SRK impressed with Prassanna

After 15 years of hard work, perseverance and focus, Prassanna Sujit is finally getting his rewards.

Not many know who this guy is. But soon that scenario is to change.

The dance moves of the song 'Mar Jaani' of the forthcoming flick 'Biloo Barber' featuring SRK and Kareena has become a rage and accolades have started to fly in for the dance maker Prassanna.

Because of the immense popularity of this song it can be presumed that Prassanna is now almost near to his target of being one among the top choreographers of B-Town.

When Shah Rukh first came to know that it was Prassanna who is going to teach him the dance steps of 'Mar Jaani', he got a little bit apprehensive.

SRK doubted Prassanna's potential because he had never worked with him before.

he star even asked director Priyadarshan if Farah Khan can do the job.

But how could Priyadarshan make up his mind to change Prassana when the lad had impressed him so much with his work in 'Bhool Bhulaiya' and 'Bhagam Bhag'.

Shah Rukh got relieved when he came to know that it was Prassana who had choreographed the hit song 'Signal' from 'Bhagam Bhag'.

On the first day of the shoot of "Mar Jaani", Shahrukh's doubts dissolved.

The fantastic signature dance step created by Prassanna was enough to make a great impression in the hero's mind.

When considering that Prassana made his debut in Bollywood only two years back, working with a top director like Priyadarshan is a great achievement.

He has also worked for the director in 'Garam Masala' and 'Mere Baap Phele Aap'.

Starting out as an independent choreographer in 2000, Prasanna has till now worked for 300 films which includes projects in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

More of his talent will be on display after Ketan Mehta's 'Rang Rasaiya' and Priyadarshan's 'De Dhana Dhan' hit the big screens.

I’ll join politics when I’m 127: Shah Rukh Khan

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, at a recent media event here revealed that he doesn’t like it when Aamir tries to take a dig on him. The actor was at his witty best when he took digs at journalists during a TAG Heuer press conference in the capital.

Taking the stage, Shah Rukh joked that he would have loved to take off his shirt then and there, but unfortunately there’s nothing written on his chest like Aamir’s. (SRK said hinting at Aamir’s character in ‘Ghajini’).

When asked as to why he chooses to pick on Aamir frequently at such events, Shah Rukh said, “I don’t pick on Aamir. Media just tries to make an issue out of it. It’s a joke. But sometimes Aamir does so and I don’t like it.”

“But I think I should not talk about this any further. I’d like to personally have a word with Aamir on these things,” he added.

When asked about his shoulder injury, Shah Rukh told a reporter, “I just can’t hug you hard enough.” The actor further said, “My treatment has been delayed because of a few important commitments, one being the TAG Heuer event today, and another is ‘Billu Barber’. Once I’m done with my commitments to the film, I’ll get myself admitted to a hospital for the surgery.”

Well, not completely ruling out his chances of joining politics, (if I may say), Shah Rukh said once again, taking a dig at the journos, “I might join politics at the age of 127, when probably you guys are old and I am still young.”

Shah Rukh, who is supposedly doing a cameo in the upcoming flick ‘Billu Barber’, has been seen promoting the film with a lot of dedication. Justifying his presence in the three popular dance numbers from the film, with Kareena, Deepika and Priyanka individually, Shah Rukh said, “It is a film where a film-star comes out of a small town, and all the songs are a part of the story. Undoubtedly, Irrfan and Lara are the two most important aspects of the film and the film is beautiful because of them. But I’m also playing an important part. So please don’t mind me promoting my film.”

Well, apart from the King Khan, the other champion who could be spotted at the event, was none other than the most charming king of the boxing rink ever - Vijender Singh and India’s A1 GP racer, Karun Chandok. The guys looked really handsome as they flaunted their classy TAG Heuer watches at the event. Shah Rukh, the brand ambassador of TAG Heuer, was here for the launch of a new collection by the Swiss watchmaker.

“We need to salute people like Vijender and Karun, who are real heroes, unlike us. And specially Vijender, who has achieved so much after having come from such a small town,” Shah Rukh said.

Exclusive: SRK back with KBC 4

Shah Rukh Khan will be back as the charming host of Kaun Banega Crorepati later this year. The actor is said to have one year left in his contract with the channel and is expected to start working on KBC 4 in the middle of this year.

About hosting a show SRK says, “I did one season of KBC and one of Paanchvi Pass, but I still have contract with Star for one year, so I cannot host any other show outside. I think they are working on things and I am sure soon they will come up with something new. Therefore till that contract gets over I cannot think about hosting anything else. Though my last show did not do that well, so let’s see how things work out this time…”

A source from the production house says, “This year our team has been working on KBC’s format. As it is already a hit format is no risk involved. Last year we came with a different format but it was not accepted well. However everything is still being worked out currently. We have just started working on it. SRK has a contract with channel and he did a great job in the third season. Further audiences are also familiar with this format so we are expecting a good response for it. The show will be for the weekend prime time slot like earlier seasons.”

So far KBC has had three seasons. The first two seasons of the show were hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. However, with his sudden illness the show was pulled off air mid way in the season and that’s when SRK stepped in to host the third season. Last year Khan came back with a new quiz show called Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hai. Failing to garner as much TRPs as their previous seasons, it now looks like the producers are going back to KBC.

The war between SRK and Akki

Apparently Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan shared some serious cold vibes at Preity Zinta’s birthday bash.

The undercurrent of rivalry between the two stars was apparent when Shah Rukh arrived at the party. According to our source, Akshay wanted to leave before Shah Rukh could arrive. “The minute Shah Rukh stepped in, Akshay chose to leave. The few minutes that the two were together, they avoided each other. They greeted one another very reluctantly but after that no words were exchanged between the two. Since there were only a few guests present at the party at the time, the awkwardness was very obvious.”

We messaged both Shah Rukh and Akshay asking them if they had consciously avoided each other at the party, but the two did not revert.

SRK wins plagiarism case

Allegations of plagiarism by writers of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi thrown out Shah Rukh Khan’s television production house Red Chillies Idiot Box’s sitcom Ghar Ki Baat Hai, which was aired on January 30 on NDTV Imagine, has won the case filed against them.

The petition was filed by Neha Joshi, daughter of Sharad Joshi, who had penned the 1984 comedy show Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi - a serial that was the inspiration in the making of Ghar Ki Baat Hai.

Shah Rukh Khan had mentioned earlier, “Ghar Ki Baat Hai is a tribute to Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi.” The petition filed was against Shah Rukh Khan’s company Red Chillies Idiot Box, NDTV Imagine and the Oberois (who produced Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi) for copying the show without prior permission. However, Red Chillies, NDTV and the Oberois have won the case.

Bhavana Sresth, creative director, Ghar Ki Baat Hai, says, “The petition filed by Neha Joshi was irrelevant because the official contract of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi was with the producers - the Oberois - from whom we had already taken permission, there were no copyright violations. Hence, the petition has been nullified.”

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.”