SRK: The King of the Bollywood

MATINEE idol Shah Rukh Khan’s life is well documented and needs no introduction either. This book, presenting thumbnail sketches of his rise in the Bollywood filmdom, is targeted mainly at the Indian diaspora scattered worldwide and not possessing such easy access to reading material about him as we in India have. To quote the author: “When a star of his stature approaches a career milestone of 60 films and gets to a stage where he clearly needs to chart unexplored territory, it is perhaps time for a career assessment”, hence this book.

While Rajesh Khanna was called ‘The Phenomenon’ and Amitabh Bachchan was known as ‘The Supremo’ or ‘Big B’, Shah Rukh Khan took over the crown by being called King Khan and King of Bollywood. And why not, considering the fact that a documentary has been made on his life and work, a perfume carries his name and he has endorsed a number of consumer items. An icon and the most saleable celebrity in India, Shah Rukh is an “ubiquitous presence in the media”, endorsing varied brands including Tag Heur, Pepsi, Hyundai, etc.—ranging from watches to electronics, from cars to noodles. At times, he seems to be present everywhere, particularly if he belongs to the crowd he moves in. He is seen at parties, while performing on stage and giving umpteen interviews, peppered with wit and sarcasm. He seldom fails to make some ascerbic comment at old timers (like Manoj Kumar, nicknamed ‘Bharat’ Kumar) or for instance his immediate senior like Amitabh Bachchan or a contemporary like Hrithik Roshan.

Born on November 2, 1965 at the Talwar Nursing Home in New Delhi as Shah Rukh, who could have known that this “ordinary-looking, not-too-tall, mop-haired young man” would be one of India’s biggest and highest paid superstars. He studied at Delhi’s prestigious St. Columba’s School, was good both at studies and sports and took part in extra-curricular activities, especially theatre. He graduated from Hansraj College but could not complete post-graduation due to shortage of attendance—reason being his involvement in theatre and television (where he started his career by acting in serial Fauji and Dil Dariya). In the meantime he began courting a Hindu girl, Gauri Chibba whom he married after six years of courtship.

On entering the Hindi film industry, Shah Rukh established himself in only a couple of years as one of the top male stars of his time. He says about himself, “I want to be known as a performer. It would be dishonest to say I am an actor who performs…” and perform he does. No doubt, he has such a huge fan following whom “I cannot repay for what they have done for me; they have given me so much love…”

Shah Rukh’s films have become hits one after another, as his career graph shoots up and to quote his first mentor, Aziz Mirza: “He has more potential than a director is able to bring out”. We have to wait and watch him achieve that true greatness, which is yet to come, says the author, critic and screenwriter Deepa Gahlot, who has analysed various phases of Shah Rukh’s life.

Manju Gupta , Organiser.org

Yash Raj's SOS Call To SRK

With four out of their five films flopping at the box office in 2007, Yash Raj Films has sent out an SOS call to their most successful star and the lead of their only super hit film for the year Chak De India, ShahRukh Khan.

Sources inform, "The Hindi film industry's premium banner is keen not to have a repeat of 2007 in the coming year. The King Khan has had a 100% track record with them starting with Darr (1993) to their last release together Chak De India. As the planning for next year's releases is underway, the Yash Raj head honcho Aditya Chopra is extremely keen on casting him in his next which he has been planning for long to direct."

"Presently, the three under production films by Yash Raj that are confirmed for a release by mid 2008 are Tashan and the animated flick Roadside Romeo. There is a Kunal Kohli produced and directed film starring Saif and Rani that they are presenting which shall release in the second half of 2008. None of these star their lucky mascot. Adi, who was very keen to handle the next in the Dhoom series, is keeping that on the back burner and concentrating more on the script which is being written with SRK in mind. The details about its theme are however not known," adds the source.

Shah Rukh is on a break presently and is likely to start work on his next, My Name Is Khan for Karan Johar in May. He has backed out of his commitments for Shankar's Robot and Rajkumar Hirani's next based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone and has no other films on hand. The buzz is strong that the King Khan is about to meet the Yash Raj bosses over the coming days and discuss this project being planned with him.

Amrita Rao Is My Lil Sweetheart: Srk

It was a grand affair at the Sahara Star hotel. ShahRukh Khan was expected any moment for the music launch of E Niwas' film My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves. Although King Khan arrived quite late, he immediately made up for it with his usual charm. While there was a smattering of celebrities, SRK was at his charming best and stole the show with his humility. "I'm basking in the glory of this wonderful film. Inshallah, it may be the biggest hit of the year," said he. He praised the lead actor Nikhil Dwivedi. Ading further he said, "Amrita Rao is my li'l sweetheart. She's a great dancer and a fantastic actor."
Before getting into his BMW, he kissed a little boy on his cheek on the request of his father. Cool!

Buzz18

Srk's Five Point Theory

Though ShahRukh Khan was unwell, nothing stopped him from being his usual charming self. As he took the mike from the anchor, a tall lissom babe, he looked at her and said, “Why are all these girls taller than me? Yeh kaun sa factory hai jo inko produce karta hai ?” Everyone burst out laughing. Then he turned to Nikhil Dwivedi and said, “Always remember Nikhil, there are five stages that you will have to go through as an actor. First: When people will ask ‘Who is Nikhil? Second: They’ll say ‘Get me Nikhil’. Third: ‘Get me a look alike of Nikhil’. Fourth: ‘Get me a younger looking Nikhil’,” and when he said that, he looked at Mithun Chakraborty and said, “Right now, Mithunda and I are in that stage!” This sent everyone into uncontrollable fits of laughter again. SRK continued, “And the fifth and the last stage is when the same people ask ‘Who is Nikhil’?” We are sure Nikhil had had enough of lessons for the day.

Amrita Rao looked pretty and radiant in a peach colour dress. “I had to leave Jaisalmer at 8 am ‘cos it’s a four-hour drive to Jaipur from there and then I had to take a flight to Mumbai,” she said. Another actress who sizzled on the stage was Hrishitaa Bhatt who performed on one of the songs of the film.

Seemanto Roy, Head, Sahara-One Media and Entertainment, played the gracious host. Ritesh Deshmukh was seen having a good time with his buddies and so was Mushtaq Sheikh.

Times Of India

Shah Rukh Khan felicitated at CNBC-TV18's India Business Leader Awards

Shah Rukh Khan was presented the newly instituted Entertainment Business Leader of the year award at India Business Leader Awards Friday, December 7.

Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani won the Outstanding Indian Business leader award.

Other award winners included Ratan Tata who won the "Taking India Abroad" Award. For having bagged the Tata-Corus deal and Pepsico Chief Indira Nooyi won the Global Indian Award.

The award to Shah Rukh Khan was a tribute to his consummate marketing skills evident during the promotion of his film Om Shanti Om, Bollywood's biggest grosser ever.

Shah Rukh courage of conviction in first producing a film that stepped way out of the mould and then promoting it aggressively in the face of a competing film from Sony was inspiring.

The 42-year-old actor and filmmaker has great ambitions for his production company - Red Chillies Entertainment

Referring to the Hollywood companies that have stepped into the lucrative market of film production and distribution in India, Shah Rukh the filmmaker says:

"They may have big budgets, big banners but I have Shah Rukh Khan! And I will ensure that Red Chillies never has to give way to any production - whether it's Sony or Columbia."

Sawf News

Dard-e-Disco & Disco Dancer

It was the launch of E Niwas’s My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, starring debutant Nikhil Dwivedi, Amrita Rao and veteran Mithun Chakraborty, scheduled for 8 pm on Friday night.

Mithunda walked in first, followed by the rest of the cast. But there was one person who was yet to make a grand entry, King Khan — he was supposed to unveil the music of the film.

Mithun propped up the bar, chatting with all, drink in hand, smiling for the shutterbugs and trying to pass his time. It was nearing 11 pm when someone announced that Shah Rukh Khan was about to make an entry.

Mithun had by then moved to the first floor of the venue. Going to the balcony, he started bellowing, “Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh, kahan hain tu, yaar?” Moments later, SRK entered escorted by bodyguards. Again, Mithun called out the Bollywood Badshah’s name, this time louder than before to everyone’s surprise. Shah Rukh, unaware of the great presence above him, waved out the way he does to hysterical fans.

“He didn’t see me!” exclaimed Mithun, throwing his hands up in the air. But when SRK stepped out of the lift, the first thing he said was “ Da ,” on seeing Mithun.

The original Disco Dancer forgot his long wait and held open his arms to hug the Dard-e-Disco star. “I was calling out and you waved to me as if I was one of your fans,” complained Mithun. “Oh, was it you Da? I’m so sorry, I really thought it was just another fan calling out my name,” apologised the six-pack Khan. To which Mithun replied in jest, “It’s not your fault, dear, I’m so dark that you wouldn’t be able to see me from that distance anyway.”

Sharin Wader, TNN

SRK's Chak De India To Promote 2010 World Cup

Buoyed by the role played by `Chak De! India` in popularizing hockey in the country, the international hockey federation is contemplating using the blockbuster to promote the 2010 men`s world cup to be held in India.

Bowled over by the ShahRukh Khan-starrer, FIH President Els Van Breda Vriesman said the mega event could be named after the film to woo hockey fans.

"`Chak De` is really a great film, inspiring and highly successful. Indian audiences have received it overwhelmingly and we are thinking of utilising the opportunity it provides for us for the 2010 men`s world cup. In fact, we will name our campaign suitably after the film," Vriesman was quoted as saying by a website.

Vriesman said Shah Rukh could be roped in for publicity of the event and FIH was ready to bear the expenses associated with hiring the star.

"Even he may opt to co-operate with us in the interest of the sport. He is assertive in the film, and very attractive too," she said.

Vriesman became a huge fan of the movie as well as Shah Rukh after watching it with Dutch sub-titles. Recollecting dialogues of the movie, she said the episode when coach Kabir Khan makes the players understand the essence of playing for the country is the best moment in the film.

"Really Bollywood makes good sense. This is really a very good film, picturised in a grand way. But I don`t think any real player is involved, as I know many of the current Indian women hockey team members," she said.

Zee News

SRK is Entertainment Business Leader of the year

CNBC-TV18's India Business Leader Awards salute the spirit of showbiz by announcing for the first time, the Entertainment Business Leader of the year award.

His latest film is one of the film industry's biggest grosser ever. He is known as a marketer par excellence and he is one of India's best-known global brands!

Super star Shah Rukh Khan this year pulled out all stops to ensure the success of his film - Om Shanti Om. The film in its first week grossed Rs 75 crore. His company Red Chillies Entertainment, that has produced films like Paheli and Main Hoon Na has ambitious plans of being an independent production company with a special focus on special effects.

According to Shah Rukh Khan, Actor & Producer, They may have big budgets, big banners but I have Shah Rukh Khan! And I will ensure that Red Chillies never has to give way to any production - whether it's Sony or Columbia.

A first generation film star and producer, Shah Rukh Khan has carved out his success single-handedly. The young man from Delhi came to the Hindi film industry, fifteen years ago armed with just his unflagging energy, grit, talent and charm. Today, he has managed to blaze a trail right to the top of the competitive family oriented industry. The people's star Shah Rukh Khan is one of the most popular brand ambassadors today and as the host of KBC earlier this year; his career came full circle to television where it all started. So what is the secret to his success?

Hunger, you need to do have the hunger to succeed, I always tell. he said.

Join us on December 7th to salute the man who embodies the spirit of entertainment

CNBC-TV18

After hockey, SRK may now promote squash too

Chennai (PTI): In an attempt to revive squash from the dungeons, Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan is willing to promote the game during the 21st World men's Team Championship starting here on Thursday.

India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan tomorrow and Khan is expected to be present during the match.

'King Khan' has expressed his desire to watch the India-Pakistan match, N Ramachandran, Chairman, organising committee and President of the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) today said.

However, the Bollywood star is yet to confirm his appearance at the event.

"It (confirmation) is expected anytime," he said at a press conference here.

After playing the role of a hockey coach in 'Chak De India', Shahrukh Khan's presence at some of the Indo-Pak cricket matches had created a controversy following an allegation by BCCI saying that the star maybe using the occasion to promote his films.

India has Kenya and debutant Bermuda besides Pakistan in their group-G.

Six-time champions Pakistan and the hosts India, who had finished 11th in the last edition of the championship in Islamabad in 2005, are likely to sail through the main draw easily.

The top two teams in each group will make it through to the final 16.

Though Pakistan is seeded seventh as compared to India's 10th seeding, the former's standard has taken a dip on the international scene.

The Hindu

Attention and tension ?

Recently, Amitabh Bachchan stayed away from an AIDS awareness function. Did it have to do with Shah Rukh Khan being the chief guest at the occasion ?

Amitabh Bachchan said that he was unable to attend a function organised by Smita Thakeray’ Mukti Foundation because of the shooting schedule of Aladdin. Later, we found out, that the shooting actually got over by 5 pm. The event was supposed to begin only after 8 pm. What reached in place of Big B was a recorded message that flashed on the screens explaining his absence from the venue. Says Allwyn Roderick from Mukti Foundation, “Mr. Bachchan could not attend the function as he was busy shooting for his film. In fact, through an audio-visual he conveyed that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the event as he was busy shooting for Aladdin and also conveyed his best wishes to the foundation for working for this noble cause.”

Our ever-alert sources report, “Bachchan wound up his shooting much before the event started. A source from the production unit of Aladdin, says, “Mr. Bachchan left the sets by 5 pm.”

The fact that SRK was chief guest at the venue may have had something to do with it. “Maybe Bachchan felt that SRK would get all the attention at the event. Given that, it would be somewhat demeaning for an actor of Big B’s stature to play second fiddle.”

Smita Thackeray started the ‘Mukti’ Foundation in 1997, which works towards the welfare of HIV-AIDS affected patients, organized a star-studded evening last Saturday in Mumbai to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her organisation.