Shah Rukh’s list of basic needs

Food, clothing, and shelter are the top three; the fourth has a filmi connection!

Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif were among the stars at the Frames 2010 conference today (March 16) in Mumbai, where it was revealed that the $13 billion Indian media and entertainment industry is seen growing 13 percent annually over the next five years to net revenues of $24.25 billion by 2014.

The study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) made the projection based on the recovery staged by the industry in the last quarter of 2009, which, it feels, will continue in the future.

Speaking on the session, Shah Rukh Khan said the three basic needs of every Indian -- food, clothing and shelter (roti, kapda aur makaan) -- appeared to have been fulfilled for most.

"There is now a fourth desire and that is entertainment and movies are a popular source of this fourth requirement. Another concept popularly emerging and posing to have a great future is sport entertainment," he said.

"We are at the threshold of a huge burst on the entertainment arena in India and entertainment is the packaging of a growing economy."

The study, conducted jointly by consultancy KPMG, adds that the growth will be driven by factors like favourable demographics, high economic growth, strong fundamentals, expected rise in advertising revenue and increasing penetration.

"The media and entertainment industry represents the face of consumers in India," said FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra, after the study was released by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan at the Frames 2010 conference.

"It is a part of our daily life and touches maximum number of people. So despite the challenging last year, I'm excited by the potential of the industry to even grow beyond 13 percent per annum over the next few years," Mitra said.

Others who attended the inaugural event at India's commercial and entertainment hub included filmmakers Yash Chopra and Karan Johar.

As per the FICCI-KPMG study several factors augur well for the industry, notably the potential for growth in media reach, impact of digitisation and convergence, better consumer understanding, innovation and enhanced penetration of regional markets.

The study also gives the following estimates of the size of various segments of media and entertainment industry in 2009 and the projection for 2014:

Television: From $5.71 billion to $11.58 billion

Filmed Entertainment: From $1.98 billion to $3.09 billion

Print Media: From $3.88 billion to $5.97 billion

Radio: From $173 million to $364 million

Music: From $184 million to $382 million

Animation: From just $71 million to $1.03 billion

According to the study, gaming will be the fastest growing sector in the media and entertainment industry. This sector grew 22 percent in 2009 and is expected to expand by 32 percent per annum to reach $711 million by 2014.

IPL 2010: SRK’s Knight Riders face first loss

Shah Rukh's thoughts on his team's performance: "Work Harder"

Shah Rukh Khan's IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, crumbled before the Chennai Super Kings in their third match of the tournament this year. In the match played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, today (March 16), the Knight Riders were set a target of 164/3 by the Super Kings. In reply, they were all out for 109 runs.

This was a disappointing turn from SRK's team which started the tournament with a victory over defending champions The Deccan Chargers. SRK was at the stadium for the match today, watching with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi. He had been on his feet and clapping when his team scored boundaries but became progressively more serious as the match started clearly getting away from them. He had tweeted earlier in the day, "Hope lots of people come to cheer the team. day before was fantastic. the sound..the music...the win....nothing like kolkata & eden gardens."

But Shah Rukh is probably going to be philosophical about the loss. His attitude can be understood from his Twitter post yesterday. "Prevoius record shows we lose after initial success? ha ah wot previous record only shows we didnt win thats all. this time work harder." Hope his team follows his advice

WATCH: Shah Rukh turns a perfect businessman!

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan shared some serious thoughts on crossover cinema and the future of Bollywood at FICCI Frames convention in Mumbai.

Shah Rukh Khan inaugurates FICCI Frames in Mumbai

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan inaugurated the FICCI Frames - a three-day mega media and entertainment industry event - in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Apart from Shah Rukh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif, renowned directors Yash Chopra and Karan Johar were present on the occasion.

This year the event is going to focus on piracy, proliferation of Indian films to new avenues, better collaboration with foreign films, new formats, and more.

King Khan enlisted the challenges ahead if Indian film industry aspired to reach wider global audience.

"I think we will have to work on screenplay, discipline and organisation and technology, these three things together. Only then actually Hollywood will offer us their full distribution platform because they will know that the film is in format that world understands," said Shah Rukh Khan.

Katrina Kaif lauded the efforts of the organisers, who are trying to take Indian film industry to new heights.

"They are really trying to delve and investigate into how we can make the business of entertainment industry better, how we can advance it and make it more profitable for everyone involved. So it something little slow and it is very special. They are really trying to investigate and come up with serious results," said Katrina Kaif.

The media and entertainment industry had gone through a tough time in the last two years as its mainstay advertising industry suffered due to the global financial slowdown.

The industry as a whole registered a modest growth of around 1.3 percent in 2009 compared to 12 percent in 2008.

Vidhu and SRK are friends again!

Bollywood’s most successful producer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra who’s riding on the success of 3 Idiots, and Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan, who’s received global accolades for his My Name is Khan, have buried the hatchet.

They missed two opportunities in the past to work together after failing to first collaborate on Munnabhai MBBS and then on 3 Idiots. But, like it is said, then the time wasn’t right.

Now these forces to reckon with are said to have had two closed door meetings on Vinod’s new film Ferrari Ki Sawari. Sources say that SRK visited Vinod’s bungalow some nights ago. And the actor and filmmaker bonded over drinks and dinner. Proof that all is well between these two also came when a smiling Vinod let the paparazzi click him as he entered SRK’s party for international rapper Akon last week.

With Aamir Khan taking his own sweet time to deliberate on when he will combine forces with Vinod again, the trade suggests that the stage has been set for SRK and Vinod to make a film together. Guess it can’t get bigger than this one!

Why SRK chooses mediocre films, asks 'MNIK' editor

Noted film editor Deepa Bhatia, whose latest work includes 'My Name Is Khan', says Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan chooses to act in "mediocre" films despite being a gifted actor.

Deepa, who has been awarded for editing films like Aamir Khan's 'Tare Zameen Par' and 'Rock On!!', said it was a discovery for her to see the real actor in Shah Rukh while editing 'My Name Is Khan'.

"Honestly I am no SRK fan but then he was so sincere in 'MNIK' which was amazing to see. It was a discovery for me to find the actor in Shah Rukh Khan. I fail to understand why he chooses to act in mediocre film," Deepa said.

"I don't understand the reason behind it. Whether he is just not interested or there is something else because he has also given some spectacular performances in films 'Chak De! India' and 'Swades'," she added.

Deepa, wife of writer-actor Amol Gupte, said that the filmmakers today have finally started to wake up to the tool of editing which puts the heart of the film at the right place.

No Politics for Shah Rukh Khan

Scoffing at the persistent speculations about his political ambitions Shah Rukh says he has absolutely no plans of joining politics. “People keep talking about my friendship with certain individuals in a particular party (Congress). But I’ve known Rajeev Shukla from before he was a part of the Congress. And I know Soniaji, Rahul and Priyanka just as I know people from other walks of life.”

In fact, says Shah Rukh, after the political controversy created by the Shiv Sena over what he says was an innocuous statement about the spirit of sportsmanship Shah Rukh has resolved to remain as far removed from politics and politicians as possible.

Shah Rukh Khan now sees the run-in with the Shiv Sena over his statement regarding the inclusion of Pakistani players in the IPL, as a waste of time and energy.

Says Shah Rukh, “It was confusing. What was I supposed to apologize for? Later I heard on television that I wasn’t expected to apologize. Not for a second did I feel any aggression. I was calm throughout. I know Bala Saheb and Uddhav Thackeray well. We meet cordially whenever the occasion arises. But we’re on different playing fields. I’m in the business of cinema. They’re in politics.And we should keep it that way.”

What the mega-star regrets is that he missed out enjoying the release of My Name Is Khan. “The troubles that happened did take away from my thrill of the release. Frankly I was anxious about the safety of my family, colleagues, my office staff and fans. God forbid, even if one member of the audience had suffered any injury while going to see My Name Is Khan I’d have never forgiven myself.”

Looking back at the whole run-in with the Shiv Sena Shah Rukh gets deeply reflective. “I was privileged to have a father who was a freedom fighter, Not too many of us can claim such a privilege. He once said to me. ‘I had a hand in your birth. But I also had a hand in the birth of a free India.’ I didn’t want my father’s struggle to go to waste. When my son is 44 like I am now, I want him to be as proud of me as I am of my father.”

Shahrukh Khan: No Song, No dance till ‘5’ in a row!

Ask Shahrukh Khan why he is not celebrating the victory of his IPL team KKR, twice in a row in season three with much fervor and enthusiasm, and pat will come the reply, no more over excited ness till there are multiple victories.

Well, actually, the star had ha d a very heartbreaking experience during the first two seasons of the IPL Tournament, as his team had performed quite dismally. During those two seasons, he had been a constant driving force for the team. He would attend every match that his team played, until there were only failures and loses. Thus, King Khan had abstained from the grounds in the latter half of the tournament, thinking that his presence made the players a little tensed.

Thus, when this year he did not make an appearance during the first match of his team, he was missed by his fans a lot. After having won the first match against the champs of last season, Royal Challengers, SRK’s spirits were lifted a little bit. He then made an appearance at Eden Gardens, Kolkata with wife and daughter, with a satisfied expression on his face.

Through out the match, he had a subdued expression. Thus, when the Kolkata Knight Riders, finally emerged winners against the Royal Challengers, with a 7 wicket win, SRK was very pleased. However, he came up and said in a somber tone that he would not sing and dance just yet! This, he said had been advised to him by his partners and well wishers. So, our dear King Khan will only celebrate in style, if and when his team wins a total of 5 matches in a row!

Shahrukh Khan plays real life savior with élan

The very famous owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Shahrukh Khan has successfully played the role of messiah, yet once again.

Recently, the fire brigade found super hospitality block- a temporary gallery-block at Eden Gardens to be unsafe. In an attempt to avoid any unwanted mishap, the fire brigade has instructed the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for demolishing the wooden block.

The controversy arose when KKR got to know that they need to make some modifications so that they can get a no-objection-certificate (NOC) from PWD.PWD secretary A Bardhan got a call from Khan, requesting PWD to carry out all the necessary desirable modifications after March 16 match. He also assured that the responsibility of the bloc safety would be taken by the KKR team.

The fire brigade, however, did not react very kindly to this issue. Fire brigade director Gopal Bhattacharjee commented that in case of any mishap, they would not delay in lodging a complaint against IPL and CAB. He also added that nobody bothered to contact the fire department while granting the NOC and using the block on Sunday.

CAB, however, refused to take any responsibility for the incident. CAB joint secretary Biswarup De argued that they cannot prevent anyone from entering the premise if the person has a valid ticket. He thinks that it is the responsibility of the team and fire department to be aware of the safety aspect.

SRK's huge fan following in Andes

Jorge Ramirez seemed like an amiable technician-turned cab owner who might be meeting an Indian for the first time in his life. "From India?" he asked and before I could answer yes, he added, "Shah Rukh Khan?" Before I could answer even that, he popped in a CD in his cab's player that belted out Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

To be asked about Shah Rukh in the midst of the Andes at the elevation of over 12,000 feet was surprising enough. What added to it was Jorge's excitement at meeting someone who was from the same country and, therefore, by implication his favourite star's representative.

As we began driving from La Paz to Lake Titicaca, reputedly the largest navigable lake in the world at an elevation of 14,000 feet, Jorge's CD kept churning out songs from many of Shah Rukh's most popular movies. He would occasionally hum along, not understanding a word of what was being said.

"I love Shah Rukh Khan and I have seen many of his movies," Ramirez told IANS. As if to prove his knowledge of the actor's body of work he mentioned Karan Arjun, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Chalte Chalte, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kal Ho Na Ho and Main Hoon Na.

"I found Kal Ho Na Ho very touching, with Shah Rukh Khan's heart problem. I remember Karan Arjun was about two brothers and a mother. I also loved Main Hoon Na," Ramirez said as he seemed to process the complicated names of movies.

And then as if he had a eureka moment, he started talking about Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. He particularly mentioned a dance sequence of Kajol. "Kahol dances very good," he said pronouncing the 'j' in Kajol the way it is done by the Spanish-speaking people, like a soft 'h.'

Ramirez said his CDs and DVDs of Shah Rukh movies came from Lima, the capital of neighbouring Peru. It was obvious that the products were pirated, a detail that Ramirez was blissfully unaware of. When told about the actor's new movie My Name Is Khan, which Ramirez did not know of, he promised to get it from Lima on his next trip there.

It is hard to gauge how popular Hindi movies are in this part of the world, but if a visit to a corporate office the next day is any indication, their popularity certainly stretches beyond Ramirez. An office worker was playing a Shah Rukh song on her PC!