Reflections - Ok Shahrukh, it's your turn now!

When Dabangg released and took a monstrous opening, people all over the country credited it to the charm of Salman Khan. When it went on to break the opening weekend record of Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots, many took a breather and brought out that calculator. Once the entire first week record of 3 Idiots was further smashed, it gave birth to a debate - 'Is Shah Rukh feeling the heat?' After all 3 Idiots seemed pretty invincible but its record was taken to the cleaners within a year. Also, Shah Rukh's own My Name Is Khan had done one third of the business of 3 Idiots (at least in India, though in overseas it was monstrous) and despite the fact that its theme didn't quite carry a similar commercial appeal, the fact remained that Salman's immediate superstardom was threatening enough.

Well, with all these debates around, I was tempted to join the fun as well. It would have been good to hear both sides of the stories and then add on my own bit. However, I wanted to wait for a while. Wait for the time when Dabangg euphoria would have settled down. Wait for the true collections of the film to emerge over a period of time and then formulate an opinion. After all regardless of the fact that films are made and broken on the opening weekend itself, Dabangg still had quite some distance to go even if it had to come anywhere in the vicinity of 3 Idiots.

Now that Dabangg has already netted over 130 crores, hence making Salman the only actor other than Aamir Khan (3 Idiots - 205 crores, Ghajini - 115 crores) to break the 100 crore barrier, and could perhaps be ending it's run just a little short of 150 crores, it is clear that pressure is on Shah Rukh to deliver. In this week's 'Reflections', let's heat up the debate.

The number game? Oh yes, it does exist

Ask any superstar a question around the number game and more often than not, the answer is - 'I don't believe in it'. However, for a self proclaimed Baadshah, Shah Rukh hasn't quite shied away from admitting that he is pretty much aiming for being at the top of the game. Of course he has proved that time and again as well. In the last 10 years, his only flops have been Paheli, Swades, Asoka and One 2 Ka 4. In the last five years, there have been none. The only other actor to enjoy a similar feat is Aamir Khan and he has done far lesser films. On the contrary, Salman has delivered a dozen odd flops in least 10 years.

It is clear that with maximum number of films and maximum number of big money spinners, some even record breaking (Om Shanti Om, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), Shah Rukh Khan was pretty much reigning with Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar being his closet competitors for a long duration. It was a good comfort zone that Shah Rukh found himself in.

Early signs of disturbance

One can debate whether Shah Rukh realised that soon enough but the early signs of disturbance were pretty much visible a couple of years back itself. Soon after the release and super success of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Bollywood saw the release of Ghajini. Not just did the film act as a speed breaker in the victory march of the Shah Rukh starrer, it even went on to create new records for the first weekend and the full week. This is not all as the Aamir Khan flick went on to be the first ever in the history of Indian cinema to top the 100 crore mark.

However, Aamir being Aamir was working in only one film a year and hence his 3 Idiots was still a year away. Akshay and Salman were working in multiple films and though Akshay's two films - Singh Is Kinng and Welcome - had topped the 70 crore mark, Salman's highest grosser Partner had played around in the vicinity of 60 crores. Clearly, Shah Rukh didn't have many reasons to worry though one would have expected him to re-strategise when it came to his films.

Prestige or commerce

Decision to work in only one film a year is appreciable but then one does expect that one film to be something special. Shah Rukh's sole concentration post Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was on My Name Is Khan which was always a risk to begin with since it was a classy film with an issue at the core of it. Of course globally the film was expected to make a huge impact but locally, it would have been too much to expect this dramatic affair to find such response from the audience that it would have turned out to be that 100 crore affair.

While Shah Rukh did put his finger on a prestigious affair, commerce wasn't the talking point here. This was a little puzzling though because when a top actor does only one film a year, one does expect it to be a massive entertainer that combines entertainment with commerce. However, My Name Is Khan felt somewhere in the middle. Of course it is far easier to comment in the hindsight because at the end of it all, Shah Rukh did give Bollywood his annual hit. However, no one, whether trade, audience or Salman himself would have expected a certain Dabangg to make the kind of impact that it eventually did.

It turned into a blockbuster, a 100 crore plus earner and the biggest of all, an event that resulted in Salman Khan suddenly becoming a darling of the masses.

An argument here?

Shah Rukh has always laughed it all away, rightly so, whenever approached with the question of his throne being challenged by an actor once his film becomes a hit. On being questioned if his days were numbered after Hrithik Roshan arrived like a hurricane with Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Shah Rukh laughed it all away. Later when Akshay had a golden run for a couple of years in a row, Shah Rukh wasn't much flustered. Even the arrival of young brigade like Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Imran Khan didn't seem much of a challenge.

However, Salman isn't someone whom Shah Rukh can ignore. After all he is someone who belongs to the same age group as him. In fact Salman is a couple of years senior to him as well since his Maine Pyaar Kiya came before Deewana. Salman by no means is a fly by night operator who has delivered his blockbuster but would be uncertain about tomorrow. Of course given the fact that he works in 3-4 films a year, Salman will have his occasional flop just as it happens with all actors who work in multiple films. However, there is always a chance of that one Dabangg to balance the entire equation.

Same holds good for Akshay Kumar whose Tees Maar Khan (incidentally and ironically with Shah Rukh's 'hit' director Farah Khan) is looking all set to smash and perhaps create new records. Aamir being Aamir could well be waiting to go for a kill and though his next big film (if one leaves aside Dhobhi Ghat which is an offbeat affair) isn't expected to release before 2012, it would be massive for sure. Clearly, the pressure is on Shah Rukh to have something massive rolling for him in 2011.

What does the future entail?

Even if Shah Rukh is reading this piece, he may well be seen giving out that faint smile. After all at the end of it all, he has a Ra.One and a Don 2 in the pipeline. While the principal shooting of Ra.One is almost over, Don 2 is ready to go on floors in quick time. Both are big films by all means and have the trappings of a blockbuster. Really, Shah Rukh has something really huge in the pipeline that he would be looking at nourishing over a period of time.

However, here lies a slight hitch. Ra.One, his first release in 2011, cannot afford to be 'just a hit'. It isn't a film that can top the 80-90 crores collections that Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Om Shanti Om earned. It isn't a film where Shah Rukh Khan can break the barrier of 100 crores and just be content with that. Of course a sci-fi film comes with its own limitations when it comes to audience's acceptability but then in the time period when Aamir has crossed 200 crores (3 Idiots), Salman is reaching 150 crores (Dabangg) and Akshay is looking at doing something similar with Tees Maar Khan, Ra.One can't afford to relax.

This is where the pressure sets in. Neither Aamir nor Salman were staring at such massive numbers while making their films. They were pressure free and were basically having fun without an end target in mind. However, situation of Shah Rukh Khan is akin to a batsman who knows that he has to score a double century (and not just a century) to save a match.

Clearly, he is the one who is batting second and as is the known fact in the game of cricket - 'Chasing a target is mostly far tougher than setting one'.

The target is set for Shah Rukh. It is him who has to now plan his innings, know when to get into power play and then go ahead and hit the six. Bollywood is of course willing to cheer for him; all he has to do now is to stay safe yet play aggressive with Ra.One!

Would he manage to do that?

King Khan packs his woolies to move to Berlin for Don 2

SRK is all set to move to Berlin for the shoot of Excel Entertainment’s Don 2, say media reports. The shoot will start from a 14 day car chase next to the monumental Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Areas in the ancient, historic city which were restricted during the shoot of the Hollywood movies Inglorious Bastards and Val Kyrie , have opened out for the shoot of Don 2.

Don 2, a sequel to the blockbuster “Don” is being supported by the Berlin Brandenburg Film promotion company Medienboard . According to a report in the Times of India, Germans have already started preparing themselves to work on this film as extras.

As compared to ‘Don’, which deals with rivalry of crime syndicates based in Malaysia, the storyline of ‘Don 2’ will focus on mafia ring in Germany and Britain. So this time Germans are also waiting to watch the shoot of the movie.

The movie will be a blend of James Bond and Matrix, where action will take a different look. It will be slick gun action and the fights with devices. So finally , Khan is getting back into action . He has already started working on his muscle he lost for the parkour action sequence of RA.One.

According to SRK, the opportunities are great for Indian co-productions with German companies and some preliminary discussions on possible alliances between the two sides in this connection were held on the sidelines of the Berlinale.

Under the agreement, each country is committed to treat co-productions as national films and thereby producers from each will be entitled to benefit from all state support for the film and video industries of the other, said reports.

Recently, Khan's film "My Name Is Khan" was featured at the Berlinale Film Festival.

Khan’s birthday which falls on November 2 will be celebrated in Berlin as the shooting is a two month-long schedule. Karan Johar is also planning to move to Berlin to join Khan in the cold, bleak winter, said the report quoting an unnamed source.

Shah Rukh Khan: 'Berlin loves me'

Shah Rukh Khan has described himself as an "adopted son" of Germany because of his fame in the country.

The Bollywood veteran is to shoot a 14-day car chase that ends up at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for new film Don 2, The Times of India has reported.

Speaking to the paper, Khan said: "I'm excited to be shooting in Berlin, I like the darkness of the buildings, the starkness of the winter, people dressed in overcoats and wearing mufflers and dark glasses, and black cars going around."

Describing the German response to the opening of his previous film My Name Is Khan, the actor added: "Hundreds of people stood on the road in the snow, they treat me like a German star, and they respect and love me... like the energy I bring on the screen has filled up some void in their mechanised lives.

"I'm their adopted son, like Raj Kapoor was to Russia. It is a very humbling experience."

Don 2 has been described as the first sequel to a remake in Bollywood, as 2006's Don: The Chase Begins Again was a reworking of the 1978 film Don.

Shahrukh Khan gets global honor in Vienna

Shahrukh has got his name etched globally. Taking a cue from the latest reports, it’s learnt that this king of Bollywood is the hot topic of discussion in a three-day international academic conference, which is dedicated to him by the University of Vienna’s department of social anthropology.

This three day conference is tilted ‘Shahrukh Khan and Global Bollywood'.

Shahrukh tweets about the conference

The actor who’s thoroughly delighted about this global honor, unfortunately couldn’t attend the conference due to the hectic shooting schedule for his home production ‘Ra.One’.

However, he did manage to share details about this honor by tweeting about it in the social networking site, Twitter.

“There is a three-day conference on me in Vienna. I am humbled and proud that Indian cinema is becoming a global platform for discussion,” wrote SRK.

After completing filming for his upcoming film ‘Ra.One’, the superstar is looking forward to visit the country sometime soon.

“It would be great to revisit the country and go to their university,” further wrote King Khan.

Shahrukh has to sport an athletic body for 'Don 2'

SRK will need to work out for a lean and sporty look for the sequel of 'Don'. And for this look, the superstar needs to build muscle and is now religiously undergoing extensive weight training.

Speaking about the weight training, sources close to the actor stated, "SRK's role in Don 2 requires him to not just be fit but to have a tough, athletic and lean body -- something that can help him do high-intensity stunt sequences effortlessly. Prashant Sawant, his trainer of 10 years, is helping him achieve that. For over a month now, the actor has been undergoing extensive weight training along with a high-protein diet that helps build muscle mass."

Buzz has it that the actor is focusing only on weight training with no cardio.

"And when it comes to food, SRK’s diet will only include eggs and steamed or grilled chicken," stated sources.

Shahrukh to host Akon!

Shah Rukh Khan will host singing sensation Akon at Mannat in December. Sources say that the singer will be in town then to record another song for SRK.

Akon, who has been bowled over by SRK and also the concept of his film Ra.1, has gelled well with the composers and loves their groovy tracks.

"The last time Akon was in town, he became good friends with SRK and Kareena," says a source. "They had a great session talking about their different cultures and knowing each other. Akon had said that Mumbai gives him the feeling that he is at home having also done a hit show here. He was taken by surprise when Shah Rukh threw a party in his honour in Mumbai and many people turned up. He felt really special working for SRK and he took back this warm feeling with him to the US," adds the source.

During the London shooting schedule of the movie, SRK and the production team decided that since the movie had someone like Akon, they should showcase him more. They felt doing another song with him would help. SRK approached him and Akon probably tweaked his schedule so accommodate his trip to India. When contacted, SRK told TOI, "Yes Akon is set to do another song for us. We are just working on it to finalise things. December might be the month. We are excited to have him in our film."

Imtiaz Ali to work with Shahrukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan is all set to work with Imtiaz Ali. Though details of the project are under wraps, both Khan and Ali have been meeting regularly to discuss the script. It is not yet confirmed if SRK will have a full fledged role in the film but one thing is sure — Imtiaz will be a part of the project.

Our source said, “Khan has always said that he is keen to work with new talent. On one hand he has already met Anurag Basu and on the other, he is working on a romantic subject with Imtiaz Ali. SRK knows that Imtiaz is very good which is why he is keen to work with him. SRK might play an extended cameo in the film which is likely to star newcomers and start after Imtiaz is through with his film Rockstar.”

I’m an inglorious bastard: SRK

The mercury's rising, and the October heat is just setting in, but Shah Rukh Khan is packing his woolies and preparing for a cold, bleak winter.

Not in Bollywood, of course; but in Berlin, where he is jetting off to in a couple of days to begin work on Excel Entertainment's Don 2. It is a two-month-long schedule,

and SRK will be away all the while, so if you want to wish him on his birthday on November 2, you had better go to Berlin like Karan Johar is planning to. After the success of Don, he is naturally excited to be working on the sequel, it promises to be bigger and better. And Don himself has grown, he's gone and done bad things around the world — now the police of 22 countries are after him as against 11 in the first part!

Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, the proud producers of Excel, say that the Mayor of Berlin actually opened out areas in the ancient, historic city that were restricted to the Hollywood filmmakers shooting Inglorious Bastards and Val Kyrie there. "That's how big Shah Rukh is in Berlin," exclaimed Ritesh. "People there, and I mean not just Asians — but Germans also, have started taking leave to be working on this film as extras."

The anti-hero of this big budget action thriller also thinks Berlin is a "cool place". He would, he has a stronger fan base there than any Bollywood actor as he discovered when attending the Berlin Film Festival to promote My Name Is Khan. "Hundreds of people stood on the road in the snow, they treat me like a German star, and they respect and love me... like the energy I bring on the screen has filled up some void in their mechanised lives. I'm their adopted son, like Raj Kapoor was to Russia, it is a very humbling experience," SRK told me in a chat over Don 2. "I'm excited to be shooting in Berlin, I like the darkness of the buildings, the starkness of the winter, people dressed in overcoats and wearing mufflers and dark glasses, and black cars going around."

Right at the start of the schedule, Excel intends shooting an edge-of-the-seat, 14-day car chase next to the monumental Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Shah Rukh is glad to be getting back into action. He has begun exercising, getting back some of the muscle he lost for the parkour action sequences of Ra.One, though in Don 2 it will be slick gun action, fights with devices, a combo of James Bond and Matrix.

"But I'll be a completely in-your-face mean character, like Bond gone wrong, this is Farhan's creation. The victory of evil over good. Don is an unpredictable, edgy character. He in intriguing. A little bit of Mickey Rourke, Johnny Depardieu, John Malkovic and Clint Eastwood. He's romantic and sensual, he watches cartoon films, but he's also a mean, catch-me-if-you-can guy. I like Don's attitude. There's lot of scope for me to play him," he said excitedly.

Shah Rukh Khan's fans have accepted this "inglorious bastard" character — as he is fond of calling Don. The actor is delighted with that, even though he is glorifying evil, because nobody as yet has accused him of being a bad influence. Not even his children. He accepts that Don is a bit of a "badmash". "But he's also enigmatic. I wish he didn't rape women and do drugs. But even that, he does in style, there is no sleaze. Don is a base thought that we all have — that if I were to do bad things, I would do it with style. Crime doesn't pay, but it makes life cool, doesn't it," he argued. Well, on screen — certainly!

Shahrukh Khan to get athletic in Don 2

After losing weight for his home production, Ra. One, Shahrukh Khan will pile it on for Farhan Akhtar's Don 2. The man aiding SRK to gain muscle is fitness trainer Prashant Sawant, who had helped him build his six-pack abs for Om Shanti Om. Incidentally, Prashant is also training Boman Irani, SRK's co-star in Don 2.

Says a source, "SRK's role in Don 2 requires him to not just be fit but to have a tough, athletic and lean body -- something that can help him do high-intensity stunt sequences effortlessly. Prashant Sawant, his trainer of 10 years, is helping him achieve that. For over a month now, the actor has been undergoing extensive weight training along with a high-protein diet

that helps build muscle mass."

Khan's exercise routine includes working out rigorously at his gym at home for an hour. "He is concentrating only on weight training with no cardio. But all the exercises are done keeping his shoulder injury in mind. His diet includes eggs and steamed or grilled chicken." Don 2 producer Ritesh Sidhwani says, "Shahrukh is not beefing it up for Don 2. He's just building on some muscle for his different image in the film. He lost a lot of weight for Ra. One and will be putting on some for Don 2."

Currently, Ritesh and Farhan are in Berlin scouting for locales and beginning pre-production work. Riteish says, "A major part of Don 2 will be shot in Berlin. No Hindi film has ever been shot here before. We start shooting in 10 days."

Boman Irani (DCP D'Silva/Vardhaan in Don) has been training under Prashant Sawant for two-months now. He has lost quite a bit of weight. "Boman will look completely transformed in Don 2. He's building his muscles too as he has to look tough. He's doing almost two hours of cardio, weights and circuit training with a diet designed by Prashant's wife Maya (also a fitness instructor). Boman's diet is a high-protein one with little carbohydrates and absolutely none after evening with lots of protein shakes," reveals our source.

From Raavan to Ra.One , eyes are set on SRK's film now

The most anticipated ‘Ra.One’ is on its way to box office after the big flop of ‘Raavan’. This year two similar sounding titles ‘Raavan’ and ‘Ra.One’ are likely to be two big-budget films. Now the expectation is on Ra.One to be the big hit in Bollywood as the other one could not.

‘Raavan’ was co-produced by Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies at a budget of 450 million rupees and the movie was released simultaneously on 2,200 screens worldwide in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions.

It opened with an average opening and was soon relegated to the ranks of also ran. As per the figure disclosed by the distributors, on the opening day worldwide, it could gross 200 million rupees and the first weekend worldwide gross collection was 530 million rupees.

Now all the eyes are on King Khan’s home production Ra.1. A whopping amount of 300 million rupees is riding on SRk’s shoulders. The buzz in the trade is that Reliance Big Pictures has bought the rights of SRK’s Don2 from Excel Entertainment for 1,250 million rupees and it is also heard that Eros International has bought Shah Rukh’s home production ‘Ra.One’ for a whopping 1,750 million rupees.

‘Ra.One’ is reported to have a budget of 1,000 million rupees, making it the second-most expensive film in India, after Blue, and equaling the record of ''.My name Is Khan‘.

‘Ra.One’ istars Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in key roles. Shah Rukh Khan plays a famous scientist in the film, based in London and works on developing a robot.

In a twitter message, the star said, “Ra.One means random access version one, will understand when you see the film. Ra.1 site will be up soon/have no film with Kajol or Yashji right now/don’t dance too well, I just try hard/I am the hero in Ra.1.”

The two movies ‘Raavan’ and ‘Ra.One’ are two different as chalk and cheese when it comes to their plotlines.

While Mani’s Raavan is a modern-day adaptation of the mythological epic Ramayan, SRK’s flick is a highly stylise film with a lot of techniques and gadgets.

Though ‘Raavan’ failed to do well in the box office , ‘Ra.One’ is riding high on expectations.

Shahrukh Khan digs his teeth into some Khichdi

Khichdi-the movie that has hit theatres finally has got some bites of Shahrukh Khan who has graciously agreed to meet the cast and crew of the popular telly show that has been brought to the big screen.

Like SRK, Khichdi team, too, embarked on the showbiz journey from TV and the team is eager to fetch the mega star’s blessings and heartfelt wishes. The 1st look of the flick was unveiled at SRK’s mansion Mannat. The team had even penned a letter to SRK to fix a meeting and finally the Ra. One actor has relented.

The rendezvous shall take place soon at Kamalistan where the entire cast including the likes of Anang Desai, Rajeev Mehta and Supriya Pathak shall be present. The producer JD Majethia will also be there and an ecstatic JD gushes, “Oh yes, we are meeting Mr Khan at Kamalistan. We had written him a letter.”

He also applauds SRK for fixing the appointment despite the latter’s gruelling schedule. He also is determined to make SRK watch their film and hopes that the film shall draw some guffaws and chuckles from the King Khan.