Shah Rukh Khan: Someday I will get an Oscar too

Shah Rukh Khan who refused to play the host in Slumdog Millionaire is all praise for the movie and for Anil Kapoor - the man who eventually did the role he turned down.

“I have seen this movie and it is mashaalah. I hope it will win all the awards for which they have received nominations. I liked the script and the book too on which the film is based. I also saw reactions for the movie… in the US people are mad about this movie. The most important part of the movie is the sound - Rahman has done brilliant a job. Danny, Anil and Irrfan are the best and I am not saying this only because they are my good friends. I am proud of them. Some day I will also work in a movie made in India by Indian people and bring an Oscar for the country,” says King Kha.

When asked about controversies related to title of the movie’s name he says with a dimpled smile, ”Mera aur kutton ka toh pada purana rishta hai, aapko toh pata hai. Actually I do not think there is anything bad in keeping this title of the movie but then again it’s everyone’s perspective. But I believe you should not always think negative about anything. In fact you should try to look at the positive in everything… the title also has the word Millionaire. And I think no one should spoil anybody else’s success like this.”

But if he loved the film so much, does he now regret turning it down?

“No. I was the host of two shows in reality and Anil has done it so well. He deserves this appreciation. I don’t think I would have been able to do as brilliant job as him. So there are no regrets!” says SRK.

Does he consider the Oscars one of the most important awards?

“Of course woh koi raste pe pada hua awards nahi hai ki whenever we have time we will pick it up. It is one the biggest honours otherwise why have people like Bhanu (Athaiya) and others accepted it? Mujhe toh awards bahut acche lagte hai,” he says with a laugh.

Shah Rukh in legal soup over copyright

A petition has been filed against Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Private Ltd, TV channel NDTV Imagine and Sunanda Oberai by Neha Joshi for making a serial Ghar Ki Baat, based on the script written by her father, Sharad, for a comedy serial called Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, without obtaining any prior permission and violating the Copyright Act.

In the petition, Neha has said that the script was written by Sharad for the Oberais in 1984 and alleged that they have sold it to the Khan’s production house without the Joshi family’s permission.

Neha’s lawyer said they came to know about the script through one of the Khan’s interview. In the petition, Joshi has asked for compensation for violating the Copyright Act. Oberai’s lawyer told the media that Sharad had written the script for the Oberais and thus they are ultimate owners of the script and hence there was no copyright violation.

The court has asked Red Chillies to file its reply by February 14 and the next hearing is on February 16.

No rest for SRK

Shah Rukh Khan landed in India this week for a surgery on his left shoulder. But two days within his coming back home, Khan was seen at a promotional event of his sitcom Ghar Ki Baat Hai at Taj Lands End.

But that’s not the only thing. King Khan, who will be out of action – read filming for My Name is Khan – for eight weeks, will be making appearances, promoting Billu Barber and filming for adverts in his period of “rest”.

After attending a launch of Red Chilies’s Idiot Box’s first show on January 27 and then on February 1, SRK will be a part of the Nach Baliye finale. SRK will be on the show to promote his home production movie Billu Barber along with the leading lady of the movie Lara Dutta.

A source from the show informs, “We were thinking about many options but when we heard that Shah Rukh was in India, we approached him. And he agreed to be a part of the show which was very nice of him. In the last season he came to promote his movie Om Shanti Om and we received a good response for it so we were keen on calling him on the show again.”

Shah Rukh is also expected to film a couple of advertisements for the products he endorses. He will also be looking into the IPL plan for his team Kolkata Knight Riders. The IPL season will begin soon and Khan is looking at potential players for his team.

“Since I have a forced holiday of eight to nine weeks, I will be attending most of the creative meetings of Idiot Box (SRK’s TV production house). It is fun to attend it and it also helps to flesh out stories. I want devote some time for the promotion of Billu Barer which I could not do as yet as I wasn’t here,” says SRK.

Shah Rukh injured his left shoulder while performing an action sequence during the shoot of Dulha Mil Gaya. He was recently in the US for a 45 day shoot of Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan. But with his shoulder injury re-surfacing, Khan took the decision to come back home for surgery. He has been advised 8 weeks of complete rest after the operation. But it looks like rest is the last thing on SRK’s mind!

SRK loves Priyanka more than Deepika or Kareena

If Priyanka Chopra declares from the rooftops that she is Shah Rukh Khan's biggest fan then it is with reason. The superstar, who has been taking more than a passing interest in the music of the films he produces, decided to give away a large portion of his duet in " Billu Barber " to her.

"Shah Rukh took very close interest in each one of the songs. He isn't a musician, but he has an instinctive ear for music. It takes him just a few seconds to approve or cut down a track," told composer Pritam Chakraborty.

With the songs meant for Kareena Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, Pritam faced no problems.

"Shah Rukh loved his songs with Kareena ('Marjani') and Deepika ('Love mera hit hit'). They were straightforward dance songs with shared grooves between Shah Rukh and Kareena and Deepika," said Pritam.

The song with Priyanka needed special treatment and Shah Rukh made Pritam re-work and re-record the song.

"Shah Rukh's song with Priyanka 'Khuda-ae-kher' is not an item song. It's a love ballad that the pair playing Bollywood superstars emote to in front of the camera. Being a love song Shah Rukh felt there wasn't enough of the female presence in the vocals. He made me re-record the song with more for the female vocalist (Dominique) to do since he wanted Priyanka to have an equal number of lines," the composer said.

"It was entirely Shah Rukh's idea to give Priyanka more lines in the song. He's a very generous entertainer. If you see him on screen he never tries to steal the limelight from his heroines. Even ' Khai ke paan banaras wala ' in 'Don' had a lot of Priyanka in it although it was entirely Shah Rukh's song," Pritam added.

Asked about Shah Rukh's generosity, Priyanka sighed and said: "What do I say? Now do you know why he's my favourite?"

Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta, who play a rustic couple in "Billu Barber", will later be seen enacting the same Shah Rukh-Priyanka ballad.

SRK mends bridges with Manoj Kumar

Signaling the end of the bitter war that ensued between Shah Rukh Khan and yesteryear actor Manoj Kumar with the release of Om Shanti Om in 2007, Shah Rukh visited Manoj recently and spent nearly four hours with him.

He shared some light moments with Manoj’s grandchildren too. Shah Rukh also went to enquire after the health of Manoj’s ailing mother-in-law, Savita Devi, who is SRK’s late mother’s good friend.

Says Manoj, “Look, there wasn’t ever an epic war between us that we wouldn’t meet again. He made a mistake and apologised for it. My 94-year-old mother-in-law had to be recently operated upon, and Shah Rukh wanted to meet her. My mother-in-law used to make khakras for Gandhiji. She is a former MP from Congress and Shah Rukh’s mother was a social worker, that’s how they met.”

Ask him more about the visit and Manoj continues, “Shah Rukh asked me why I was not making films anymore. I asked him what his problem was if I don’t make any and just rest at home. We joked about it. It was nice to meet him, I hardly interact with present day stars. I’ve just spoken to Aamir Khan over phone. And imagine, I haven’t met Salman since the last 19 years, despite his father, Salim Khan, being one of my closest friends.”

‘I haven’t ever forgotten my marriage anniversary’

You are back on television once again but this time as producer.
Yeah...I started my acting career with serials like Circus and Fauji. I got to learn a lot of things. I got into films because of having worked in serials.

After Circus, you are once again working with Aziz Mirza on the television front.
Yes. Nothing would have been possible without Aziz Mirza’s expertise, advice, and guidance. I would have been nowhere without him.

What made you venture into TV when low TRPs have become the order of the day?
You need support and friends who think alike. We have been discussing this since last two-three years. There is risk for sure but NDTV Imagine was confident that we were competitive enough. I want the young people in my film production house Red Chillies to diversify into different arena.

What kind of programmes will your production house churn out?
There is nothing specific that we are planning for television. I have been a film producer for the last eight to nine years and have an acting experience of 20 years. I can bring a difference to television in terms of presentation of content. I will try to bring cinematic value to television.

Why did you choose title Ghar Ki Baat Hai for this sitcom?
It’s a good title. It has lyricism in it. We had another title called Devdas Ki Maut which was not so happening. The serial is about a family, their neighbours and different situations that they face in life thus its Ghar Ki Baat. If you ask me why comedy, personally I like comedy more than anything else.

Do you think this serial has your Ghar Ki Baat?
Well television industry doesn’t have that much money to have a set like my home. Jokes apart, it will have everybody’s ghar ki baat with lots of spice. Its first episode has Sumit Raghavan forgetting his anniversary. Interestingly, I haven’t forgotten my marriage anniversary yet. Even otherwise there are stories like these happening in my home too.

Will you be making a special appearance in the serial?
Yeah I will be making special appearance as and when required. We will try to rope in more special stars if required.

SRK plans to bring cinematic value on television

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has forayed into television by producing a weekly sitcom 'Ghar Ki Baat Hai' has said that he wants to bring "cinematic value" on the small screen.

"There is no specific cache of programmes which we are planning on television. I have been a film producer for the last eight to nine years and have experience of acting for the last 20 years. I think I can bring a difference to television in terms of presentation of content. I will try to bring cinematic value to television," Shah Rukh said.

"Sitcoms are situational comedies. If you see series like Friends','3 is company', you will realise that situations are same. But, there is newness in the characters. Besides, there is originality in the presentation," he said to a query on 'Ghar Ki Baat Hai' (GKBH) being inspired by popular television series of the 80s 'Yeh jo hai zindagi'.

"'GKBH' is not a copy of YJHZ but a tribute to it," he said adding he loved comedy shows and family dramas and GKBH was a good mix of both.

"Light content was commercially viable. I am strangely connected with television. I made my debut in acting with television working with Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah and Aziz Mirza and now Aziz, Sameer Nair have persuaded me to be back on television," Shah Rukh said.

He said the actors in the show, which goes on air this weekend, have been chosen by his creative team. It features Sumeet Raghavan, Juhi Babbar, Swapnil Joshi, Jayati Bhatia and Ali Asghar.

The show's director Anant Mahadevan, who was part of TV series 'Circus' made by Aziz Mirza said life has come full circle for him with GKBH because he was working with Mirza and SRK, who played the lead in the serial.

"GKBH is a classic comedy which will capture the essence of television of the 80s where shows by Kundan Shah, Aziz and Saeed Mirza, Sai Paranjpye ruled the roost," he said.

Sameer Nair said the show has a stellar cast and a killer story coupled with King Khan as the producer.

Besides, a reality show 'Knights and Angels', to find cheer leaders for his IPL Kolkata knightriders team will go on air in March. A talk show on first ladies on Hindi cinema is already on air.

Both the shows are produced by SRK's television company 'Red Chillies Idiot Box'.

I would have preferred a soccer career, says Shah Rukh

Shah Rukh Khan is the best known mega Indian film star. But the other day he said he would have preferred a sporting career to one in films.

He was speaking at the finale of the Asia West Pacific Regional physiotherapy conference organised by the Dr Ali Irani-headed Indian Association of Physiotherapy. Dr Ali was the first physio to travel with an Indian sporting team. He was Indian cricket team physio from 1987 to 1997.

Shah Rukh Khan vibed well with the 10, 50 physiotherapists and delegates from 23 countries at the valedictory. He referred to the injuries he has faced all his life, first in sport and then thanks to the stunts he does himself by choice. Said Shah Rukh, "Thanks to my injuries I know every part of my body, the muscles, the tendons.

My body has pieces of metal in it. I have undergone spinal surgery and I am going for a shoulder surgery in some ten days.''

Shah Rukh said he was so injury prone that his interaction with physios began from the age of 15. "I was playing soccer at Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium and had a lower back problem. An old gentleman, Dr Abbott, treated me. I think he was orthopaedics guy. I don't think there were many physios then. That was the end of my professional sporting career. I would have preferred it to the one in showbiz. Now my son is into athletics and soccer and I think he will need the back-up of physiotherapy. ''

Continuing in a serious vein, Shah Rukh exhorted the physios to become affordable to all sections of the society. He said, "In India we are used to medicine of hakims and vaids. Invasive therapy is not the order of the day. Physiotherapy for most is means massage. I love massage though,'' he said smiling.

Shah Rukh-Manoj Kumar truce over 'Om Shanti Om' spoof

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan met veteran actor Manoj Kumar for an out-of-the-court settlement regarding the cases filed against him in connection with the spoof in his home production 'Om Shanti Om'.

Kumar called him to his residence to discuss withdrawal of the court cases, Shah Rukh told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday night.

"He told me that he was elder to me and was forgiving me for the mistake committed. I and director Farah Khan had sought forgiveness from him several times for our mistake," he said.

"The spoof in the film was not with an intention to belittle him or hurt him. He told me that he would not like to carry on the burden of the court cases," Shah Rukh said.

Kumar had dragged Shah Rukh to court for not honouring the promise of deleting the sequence in the film that shows security guards of a movie theatre beating him up after he displays a driving license showing his photo in his trade mark style covering the face with his palm.

The veteran, who has produced and directed several patriotic films earning him the title 'Bharat Kumar', had asked Shah Rukh to withdraw the scene to which director Farah Khan and he as the producer of the film agreed.

But, the scene continued to be a part of the film and before its television premiere Kumar filed a case against Shah Rukh.

Shahrukh and Kajol return after shooting in Los Angeles

Eight years after they last paired together, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol have completed the first schedule of their next film.

While Shahrukh had been in the US since December last year for Karan Johar’s next directorial venture My Name Is Khan , Kajol joined the shoot only in the second week of January.

The two stars shot for as many as twenty days in Los Angeles before the first schedule was declared complete by Karan Johar . Now, they will shoot the next schedule in Mumbai from March to May. After that they will return to the US to finish the film’s shooting in the final schedule in June.

During the recently concluded schedule of the film in LA, Kajol was accompanied by her mother, sister and daughter Nysa. In fact, the reason why Kajol dilly-dallied so much to do this film is because she did not want to be separated from her daughter.

SRK and Kajol are one of the most sought-after onscreen couples in Bollywood. Though they last paired in Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham , Kajol has made special appearances in SRK-starrers like Kal Ho Na Ho , Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna , Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi .

At last in ‘My Name Is Khan’ they are romantically paired after eight long years. The movie has SRK playing a man who suffers from milder form of autism. Kajol plays his wife.