Shah Rukh to host 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?'

English is the official language of India. True or False?

Do all adult kangaroos have pouches? Yes or No?
Which of the following - ligaments, tendons, or marrow, attach muscles to bones?.

After reading the above questions, most of you will feign dyslexia, some of you will promptly want to take help from 10-years olds in the neighborhood and still, many will refuse to say, "I'm not smarter than the Fifth grader."

If you have trouble remembering the formula for the area of a triangle or figures of speech that you learnt in primary school, its definitely time to go back to school with none other than Bollywood Ka Badshah - Shah Rukh Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan is back on TV to host television's biggest entertainer ever, 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?' It is a show, which has adult contestants testing their wits with a group of sprightly 10-year-olds.

Excited about hosting 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?', Shah Rukh Khan says, "I was very keen to do this show because of the educational aspect attached to it, which has been an integral part our culture. Once the decision was made, Star Plus was the only television platform I could think, that could take me to every single television home in this country."

Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? is a television game show based on the international Mark Burnett format 'Are you smarter than a 5th grader?' where grade school level questions are put to adults from all walks of life, who are well heeled and confident and who attempt to relive school with success. The format originated in the United States, has launched successfully in 50 countries, and will now hit Indian television, courtesy Bulldog Media & Entertainment.

The essence of the show is the test that adults will be put to answer primary school questions, the pressure of going back to school and keeping their reputations intact. Even the likes of 2008 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Rudy Guiliani have turned down the offer to be the on show as contestants. Such is the pressure!
First time on Indian television, viewers will witness contestants win this whopping sum - Five Crores to answer up to Fifth Standard questions, just imagine…

Speaking on the launch of 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass se Tez Hain?', Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India Pvt Ltd., said, "We are fortunate that the country has always given us the mandate of taking television to the next level. We have done it time and again by launching a show like 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', by introducing a whole new time band in the afternoon and by bringing people back to television on the weekends. With a show like 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?', its time to redefine Indian television yet again."

The show promises quality entertainment and high production value to its viewers; and a production of such magnitude warrants only the best in the industry to make it happen. Star Plus once again collaborates with one of the country's leading production houses- Synergy Adlabs. Their expertise in producing successful, top quality format shows including the super-hit Kaun Banega Crorepati ( series 1,2,&3), Heartbeat, Kamzor Kadi Kaun will ensure that Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? becomes yet another hit on Indian television.

Bollywood Hungama

SRK absent at Paanchvi Paas

King Khan Shahrukh who just returned from his spell at the Berlin film festival and his quick media interaction at Delhi , was to attend the press conference of Star Plus’ “Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain?” at ITC, Parel last afternoon. But, unfortunately was absent at the launch of the much hyped show.

Shahrukh who has always shared a great rapport with the media failed to appear at the conference due to the rising political situation within the state of Maharashtra. The arrest of MNS leader Raj Thackeray last noon put the state on high alert as activists blocked roads to protest against the arrest.

The team at Star Plus didn’t want to put their guest at any sort of danger and thus decided not to have Shahrukh at the conference. The conference did see the unveiling of the logo and Siddhart Basu director of the show, did interact with the media and spoke on Shahrukh’s behalf.

But Shahrukh’s persona was deeply missed at the conference. The Star team was heavily apologetic and thus promised greater moments of interaction with Shahrukh in the days to come. So till then, just hang-in.

IndiaGlitz

V-Day is beyond me:SRK

He is the eternal Rahul of Indian cinema, the lover who always gets the heroine in the end.
But call him that and Shah Rukh Khan just throws up his hands and says resignedly, “People call me a lot of names; I don’t mind being called any!

Then on a serious note, the King of Romance adds, “I have reached the giving stage of my Bollywood love affair. I want to give more and more love to my audience through my work. If you want to call it love... please go ahead!”

But SRK is not the kind to straitjacket love in the confines of Valentine’s Day. “I have never really understood this day. According to me, love has so many facets. For instance, if you asked Don Juan, he would have said that loving 1700 women was the nicest thing in his life.

And I think I would respect that also.

The beauty of love is that it has no boundaries. For me, love means my children. I am in love with the undiplomatic and innocent stage of life that they are in,” he says.

And isn’t it a little kid, Darsheel Safary, who is competing with Mr Khan for the Filmfare best actor award too? “Every year the competition keeps getting younger. Very soon, I will be nominated with an unborn baby,” he smiles.

Times Of India

SRK game for investing in hockey, football

NEW DELHI: It’s not just cricket. Shah Rukh Khan is keen on investing in other sports as well. SRK, who is coming back as a television host with a game show on Star Plus, has created a separate segment in his production company Red Chillies Entertainment called Red Entertainment Sports.

“I invested in cricket because there was an opportunity available. I think investment in sports should come through a sensible business plan. I think a lot needs to be done for propagating sports among youth. IPL is a new concept, let’s see how it works. In due course of time, I will invest in hockey and football and other sports,” said Shah Rukh Khan.

In a bid to create awareness about IPL, the actor is in the process of lining up plans about the concept. “I think ICL (Zee’s Indian Cricket League) couldn’t reach out to people and got lost. I have been talking to Vijay (Mallya), Mukesh bhai and Preity (Zinta) that we should all invest to create a buzz around IPL so that people are aware of it,” he added.

Mr Khan also plans to actively participate in marketing IPL’s Kolkata team—which he won in auction along with Juhi Chawla and Jai Mehta—and launch a full scale campaign. He said that he would take his team to Delhi, Mumbai and other cities to promote it. As far as signing players for his team was concerned, Mr Khan said he would take the decision with his team coach.

Besides cricket, SRK also plans to expand his production company Red Chillies Entertainment. Talking about the company’s future plans, he said, “Our company will make three movies, including one animation film. I may also act in some of them.” SRK’s company would also get into television production and is looking at increasing the head count of his company to 150 employees.

“We make movies and also plan to do creative programming for television. We also have an ad-sales division which creates 40-60 advertising films.” Asked whether he would rope in an international investor, SRK said, “We don’t need any funds as of now. I have no immediate plans for an IPO either.’’

Besides hosting a game show which will involve extensive interactions with kids, Mr Khan is also looking at making a movie for children. “I was trained by Barry John. He taught me that if I can’t sustain the interest level of kids, I can never become a good actor,” he said.

Star Plus will partner with Synergy Adlabs and Bulldog Media & Entertainment to bring the international format game show “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” to India. The Indian version of the show — Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain? — will show SRK as a school teacher interviewing adults who would have kids of fifth grade and below as classmates. The prize money offered to the winner would be Rs 5 crore.

Talking about his decision to keep coming back to television, Mr Khan said that he is an entertainer and would like to perform on all platforms. He believes that television has started grabbing larger number of eyeballs and has an interactive element.

TNN

“Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest movie star in the world”: CNN International

LONDON, England (CNN) — Some movie actors are lauded for their performances on the silver screen, earning themselves respect and stardom. But few, if any, Western stars are worshipped in quite the way that Shah Rukh Khan is. In a film career spanning 16 years he has risen to become the most recognizable face of Indian cinema and the most watched movie star in the world.

Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest movie star in the world. Since his debut in the 1992 feature film ‘Deewana’, he has dominated Indian cinema.

Shah Rukh Khan’s life story is one which Bollywood scriptwriters would have been proud to have penned themselves.

His journey into Indian cinema took in tragedy, romance, determination and luck. It was also highly unconventional for an outsider like Khan to break into the inherently dynastic world of Bollywood.

Khan was born in Delhi in 1965. As a boy growing up, Khan never really dreamed of being an actor, his head and heart were consumed by sport — notably cricket and hockey — but injuries put an end to any dreams of becoming a professional sportsman.

But he had also dabbled in drama as a teenager and enrolled at Delhi’s Theatre Action Group which had been run by the renowned theatre director Barry John since 1968.

The experience served Khan well, and with TV production starting to boom in India, Khan was soon called upon to appear on the small screen — his first appearance was in the series “Fauji” in 1988.

Sadly both his parents died before seeing their son achieve success in Bollywood. His father Meer Taj Mohammed — a lawyer and freedom activist who had campaigned for Indian independence — died in 1981. His mother Latif Fatima, a magistrate, died 10 years later.

But it was the death of his mother that proved to be the catalyst for Khan switching from the small to big screen. Beset by sadness and depression at the loss of his mother, Khan decided to give the movies a shot and made a permanent move to Mumbai — the center of filmmaking in India.

It wasn’t long before he caught the eye of casting directors and soon a film role was offered to him. But Khan wasn’t sure whether he should accept.

“I wasn’t very keen,” he told CNN. “But there were some friends in TV who convinced me to do it. I was more intellectually inclined. I wanted to do a more serious kind of cinema.”

Nevertheless, in 1992 Khan made his film debut in “Deewana,” winning him the Filmfare Best Male Debut award.

His continuing reluctance to take his new status and film roles too seriously meant Khan took on parts that some of the more established Bollywood stars would have rejected out of hand.

Khan believed he had nothing to lose, and he happily took on a variety of roles. In 1993 he played a murdering adulterer in “Baazigar.” Khan’s character (Ajay Sharma) pushes a young Shilpa Shetty off a roof and thus launched her career. The performance earned him his first Filmfare Best Actor award. Unafraid of being typecast, Khan reprised the ‘bad guy” role in “Darr” (1993) and “Anjaam” (1994).

Playing the character of Raj Malhotra in the 1995 feature “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (DDLJ) propelled him to new heights, confirming his versatility and popularity as a Bollywood actor. The film was a huge critical and commercial success, becoming the longest running film ever in Indian cinema — it continues to run to this day in cinemas in Mumbai.

Khan had become, and remains, the hottest property in Bollywood. Despite his inability to sing — all his songs are dubbed — and, at best, an average talent for dancing, he oozes charisma. “His screen presence is still incredible,” says his biographer Anu Chopra. “You can’t take your eyes off him. He is just completely magnetic.”

Box office records continue to be broken, awards continue to stack up — so far he has won 13 Filmfare awards — and throughout all of it his personal life has remained settled and happy. Married to Gauri since 1991, the couple had their first son Aryan in 1997. A daughter, Suhana followed in 2000.

The same year Khan, along with his friend and actress Juhi Chawla, set up the production company Dreamz Unlimited. In 2004, he founded Red Chillies Entertainment, which produced the highly successful ‘Main Hoon Na’ — the directorial debut of the multi-talented choreographer Farah Khan.

Outside of filmmaking Khan can be seen presenting “Kaun Banega Crorepati” — India’s version of the successful ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” format. And recently, he was part of a consortium which successfully bid for one of the eight new franchises of cricket’s Indian Premier League.

But his lifelong love for cricket still takes second place to his job as a continuing Bollywood phenomenon. Having already racked up over 60 films, Khan isn’t about to shy away from the spotlight that he so openly adores.

“All my life I’ve worked towards being recognized,” he says. “I love it. I am proud that I am a movie star and have no privacy. What is the point if I am a star and no one knows me?”

CNN International

Shah Rukh Khan - Kajol starrer 'Khan' based on true story

The first half of producer / director Karan Johar's next film starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, tentatively titled Khan!, is based on a true story says Johar, who has bought the rights for the story from the couple that was victimized.

In the film Shah Rukh plays a Muslim who gets wrongly detained on a flight because his last name is Khan and the authorities believe that makes him a terrorist.

The film, currently being scripted by Shivani Bhatija, is expected to go on the floors in mid 2008

Currently only the lead pair for the film has been finalized since scripting is not yet complete.

Johar calls the Khan - Kajol pairing a 'dream pairing' because it has never failed to produce a hit.

Their past films together are Baazigar (1993), Karan Arjun (1995), Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001).

Khan, Johar and Kajol also happen to be very good friends who consult each other professionally.

If Johar had his way, Kajol would be in all his films. He had wanted the 32-year-old to act in his last film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) but Kajol opted out because the film involved a long spell of shooting in the US and she was not comfortable leaving her daughter Nysa behind for so long.

"This time around I told her, 'I need you. You just have to do my film.' That was it.," a delighted Johar told Mid Day after having signed her up.

Johar, who has in the past focused exclusively on romantic dramas, is excited about the film because of its intense story line but a little tentative about directing it.

"…I am petrified, mortified and absolutely hysterical about directing this film. I even asked Shibani after reading the first draft, 'Do you think I am the right person to direct this?' The tone of the film is such. All I can say is that in my entire career this is possibly the biggest risk I am taking," he says.

Sawf News

Shah Rukh is on for television

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who started his career as an actor with TV serial Fauji, says that whatever he has achieved in life is all because of television.

"I started my career with television. I am what I am today because of TV. I owe my life to the small screen and stage," King Khan said.

"It is a welcome change to see the way television has evolved over two decades. There is an amazing change in TV programmes both quality-wise and technically. In fact, films and media (print and electronic), everything has changed," he said.

"Earlier, when we used to go for press conferences there used to be hardly five cameras. Today the count is more than the fingers on your hands," reminisced the star.

He was in the capital Tuesday to promote a new quiz show, Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain, to be telecast on STAR Plus, which he will host.

The show, based on international TV show Are you Smarter than a Fifth grader?, will have adult participants contesting to win a whopping Rs.50 million.

Asked if he himself is smarter than a fifth grader, SRK quipped: "I am not as smart as a fifth class student, otherwise I wouldn't have been an actor."

So how was Shah Rukh as a student? "I was very naughty and was nearly suspended once from school but my parents never pushed me very hard. They always said that I must do enough (in studies) so that they are not ashamed. And I did fair in life!"

"I remember my teachers said that I have a devil's smile. Every time I played a prank, I used to smile with dimples on my cheeks and they would let me go. But I was punished many, many times," he added.

Commenting on whether he would like his son Aryan and daughter Suhana to take part in any reality show, he said: "I don't want that for my children, being Shah Rukh Khan's son and daughter should not become an achievement."

"I prey to god and hope when they grow up they achieve something on their own," he said.

Indo-Asian News Service

Shah Rukh bags 10% of BAG Glamour for Rs 10 crore

NEW DELHI: King Khan’s entrepreneurial ambitions are getting bigger by the day. The actor, who recently bought Indian Premier League (IPL)’s Kolkata team rights along with actor Juhi Chawla and her hubby Jai Mehta, has now picked up 10% stake in BAG Glamour, a subsidiary of BAG Films & Media, for about Rs 10 crore.

BAG Films & Media is slated to launch its entertainment and wellness channels through BAG Glamour, which will start operations in mid-March.

Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri, who also head production company Red Chillies Entertainment, have picked up the stake in their personal capacity, say sources.

Besides being an investor in the company, Khan is expected to play a pivotal role in content ideation for the soon-to-be-launched entertainment channel. “Shah Rukh Khan is also likely to appear for some of the shows on the channel. He is creative and is likely to contribute ideas to channel programming,” said an industry source.

When contacted, BAG Films & Media’s spokesperson refused to comment. In the past, the media company had raised over Rs 62 crore by diluting about 10% equity to Fidelity Funds, Mauritius.

Red Chillies recently bought the Kolkata IPL team for an estimated $75 million. The actor turned producer in 2000 with Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. His other productions include Asoka, Chalte Chalte, Main Hoon Na and the latest Om Shanti Om among others. Khan, who started his acting career with TV show Fauji, made a comeback on the silver screen with the second season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. He is now set to host another reality game show.

BAG Films & Media is promoted by Rajiv Shukla and his wife Anurradha Shukla and is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The promoter group holds 31.8% in the company. Indiabulls promoter Sameer Gehlaut holds 21.68% stake in his personal capacity. The company launched its broadcasting initiatives under subsidiaries BAG Newsline and BAG Glamour.

Meenakshi Verma Ambwani, TNN

When Shah Rukh Khan interviewed Rajnikanth

Superstar Rajnikanth was responding to questions at the NDTV Indian of the Year Awards in New Delhi on January 17 2008. Shah Rukh Khan posted some questions to Superstar.

NDTV: There is another Badshah in the audience. Shah Rukh wants to ask Rajni a question.

Shah Rukh: What does one do to become Shahenshah, sir?

Rajni: I am telling you, Shah Rukh, you will one day become Shahenshah.

NDTV: Do you want to ask Shah Rukh a question, or say something to him?

Rajni: He is an excellent actor. One thing I like about him is his integrity. He is very serious to promote our Indian sports, like hockey. Hats off to you. I saw that picture, Chak De. I will try to do that kind of a role, Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh: Thank you sir. But I notice that you are just talking about my sports and not my acting. Anyway, God bless you and it is an honour and a wonderful thing to have you here in our midst.

Rediff

In Berlin, fans queued up to meet Shahrukh Khan

BERLIN: The King was inside while his subordinates waited patiently outside. They were young and old, fat and thin, men and women. But, for this King, there were more women than men and more young than old. They love him because “he is so flirtatious”. As one of them said: “He can even flirt with a pillar”.

They waited for hours to catch a glimpse of their new King, one who has begun to rule their hearts from several thousand miles away. Many of them carried his photograph, DVDs of his latest blockbuster, and a few carried books - the story from his film or his biography. A woman had even carried a small stool with her, to get a better view. At regular intervals they all shouted - in unison - Shah... Rukh, Shah... Rukh. It could have been at any place in India. More>>>>