SRK all set to step into the shoes of 'Don' again

Audiences can get ready for Bollywood villain Don's next chase with director-actor Farhan Akhtar all ready to start shooting the sequel to his hit film "Don" from October this year.

"The next 'Don' is coming up really well. At the moment, we are into heavy pre-production for that. We would start shooting on Oct 1 or Oct 2... that's the scheduled date to start shooting for now. So we are getting there... slowly but surely. (I am) very excited about it. And I am quite certain that I'll have a great time making it and that the audience will surely enjoy it," Farhan told reporters here.

"Don - The Chase Begins" was a remake of 1978 movie "Don" that had megastar Amitabh Bachchan as the gangster. The film received a cult status and is still etched in the minds of many movie buffs.

In 2007, Farhan came out with the "Don - The Chase Begins" with Shah Rukh Khan in the title role. Now the director is set to make part two of the movie and says he will retain most of the star cast from the first instalment.

"There will be a lot of people from my previous 'Don' itself. So there will be Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Arjun Rampal and Om Puri. There are also new characters added to the script this time but they are currently being cast," he said.

Farhan was in the capital Monday to promote his movie "Karthik Calling Karthik", a thriller releasing on 500 screens Friday.

The movie is his third as an actor but Farhan says he will never give up direction.

"I would love to have a combination of both (acting and directing) in my life. I don't plan on giving up direction. I love it too much. I am getting back to it with 'Don' towards the end of this year. So it will be a combination of both things always," he said.

For the moment, Farhan can't stop praising his "Karthik Calling Karthik" co-star Deepika Padukone.

"Deepika is extremely professional which I respect a lot. She is prepared about what she needs to do through the day in advance. At the same time, she is not stubborn about having practised and visualised a scene in a certain way and then adapting it differently if asked to.

"I think as an actor, who is evolving and still growing, it's important to be a good listener. She has the ability to listen and not just be made to say the dialogues. I feel that's great."

Akon to Take on Bollywood with Role in Shahrukh Khan Starrer ‘RA One’

Talk about a Bollywood debut with a bang!

International hip-hop star Akon is set to appear in Shahrukh Khan’s and Kareena Kapoor’s upcoming sci-fi action flick "RA One."

Akon and SRK reportedly met while the King of Bollywood was in the U.S. to promote his latest movie "My Name is Khan" and the meeting went so well that Akon secured a role in the movie that is sure to be a box-office hit!

We can’t wait to see SRK, Kareena Kapoor and Akon star in the same movie! How about you? Drop us a line.

Shahrukh Khan Bonds With Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese At Berlin

Shahrukh Khan doesn’t sleep. Or so it seems. He landed in Mumbai on Thursday from Dubai after a show, but shows no sign of strain or jetlag. Just before Dubai the mega-star was in Berlin for the film festival negotiating the attention of hundreds of screaming fans.

What we don’t know is that Shahrukh met and bonded in Berlin with American auteur director Martin Scorsese and his favorite actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Says Shahrukh, “Leonardo, Martin and I spent some time together. Martin was gracious enough to remember that he had met me in Cannes way back in 2002 when I was there for Devdas. He wants to watch Devdas and I’ve promised to send it to him. I’ll do so right way.”

After the glorious performance in My Name Is Khan as a physically-disabled underdog journeying across America on a whimsical mission, Shahrukh Khan is all set to play the super-hero flying across the sky to save humanity.

True to its mythological title Ra.1 which starts shooting next month in Mumbai followed by Goa and London, will have Shahrukh combating 10 villains. Raavan according to Hindu mythology was a ten-headed demon whom Ram vanquished single-handedly.

In Ra.1 the modern-day Raavan has been turned into ten different villains whom super-hero Shahrukh, the modern-day Ram will annihilate one after another.

Shahrukh Khan seemed remarkably relaxed in Berlin on the day after his film My Name Is Khan opened in Mumbai accompanied by violent protests by the Shiv Sena.

Said Shahrukh from Berlin, “I missed the opening in Mumbai. But I believe people have liked the film. I’m being told I’m in character. That’s good to hear. Give me a character to be in, and I’m right there.”

The SRK brand of humor was intact when told that My Name Is Khan doesn’t look like a Karan Johar film. At his deadliest deadpan best SRK retorted, “Yeah, even I felt like that when I first saw it. I told Karan, ‘Arrey yaar yeh tum ne kaisi picture banayee hai?’ Actually the three ladies in our lives Hiroo Aunty (Karan’s mother Hiroo Johar), Kajol and Gauri have made this film.”

Getting serious SRK said, “I thought it would take audiences a little time to come to terms with the film. But I am glad it was well-received.”

After playing the under-dog in two successive films Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and My Name Is Khan (we aren’t counting his guest appearance in Dulha Mil Gaya) Shahrukh will be flying across the sky in Ra.1. The estimated budget of the film to be produced by Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chillies, is Rs 100 crores. And no, Kareena Kapoor won’t be joining him in midair.

She plays Shahrukh’s grounded wife and not a super-woman.

Says a source close to Ra.1, “Kareena was keen to attempt the hi-jinks with Shahrukh, especially since Agent Vinod where she had a lot of stunts has again been postponed, but in Ra.1 all the conflict involves Shahrukh and the ten villains.”

Shahrukh along with the film’s director Anubhav Sinha and journalist-writer Mushtaq Sheikh has co-written Ra.1 and will be credited as one of the writers.

The film will be in Hindi.

Says a source, “He was advised to make the film in English. But Shahrukh decided to make it in Hindi. Why should he pitch his super-hero film to the Western audience when they already have their Superman and Spiderman? Shahrukh has no aspirations of cracking Hollywood on their terms.”

The film requires the star to perform never-before heart-in-the-mouth stunts, which he’s gearing to do.

Zee Aflam Honors the Superstar Shahrukh Khan with the "Most Popular Actor Award 2010"

It was a pleasure for Zee Aflam honoring the great Bollywood superstar as the "Most Popular Actor Award 2010" in the Arab world.

Through its 1st Bollywood poll in the Arab world called "Nojoom Bollywood" Shahrukh Khan was nominated as the most popular actor by Arab audiences for the month of January 2010 conducted by Zee Aflam.

Zee Aflam is a Bollywood channel packaged in Arabic for the Arab Audience

"Nojoom Bollywood" is one of the biggest SMS driven Bollywood Poll across GCC.

The Poll was well received with over 5000 SMS votes. Shahrukh Khan was votes as the popular choice for the Arab audience.

For this purpose Zee Aflam welcomed the Bollywood superstar and our Business Head of Zee Aflam Mr. Eli Kanaan offered him the trophy of the "Most Popular Actor".

Shahrukh Khan was very happy to receive the awards and said that he is very thankful to Zee Aflam and the Arab viewers who have voted for him and shown their love for him.

SRK’s position on IPL and defence of Islam in MNIK has made him an icon in Pakistan

Inside Nishat theatre, one of Karachi’s very oldest, on the first-day-first-show of My Name is Khan, the atmosphere is electric. Ten minutes into the film, as soon as Shahrukh Khan speaks those now-famous lines, “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”, the clapping and cheering begins. And it doesn’t stop. Every gesture by Shahrukh’s character, Rizwan, unselfconsciously affirming his Muslim identity on American soil, whether it’s his habit of always saying salaam, rather than the more neutral “hi” or “hello”, praying in public or reciting verses from the Quran identifying Islam as a religion of peace, gets them cheering. The scene where he pelts an Islamic jehadi with stones for misleading the public—an echo of a Haj ritual, in which pilgrims throw stones at the “shaitan”—gets a standing ovation. And when he declares, towards the end of the film, that Khans never go back on their word, applause rings out again. It is pretty safe to conclude there are many here, among them bearded Pathans and veiled women, whose name is Khan!

MNIK, easily the biggest Indian film to release here, has taken the Pakistani engagement with Bollywood to a new level. While the elite may throng the swank Lahore multiplexes for the whole experience of the film, including the Shahrukh-Kajol dream team, and a soundtrack that boasts three Pakistani vocalists, for the masses, a protagonist unapologetic about being a Muslim, and the positive portrayal of Islam as a religion of peace are easily the main attractions. Most Pakistanis have received MNIK as they did the Pakistani-made Khuda Kay Liye—a film that stands up for Muslims when they are being victimised across the world, in the aftermath of 9/11.

"Shahrukh has washed away the sins of all films that portrayed Muslims as thugs and dons in Bollywood."

Their approval is registering at the box office. Released here on February 13, the film raked in 13.6 million Pakistani rupees in the opening weekend alone, beating the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar and 3 Idiots. Cinema owners, who feared going out of business until Pervez Musharraf agreed to allow Bollywood films to be released here, could not be more delighted. “There is only one way to describe the response to MNIK in Pakistan,” says Nadeem Mandviwalla, the beaming Nishat Cinema owner, “Unprecedented!” His company, Mandviwalla Entertainment, has bought 25 prints of the film, which are busy making money across the country. (MNIK’s box-office success will not be long-lived however, since cable operators and DVD stores are already putting out pirated copies.)

For most viewers, Shahrukh, whose popularity has soared here after he spoke up in favour of Pakistani cricketers, is the be-all and end-all of the film, and with some, his Pathan ancestry clearly helps. “I would not have expected anything less than this from Shahrukh,” said Sher Afzal Khan, a burly, bearded member of the audience, exactly the sort of man who tends to be socially ostracised in the West, and even at times in Pakistan, for looking like somebody on the FBI’s most wanted list. “Shahrukh toh original Khan hai,” he added.

Mention the fact that Shahrukh’s character in the film marries Mandira (Kajol), a Hindu and one who has clearly not been converted to Islam, something the faith disallows, and he reacts as if he has not heard. With no mention of sindoor, pheras or even a court marriage, the Muslim-Hindu marriage seems to have been dismissed as mere trivia, and has not stopped many from being deeply affected by the tale MNIK spins. “It was such a superb film,” said a middle-aged woman at the theatre, in between sniffs. Since she was veiled from head to toe, one could only see her eyes, and those red, wet eyes said it all.

Taking no chances, however, the Pakistani censor board has used its scissors on the film. Nishat’s management confirms that three scenes were snipped. One showed a caricature of Osama bin Laden falling out of a locker—apparently put there to taunt Sam (Mandira’s son) for having Khan as a surname. Mandira’s emotional outburst after the death of her son, on the price she has paid for marrying a Muslim, has been censored in parts, and finally, there’s a beep in place of the word Islam when Sam’s class teacher talks about Islam being a religion that spreads violence and terrorism. “It’s ironic,” laughs Mandviwalla, “that a film like New York that portrayed a Muslim as a terrorist was passed uncut while this one was snipped here and there. But that is Pakistan for you: completely unpredictable”. But one thing is predictable, nothing elicits more of a response from the Pakistani public than a religious theme, and with this definitive portrayal of the moderate Muslim, Shahrukh has not just washed away the sins of all of those Bollywood films that portrayed Muslims as thugs or underworld dons, but won himself a permanent place in Pakistani hearts. Being an Indian is no impediment.

Shahrukh Khan ,a king overseas

That he is a bigger draw than Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise with the diaspora in the UK and the USA, is an earlier-known fact. This time Shah Rukh Khan has gone a step ahead. His latest film, Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan, has become a global phenomenon.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “It has taken the biggest opening ever for a Bollywood film in the UK, and also in USA. This reiterates the fact that Shah Rukh is King in the overseas market.’’ The film has also taken several other foreign markets by storm. It has broken the record for the biggest initial for a Bollywood movie in the UAE. And is the first Hindi film to release in Egypt across eight theatres. Then, in the first week of March, the film will also release in nine theatres across Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

High on the praise he has received from the Indian and foreign media, an ecstatic Karan says, “MNIK is the first global film that has actually come from Bollywood. It has penetrated far deeper than the parameters of the diaspora markets and has found patronage in countries like Poland, German and Russia where no Bollywood films have found such a huge favour. We have already added 25 odd prints across the Middle East — Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, heartened by the phenomenal first week collections in UAE.’’

Currently Fox Star Studios, Red Chillies and Dharma Productions are smiling their way to the bank because in the Middle East countries, the print counts that stood at 61 will go up to 71 by the first week of March. This is almost double the print tally for most Hindi films. In Singapore alone, the film has done phenomenal business at the ticket windows which is a record for Hindi film. And the great word of mouth continues to keep it on top, says the local distributor. Australia and New Zealand have ended their first week collections with record ticket sales. In Hong Kong the film is running to packed houses.

What has warmed the cockles of Karan’s heart, though, is his recent trip to the prestigious Berlin Film Festival where SRK, Kajol and he walked down the red carpet. Reports say there were 3,000 ecstatic fans braving the minus 10 degrees temperature to participate in their moment of glory. Sources say that when Shah Rukh got the 1,800 lucky viewers who finally made it into the auditorium to dance to the Sajda number, he won these Germans over for life.

But Khan has a long journey ahead. Karan and Shah Rukh still have a couple of aces up their sleeve. “We will be releasing the film in many other countries across Europe and America right till the month of June,’’ says Karan. “The actual assessment can therefore be made only after July, when the real numbers of the film start showing.’’ Karan is right. The film is being dubbed in German and Polish also so that the non-Hindi speaking SRK fans also get to enjoy MNIK.

WATCH TRAILERS: Discovery Travel & Living "Living with Superstar Shahrukh Khan"

INTRODUCTION


FRIENDS


MONEY


KIDS

B'wood support would've fuelled Sena issue: SRK

Many Bollywood stars had remained tight-lipped during the recent row between Shah Rukh Khan and the Shiv Sena. But the superstar said on Saturday it was for the good as their reactions would have only aggravated matters.

The actor's remarks about the inclusion of Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) had sparked negative reactions from the Shiv Sena in Mumbai. The party even threatened to ban his latest film My Name Is Khan in India's entertainment capital, but Shah Rukh emerged unscathed.

Asked about how he felt when most industry members stayed away from commenting about the issue even though some did so on microblogging site Twitter, Shah Rukh told reporters: "It wouldn't have subsided the issue. Rather it would have fuelled it."

Shah Rukh visited Cinemax theatre in Versova and Fun Republic in Andheri here for promoting his film. He has put two graffiti walls there and asked the people to write about the changes that they would like to see in the world.

My Name Is Khan released worldwide Feb 12 and has been garnering a positive response ever since. Directed by Karan Johar, it also features Kajol.

SRK in middle of controversy once again, courtesy Lux Cozy

No sooner that the controversy around SRK's comments on Pakistani cricket players has settled down, the actor finds himself in yet another controversy related to the IPL.

This time round, it's the courtesy of inner wear brand Lux Cozy, of which, SRK is the recently appointed brand ambassador. The story goes that, since SRK is the brand ambassador of the said brand, it was rest understood as to they will be sponsoring the uniforms for Khan's T-20 team Kolkata Knight Riders, besides a monetary angle of course. All was well so far. Now the twist in the tale is that the Lux Company is owned by the Todi brothers (Ashok and Pradip). They are the same Todi brothers who were charged with apparently leading to the suicide of computer graphics designer Rizwanur Rehman, a Muslim, after he married Ashok Todi's daughter Priyanka, who was a Hindu by religion.

This news had made it to the national headlines and remained atop for quite sometime. This 'sponsorship' move by SRK for KKR with the said brand has not been taken kindly by many. That's the reason why it has sparked anger in many people's heart. Not just that, since it has a religious pinch to it, a few religious bodies too have come in the forefront to express their opposition. In the lieu of all this, there has been a meeting that has been arranged which will include artistes, actors, dancers, writers, performers and also a few prominent names express solid opposition to the controversial tie-up.

Watch this space for further development on this issue.

Discovery Channel Feels Shahrukh Still Worth Discovering, After All These Years!

There is little that has not been revealed about Shah Rukh Khan but Discovery Channel feels otherwise. The channel is bringing a one-hour programme, 'Revealed: Shah Rukh Khan', this evening detailing how SRK's insatiable ambition combined with the overall socio-political changes during the last two decades and the country's globalisation path transformed an industry- outsider to an icon of contemporary India.

Rahul Johri of Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific says, "Discovery Channel's unique strength is in uncovering the unexplained phenomenon. This time it will examine. one of the biggest success stories of contemporary India - Shah Rukh Khan."