SRK to do an item song in Krazzy 4

The last we heard, Hrithik would be doing an item number in dad Rakesh Roshan's Krazzy 4. But now it's SRK teaming up with the Roshans for the film. Buzz is that SRK will make a guest appearance in Krazzy 4 and also do an item number. Seems the King Khan is on a roll after his Dard-E-Disco stint in Om Shanti Om.

Although Rakesh Roshan was not available for comment, Shammi from Film Kraft Productions, said, "Yes, talks ore on with Shah Rukh. We will come to know the final details by this weekend. If everything falls into place, this will be a homecoming of sorts for SRK who had also done Rakesh Roshan's Koyla and Karan Arjun.

Krazzy 4 is produced by Film Kraft Productions and directed by Jaideep Sen. The film is apparently a comedy with a social message. A complete family entertainer, it will appeal to young and old alike. The film revolves around four characters played by Arshad Warsi, Irrfan Khan, Suresh Menon and Rajpal Yadav. Juhi Chawla and Dia Mirza too play significant roles in the film.

Buzz18

SRK, Bachchan better role models than historical figures

London: Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai serve as more influential role models for youngsters than any of the famous figures from history, a new study from the University of Leicester suggests.

The research in the University of Leicester Department of Media and Communication examines interest in celebrities and gossip about them. It was carried out by Charlotte De Backer who sought in her study to explain interest in celebrity culture.

She said: 'Life is about learning, gaining experience and in that process we have a tendency to observe and mimic the actions of others. Ideally we mimic what makes others successful and avoid unsuccessful actions others have trialed (and paid for).

'In reality, humans seem to have the tendency to mimic the overall behaviour pattern of higher status or more successful others.

'This explains why celebrities act as role models for broad ranges of behaviour they display - good or bad.'
De Backer also examined another theory for interest in celebrity, known as the Parasocial Hypothesis.

In this case, the bonds are parasocial or one-way because the celebrity reveals private information (often involuntary), and the audience members respond emotionally to this, but there is no feedback of the private life of the audience going to the celebrity (or hardly ever), and nor do celebrities display emotions towards their audience.

Her study of 800 respondents and over 100 interviews confirmed that younger participants showed greater interest in celebrity gossip, even if it was about celebrities who were a lot older than them and even when they did not know the celebrities. They showed greatest interest in internationally known celebrities, because they considered those as more prestigious.

De Backer study also found that older people were interested in celebrity gossip not because they wanted to learn about the celebrities, but because it helped them to form social networks with other people.

'We did find in the interviews that older people do not gossip about celebrities as much because they want to learn from them or feel befriended with them, but they use celebrity gossip to bond with real life friends and acquaintances.

'Living in scattered societies, we often don't know who to talk about with the many people we know, and celebrities can act as our mutual friends and acquaintances.'

Her research was published in the journal Human Nature.

IANS

Shah Rukh Khan is too handsome to be a politician

Just the other day, SRK walked up to Amitabh Bachchan to congratulate him for getting away with the Barabanki land deal controversy. Many saw this as hardly complimentary to Big B, SRK’s only contender in superstardom. But Bachchan was seemingly much impressed. For SRK, the calculations are simple. Apparently, the need to break ice with the Big B has become essential for the project he has been planning with friend Farhan Akhtar, the director of the remade Don. The two hope to make a sequel to Don, whose cast would include Amitabh as well. Big B, who appears to be moved by SRK’s gesture, is reported to be considering a truce with King Khan.

Telegraph India

Karan Johar's Media Mantra's

One of the nicest — and mutually profitable — friendships here is that of Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. K Jo may be right up there in the marquee as a film-maker but he is still sporting enough to take care of Shah Rukh’s clothes, without ever feeling that he’s too big to be doing this now.

“I do clothes only for Shah Rukh, nobody else,” Karan is clear about that. “I connect with what Shah Rukh wants. I’ve done his clothes in Main Hoon Na (remember the simple but distinct sweater and scarf look?) and in Om Shanti Om. I always say Yash Uncle and Farah are two makers for whom, whenever they work with Shah Rukh, I will always do the clothes. I do Shah Rukh’s clothes in any case. I’m always shopping for him. I love doing it as a hobby.

“I loved doing the clothes of Om Shanti Om. Farah was so well-researched, she knew just what she wanted. Every time I fought with her — like I’d say, Farah, you want to give him this gold jacket for God’s sake — her answer would be, just shut up and give it, I know what my tones are. And when I saw it on screen the gold jacket looked great. Shah Rukh looked fantastic in the film. In the first half there wasn’t one wrong note. I had great fun doing it. I hope I get another job!”

One might say that today it is a privilege for anybody to do Shah Rukh’s clothes. But Karan is not ‘anybody’; he is a huge celebrity himself. One might think Karan benefits from his association with such a big star but if you really look at their friendship, I for one would say that Shah Rukh has equally gained from having Karan for a friend.

Today, especially after the blockbuster win of Om Shanti Om, a dreary charge against SRK is that he is media-savvy, like it is a gaali. Anybody who can’t get a good press (currently, Rishi Kapoor and most of the Saawariya satellites) sneer over the two words, ‘media savvy’ like it is a flaw in your personality. But the truth is, Shah Rukh was not always media-savvy. When he made his first film, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, and flopped on his face, he had got the kind of furious backlash that Sanjay Leela Bhansali got this year. Shah Rukh had no friends in the media, he had an issue with most of them (yours truly included) over laughingly trivial items, and right up to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, it was close friend Karan Johar who spoke warmly to the media on his friend’s behalf.

If Shah Rukh Khan has changed for the better you have to credit buddy Karan for the subtle influence he has had over the actor. Hear Karan’s refreshing views on the media and you’ll get an idea of where Shah Rukh has picked up some important lessons.

Says Karan, “Handling the media is really an art, that too requires a certain course.

“You cannot deny the power of the media, you cannot deny that they are a huge platform you need to be on when you have to promote your film or speak about yourself, you cannot deny that they make you the brand you are and you reap the benefits of that. I work in tandem with the media, I like to be there for them just as they have always been there for me. Yes, there are some bad apples but there are those bad apples in any industry, any profession, why just the media?

“When critics praise you, you’re happy. When they criticise you, you say they’re biased. Why can’t we accept that perhaps they just didn’t like your film? I can, even if it does hurt. If tomorrow you write against my film, I’m not going to be loving you for that second, but the next day I’ll wake up and say, ok, I must respect her opinion, I have so many of my own.

“Yes, the electronic media is in your face, the paparazzi is emerging, it’s annoying when you go to an event and you have a hundred cameras on you. But would you not want those hundred people around you? Would you like it if they ignored you and ran after someone else? No, I wouldn’t. I’m sorry to report, I’d be shattered, upset and want to break my head against the nearest wall! I like the shutterbugs when I walk the red carpet and I like the fact that they’re screaming my name for sound bytes. If they didn’t, I’d wonder what went wrong!

“We need the media,” concludes Karan. And you know just how much Shah Rukh has got from Karan when the film-maker says, “Let’s not pretend that we’re going to go out there and bash them because we sound cool at a party. We don’t.

“Media bashing is really passé!”

Thanks, pal.

CelebrityCircus

Truly King Khan style!

SRK's recent lunch party, where he handed out bonus cheques to all his employees, was a big hit.

While the reason behind the party was no secret, what was not known was the total amount that SRK gave out to his employees who work at his production house and his Mumbai residence, Mannat.

Apparently, SRK gave out over Rs 1.5 crore to his staff that day. Says a source from his production house, “It was nice to see SRK's housemaid, who gets paid Rs 18,000 per year, dressed in her best sari for the do. She couldn't believe her eyes when SRK and Gauri handed over a cheque worth Rs 1 lakh to her. The same happened with his cook, drivers and others who work at his office.”

Bobby Chawla from SRK’s production house says, “Well, it was a get together where Shahrukh personally thanked all his employees.”

When questioned about the total amount distributed and the maid receiving Rs 1 lakh, he laughs and says, “The staff members got a bonus according to their nature of work. It was one of the nicest days of our lives not because of the money that we received but because of the thought behind that party.”

Ashwini Deshmukh, TNN

I am an emotional jester: SRK

A wide variety of adjectives have been used to describe Shah Rukh Khan over the years, but politically correct, apologetic, or overly modest are certainly not amongst them.

The superstar, who asserts that he doesn’t mean to miff anyone, manages to frequently rub a few the wrong way with his repartee and outspokenness. Equally, there’s no dearth of those who feel his frankness of expression and a devil-may-care approach, coupled with the ability to laugh at everything, including himself, make him one of India’s most endearing public figures. We think he’s as irreverent as it gets...

‘We should be able to laugh at ourselves’
There’s no dearth of instances where his sharp and often hugely funny one-liners have left those on the other end squirming, if not fuming. His take? “I feel that it has all been in good fun, in good taste. And for some specific instances, such as the remark that Amar Singh took offence to, I think at the point of time it was made, everyone took it in good spirit. Sometimes people think it over later and take it more seriously. But I have never stepped out of line, nor meant to offend.” Yet, that’s hardly a one-off instance, is it? “See, before I laugh at anyone, I laugh at myself. But I’ve realised that not everyone has a similar sense of humour, and they may take themselves more seriously. When that happens, I apologise, I don’t have any issue with that. I’ve even started sounding off people in the fraternity in advance now when I’m planning something funny, or a funny remark on them, so they don’t feel taken aback!”

What’s his take on those who don’t find his sense of irreverence comfortable? “I truly believe that as a nation, we should be able to laugh at ourselves. If you begin to take things, and yourself, too seriously, it begins to get to you, and slowly shows in your work as well. And humour cannot hurt anyone. My humour in any case is irreverent, not rude.”

And who cracks jokes at his expense? “Oh, the five-seven friends that I have, they do it all the time. Aziz Mirza, Farah, Karan, Juhi, Adi, we all joke about each other all the time, we all have quite a sense of humour. And yes, my kids crack a lot of jokes about me. They find a lot of things about me very funny, including the way I romance on screen!”

‘Take the bad times with a little humour’
But there’s more to the irreverent sense of humour than the gags and the wicked one-liners. That same sense stays with him through the lows and the tough times as well, in more ways than one would think.

“I’ve had tough times. I don’t cry about them. I make light of them instead. I don’t think God does anything to you which is permanent. And if you take it with a little humour, it will be easier to bear while it lasts... When I had my spinal surgery, I was very scared and very depressed to begin with. But most of the time, I would try to think light and funny thoughts. And they stayed with me.”

Probe further, and you realise that SRK’s fundamentals on not keeping a long face and keeping the sense of humour alive stretch a long way. “I believe that is easier to get by the saddest of situations with a sense of humour. The situation is not going to change by being upset. God forbid, but when we lose somebody, that situation is not going to change. It may sound a little mean and unattached, but even that situation will be easier to face if you can see some moments of lightness in that too. When my friends, such as Karan or Juhi, faced tough times or lost people close to them, I wasn’t just there wearing white and looking glum and giving them hugs. I was saying things and reminding them of the fun times and the happiness they shared with those whom they had lost. They later said I made it so much easier for them by being there...”
So, his friends would vouch for his ability to bring moments of lightness in their low moments? “Well, when my friends face emotional stress, they do often call me... I am, so to say, an emotional jester.” That’s not said in jest, for sure? “No. That’s not reducing it to a comic character. Being a jester is an important job. And if you can be a jester in your own life, that’s great. Everybody will see good and bad times. If you can see both of them with a sense of irreverence, play the jester in your life, you will not take yourself too seriously. It works for me, at least.”

‘I know what I don’t know’
An attitude of irreverence needs the confidence to accept what one doesn’t know. Modesty from the superstar? Not quite. “Just because my face is plastered everywhere does not make me more intelligent than others. But I am intelligent, extremely intelligent. That’s because I’m intelligent enough to know what I don’t know.”

Are “I don’t know” the three magic words for him, then? Almost. “The greatest gift I would like to give my children is the ability to turn around and say, ‘I don’t know’, and say it with confidence. I think that today we have the generation which works hard, tries to learn, and tries to achieve, and when they don’t know, they’re not scared to turn around and say, ‘I don’t know!’ That makes me feel good.”

‘I repeat myself, so?’
Talk of the irreverence-SRK connect and you can’t but wonder how many actors would spoof themselves in their own movies, as he recently did. “It is always better to justify the use of humour by using it on yourself first. The joke there is actually not on me. The joke is on everyone who thinks that I act in the same kind of films and smirks. It’s not as if I’m unaware. I find it funny myself, but I still do it! It’s a choice I make. The next time I don’t think those people will come up to me and tell me that I keep doing the same kind of movies, because now I’m telling them, I know it and I laugh at it myself, so?” Now that’s the quintessentially irreverent Shah Rukh ‘Rahul’ Khan for you, we guess!

‘I’m just honest’
There are occasions when he’s made statements about himself that range from the grand to the outrageous. Is it an ego trip, or just for effect, or an index of confident courage? None of these, he says, it’s just honesty. “When I first went up to collect the Filmfare Award for the best debut, Dilip saab had got the Lifetime Achievement Award. And I turned around after taking my award and said, ‘I would like to come here and receive a Lifetime Achievement award too, someday.’ And so many people asked me, how can you say something like that? But if I feel like that, I want that, why shouldn’t I say it? If I can’t do it, it won’t belittle me. There’s nothing wrong in saying what you feel.” None at all, is what we say!

Anshul Chaturvedi, TNN

Karan to announce the SRK-Kajol project soon

Producer director Karan Johar's debut film, KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI (1998), saved his father's banner, Dharma Productions, which was virtually on the brink of bankruptcy. Not only that, the film went on to become one of the biggest hits of the 90's. It also consolidated the super-star power of the SRK-Kajol pair and established Karan as a top-notch director of the Hindi film industry.

Karan's career graph rose further with his next two films, KABHI KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM (2001) and KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA (2006). He ranks amongst the topmost Bollywood directors/producers like Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra, Sooraj Barjatya.

Karan has off late been seen more on television, though news about his next project, obviously featuring close friends Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, has been doing the rounds, for a while. There have also been speculations that the project may not happen, as Kajol is not very keen on doing the film.

However, putting an end to all the canards, Karan says that he will soon be making a formal announcement regarding his next directorial venture, featuring his favourite pair. But before that he wants to have everything on paper.

Well, we are waiting eagerly for the official word about, KHAN or MY NAME IS KHAN or whatever is the actual/final title!

Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network

Yash Chopra at work

Head honchos Aditya and daddy Yash Chopra, who are at present determining their bouquet of films for next year, have called for a high-profile meeting with their ‘lucky mascots’ – Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta.

Shah Rukh is probably the only star who has had the most impressive track record with the banner, starting with Darr . The leading ladies – Rani and Preity – have clearly emerged as the favourites despite their flops.

A reliable source from the production house informs, “We are taking extreme measures to ensure one big hit next year. Shah Rukh is our lucky mascot and after Chak De’s stupendous performance at the box-office he is definitely the best choice. In fact, SRK, Rani and Preity form the ideal cast.”

The agenda is to discuss a few concepts and involve the actors in the ideation process. Aditya has already had a long-drawn discussion with good friend Shah Rukh, and they will finalise the deal in the coming week.

Sandipan Dalal, TNN

SRK enjoying the pleasures of being jobless!

While many actors would have given their left hand to be in some of the projects that Shah Rukh Khan has rejected of late, Bollywood's biggest star is unperturbed. Yes, we are talking about proposals from the likes of Shankar (SIVAJI-THE BOSS), and Rajkumar Hirani (MUNNABHAI series).

SRK jokingly accepts that at present he is jobless and happily sitting at home, enjoying the company of his children, doing normal chores like dropping his kids to school, telling them stories and playing with them. Though this statement might gladden the hearts of his detractors, which is far from the truth.

As per the trade buzz, Shah Rukh is already in negotiations with the premier production house, Yash Raj Films, for a quickie, apart from a request by his KARAN ARJUN director, Rakesh Roshan, for an item number in KRAZZY 4. In addition to that, he is also planning to go in for multiple productions (next year) under his banner, Red Chillies Entertainment, not necessarily starring himself.

Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network

Police dismiss reports of extortion call to Shah Rukh Khan

MUMBAI: Police on Wednesday dismissed reports in a section of the media that claimed Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan had received an extortion call for Rs 2 crore from gangster Bunty Pandey.

"Shah Rukh has not received any such call," said a senior officer from the Crime Branch.

Asked about interviews a person, claiming to be Pandey, has been giving to some television news channels since morning, the officer said "may be he is doing it just for cheap publicity...to become big in the gangland. Undue advantage is being taken of the media."

Pandey was earlier aligned with the Chhota Rajan gang but later broke away and reportedly targets Bollywood personalities for extortion.

Pandey's name was in news recently after he gave an interview to a private news channel claiming to be behind the murder of NCP Corporator Devidas Chowgule in the neighbouring satellite city of Navi Mumbai.

Times Of India