realises “the power of Indians and Asians around the world… that just by their love for my work, they have changed the perception of an Indian actor around the world.”

Talking to HT City from the US, where he is shooting for My Name is Khan, SRK said, “I landed in America and woke up to this news. It feels surreal and amazing to me.” He maintains that he is ‘just a representative’ of the masses. “Newsweek feels I stand for all those billion people… so actually I believe I am just a representative of all of us.”

The actor has a unique definition of power: “Power means to be able to live a life of happiness on your own terms. It means to make people smile around you at will and to be unaffected by the negativity around you.”

On Sonia Gandhi, the other Indian on the list, he says, “Her and her family’s sacrifices in the line of duty make her most deserving… a lone woman in an alien land doing so much for her country.”

SRK awarded “My Amazing Actor” Award by Pogo channel

The star studded fifth edition of India’s first kids’ television award – POGO Amazing Kids Awards 2008 was a gala affair with the underlying theme of encouraging kids’ to ‘Dream Bigger’ to realize their latent talent. A POGO original production, the POGO Amazing Kids Awards 2008 upheld the network’s tradition of discovering and recognising astoundingly young talent (24 kids) and honouring contemporary kids’ icons (6) through a voting poll with kids’ across India.

Having always encouraged kids to voice their choice, the POGO Voice Awards, empower children with the right to vote for their favourite celebrity icons. The coveted title of My Amazing Actor is won by Shah Rukh Khan. Instituted by POGO in December 2004, POGO Amazing Kids Awards is India’s first-ever kids’ television award. The Awards recognise child prodigies and reward them for their outstanding achievements in multiple areas of excellence such as arts, leadership, sports, etc. Kids were also empowered to exercise their choice, and vote for their favourite icons from the world of music, sports, movies and television.

The brain behind RNBDJ end credits? SRK, of course!

With RAB NE BANA DI JODI holding on beautifully, even in its second weekend, netting around 15 crores from India, it is now obvious that the film is on its way to being the year’s biggest hit, having netted nearly 57–58 crores already. But going by the response of the actual audience and reliable section of the trade, we had already hinted at that! However, we are not here to talk about trade aspects, rather, we want to reveal the secret about the rocking end credits of RNBDJ, which are so very interesting and humorous that they keep the audience glued to their seats, even as the film ends.

Well, the scene may have been directed and conceptualized by the genius director, Aditya Chopra but it was written by none other than the lead actor Shah Rukh Khan himself. Though Aditya has written the dialogues of RNBDJ himself, the voiceover of SRK, explaining the ‘intricacies’ of the photographs of the couple honeymooning in Japan have been written by Bollywood’s global superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Actually, Aditya had sent SRK random pictures of the couple honeymooning in different tourist spots of Japan and while SRK watched the photos on his laptop, he wrote down the lines as they came to his mind, instantly. Needless to add that Aditya was impressed with his writings and he made Shah Rukh dub the lines and incorporated the scene as the rolling end credits, which make the audience leave the theatre on a feel good note.

Well, we always knew that Shah Rukh was hugely talented, and with this he demonstrates that he has a flair for writing too!

Look who's dancing with SRK again!

In a hat-trick of sorts, Shah Rukh Khan gets the cream of Bollywood to make another special appearance in a film with him, thereby providing the audience with a starry bonus yet again.

The Bollywood Badshah did it first with Om Shanti Om last year in which he had the entire film industry — well almost, singing and dancing with him in one spectacular song.

Then, earlier this month in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, the superstar had another song in which his lovely ladies from earlier films — Bipasha Basu, Preity Zinta, Kajol and Lara Dutta — were proud to feature as his dancing partners. Now, in his next release Billoo Barber — SRK’s home production directed by Priyadarshan, the lucky actor has Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone making special appearances. Strangely, Shah Rukh himself makes only a special appearance in Billoo Barber. The hero, or the actor with the title role, is the avante garde Irrfan Khan.

Talking to BT about it, SRK, who plays a superstar in the film, laughed, “It’s a special appearance, but a substantial role.” No, he’s not playing himself. He’s playing a superstar called Sahir Khan who visits a small village to shoot a film where a struggling barber named Billoo happens to be his old school friend.
The barber and his wife (Lara Dutta) become the butt of village jokes when the rumour spreads that he knows the superstar. “I’m not playing myself yet, that I’m keeping for my old age — when I make a biopic,” joked Shah Rukh.

But, even in his substantial special appearance, he manages to squeeze in four songs and give the audience a film within a film, with the story going on location, behind the sets, peeping into green rooms, and catching all the live action, the sound and fury of a Bollywood unit at work. “It’s a space age film in a village,” explained SRK. “And, Inshallah, ready for release on February 13, 2009. Gosh, that’s a Friday the 13th! In this business, all release Fridays seem like Friday the 13th!”

POWER TO THE KING: Shah Rukh Khan is the king of Bollywood, says 'Newsweek'.

New York: Congress President Sonia Gandhi and film star Shah Rukh Khan find place among the ‘50 Most Powerful People of the World’ selected by American newsmagazine Newsweek.

US President-elect Barack Obama tops the list.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Markel, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jim Jong II are other world leaders on the list.

Newsweek has selected Sonia as the 17th most powerful leader and says Indian political scene is riven by factions, but the Congress remains the strongest national force and rules unchallenged. "In the world's largest democracy, she is the queen."

The magazine says Shah Rukh, who is No. 41 on the list, is the 'King of Bollywood'.

"It's not just that his (Khan's) romantic flicks make gazillions—it's where those gazillions come from. Khan is huge in the Muslim world, even in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the mullahs ban his films. Their main appeal is certainly the song-and-dance numbers, but Khan makes devoutly secular films where love trounces bigotry," the magazine says.

Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who controls the country’s nuclear weapons, is placed 20th on the list, which would be published in the January 2009 issue of the magazine.

Kayani, the mumbling and chain-smoking general, answers to President Asif Ali Zardari in theory, but he and his army remain the dominant power in Pakistan. "He's responsible for Pakistan's nukes; for the battle against al-Qaeda and its tribal allies along the Afghan border; and for managing tensions with neighbour India," the magazine says.

Kayani, till now, has kept the army out of politics and seems focused on the battle against 'jihadists'. "In the wake of the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Kayani stood firm on Pakistan’s sovereignty while also taking measures against the alleged sponsors of the outrage," it says.

A surprise inclusion in the list, which the magazine admits is subjective, is Osama bin Laden, the "global terrorist." He is No. 42 in the list.

The magazine says the presidency of Obama, the "intensely charismatic" Democrat, who will be inaugurated on January 20, will be judged on how he handles the economic crisis that now envelops the US and the world. "For Obama to be remembered as a great President, he has to do nothing less than rescue capitalism."

'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' The highest opening week grosser till date

Shahrukh Khan-starrer `Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' that released worldwide on December 12, has grossed Rs 90 crore in its opening week, which is on par with and in some places even higher than two of the highest opening week grossers till date, `Om Shanti Om' and `Singh Is King'.

Its producers Yash Raj Films (YRF) said `Rab Ne...' has also broken all earlier opening week collection records for Yash Raj Films, having surpassed the opening week collections of `Dhoom: 2', which is regarded as one of the highest grossing movies of all-time.

The total collections for `Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' in India are around Rs 42 crore net (gross collections were Rs 70 crore). The total gross collections for all overseas markets are over USD 4 Million (around Rs 20 crore), a YRF statement said here on Thursday.

In Middle East, `Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' has broken all previous records for first week collections, netting just under USD 1.3 million. The previous highest grossing film in the Gulf region, having a sizeable Indian population, was `Dhoom: 2', which grossed approximately USD 1.86 million across its entire run.

The Aditya Chopra-directed romantic flick, featuring newcomer Anushka Sharma, is on course to break this all-time record going into its second week, the statement said.

The film has also had a grand opening week across all overseas markets, including the UK, USA, Australia, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and features in the list of the highest grossers for the opening week in most of these territories.

"The film has the potential to finish as one of the biggest blockbusters of all-time," it said.

Shahrukh Khan at Anushka Sharma's introductory press conference