Knights gift SRK surprise holiday

If the Kolkata Knight Riders had played the way they had expected to, Shah Rukh Khan would have been here today in the “City of Gold” to be with his men in black and gold.

SRK had planned to return for the Knights’ last three matches and stay on till the May 24 final at the Wanderers. But thanks to the way the team has performed, he is not coming.

“Shah Rukh was always supposed to leave at the end of April regardless of how we played in the first four matches,” team director Joy Bhattacharjya said. “He had promised to rejoin the team from mid-May, only if they did well. Juhi Chawla was to come with him.”

As were many of the celebrity supporters who were at Eden Gardens last year — among them director Farhan Akhtar and musician Vishal Dadlani. “The turn of events is really disappointing,” Vishal said. “But I’m sure SRK and KKR will bounce back big time. I have absolute faith in his ability to inspire.”

Well, Shah Rukh is in no mood now to come over and inspire the team. And that has thrown the superstar’s calendar in disarray, something he said only his two kids could do.

Then again, he calls the Knights his kids, too.

He can’t even shoot because director-friend Karan Johar hadn’t scheduled filming for My Name is Khan in May because SRK was positive the Knights would make it to the semis and he would be here.

Shah Rukh is trying to make the most of the two free weeks he suddenly has. According to a source close to the actor, he has been religiously undergoing physiotherapy sessions to improve his operated-on left shoulder.

“He is also slated to shoot for a couple of days for Vivek Vaswani’s Dulha Mil Gaya,” the source said. SRK had injured his shoulder shooting for the film.

However, “the boss” hasn’t completely disowned his boys. The famous text messages are still coming, to select members of the Knight Riders.

IPL's Miss Bollywood won't star with SRK!

There will be no Bollywood movie role with Shah Rukh Khan or in fact in any Bollywood movie for the winner of the Miss Bollywood IPL 2009 contest being run by the Indian Premier League (IPL). But she will get a chance to visit India.

Commentators interviewing winners at each game had been asking finalists how they would feel about a role with Shah Rukh and as late as Monday, press releases issued on behalf of the IPL were still saying that 'the winner would receive a role in a Bollywood movie, 50,000 rands in cash, a business class trip to India and other prizes'.

But IPL spokesperson Trevor Jones, who initially denied that this had ever been said, confirmed to IANS that there had been some confusion around the Bollywood movie role: "The launch press release said the winner 'stands to win a role in a Bollywood movie', although subsequent releases should have been clearer on this."

"The initial release did not say the person would win such a role because such a thing could never be guaranteed in advance; neither did the announcement refer to starring with Shah Rukh Khan.

"We're sorry if there's been any confusion on this. We still believe the overall prize is a worthy one for the ultimate winner."

At each IPL game, a finalist is selected from the crowd, as a measure to create a further element of fun and excitement at the matches.

Asked about the criteria used in selection of the finalists, Jones said: "In keeping with the emphasis on fun and excitement, these criteria are different from the rigid score sheet format of a typical beauty pageant."

Jones also said that Bollywood stars Shah Rukh and Preity Zinta provided their input and some ideas before the launch, but have had no direct involvement since they spend most of their time travelling with their respective teams while in South Africa.

Jones dispelled any concern about potential unfairnesses in the selection process by saying that anonymous 'spotters' made choices, after which the project leader of the programme made the final choice.

"Cameramen do not have the final choice, they can make suggestions, which may or may not be useful. There are adequate measures built into the process to prevent abuse. Disclosing the nature of these measures would defeat their object," Jones added.

"If there were to be any structural weakness in the initiative, it would have come from people such as model agents trying to identify our Miss Bollywood spotters and influence them. We believe we have avoided this potential problem."

On the question of why finalists selected had been almost exclusively Indian or white women so far, and whether this was because there were very few Black women attending IPL games, Jones said: "There is no quota system in operation.

"We believe it is neither desirable nor practical to try to operate a quota system at individual matches or in terms of the overall Miss Bollywood IPL SA initiative."

After the last entrants are decided, a web-based voting process will open on the iplt20.com web site for about 48 hours to reduce the total entrants from 48 to a short list of finalists. Details will be announced in a general release closer to the time.

"The finalists will be brought to Johannesburg at IPL cost," Jones concluded.

"The format of the final event will be made known closer to the time in a general media announcement. At this stage, the intention is to crown Miss Bollywood IPL SA before the final, and then have the winner and all finalists also present at that match."

SRK's 'Yana Rascala' act to become a film

Shah Rukh Khan's cool Quickgun Murugun act in Om Shanti Om has inspired Telugu actor Rajendra Prasad to do a film on SRK's character!

A spoof, the film will be in English.

"The film is targeted at young audiences. We are exploring the possibility of building it into a franchisee brand," said Vijay Singh of Fox Star Studios.

In Farah Khan's blockbuster OSO, Shah Rukh played a popular actor. One of his roles was a South Indian film, where he fights a fake tiger, and mouths dialogues like superstar Rajnikanth. Though it lasted barely five minutes, people simply loved it. In fact, his 'Yana rascala' became a huge hit.

Will Rajendra Prasad's Quickgun Murugun become a big hit too? Let's wait and watch.

Shahrukh Khan pose for Filmfare

Bollywood mega star Shahrukh Khan pose for cover page of Indian showbiz magazine Filmfare, the 2nd issue of the month of May 2009. The cover page tagged with “I hate to lose India’s biggest star, SRK candid confession”.

SRK finds solace in Roosevelt!

KKR seems a lost battle for owner Shah Rukh Khan. Not only is his team out of semi-finals in the IPL but is also making headlines for its off-the-field drama.

Cricketer Ajay Jadeja’s recent shocking revelations about a racial drift existing in the team has opened doors for further criticism and need for investigation in the team.

In times of crisis owner Shah Rukh too has stopped attending KKR’s matches. He has let coach John Buchanan do all the talking for KKR’s unending string of defeats at the IPL 2009 instead. However the superstar owner of the team has not stopped writing to his team. In his latest blog he has quoted none other than late American President Franklin Roosevelt.

“It is not the critic who counts;

Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,

Or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,

Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;

Who strives valiantly;

Who errs, who comes short again and again,

Because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

But who does actually strive to do deeds;

Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;

Who spends himself in a worthy cause;

Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,

And who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,

So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who

neither know

Victory nor Defeat.

KORBO LORBO JEETBO”

...Wrote SRK describing his feelings after his team’s dismal performance this year. We wonder if these words will help his team rise from the ashes like a phoenix!

SRK is charismatic: Bipasha

The actress recently performed for a live show with Shah Rukh Khan in Mumbai; and like everyone else who is touched by the Khan, she too is all praise for the Badshah of Bollywood. “Shah Rukh’s energy levels are so high; he is charismatic and he motivates everyone around to give their best shot.

I performed at the same wedding as him in Mumbai, but I barely interacted with him during the show. However I’ve been witness to his stage shows earlier and I just feel those who work with Shah Rukh are lucky because he truly transforms the lives of those around him. His zest is infectious and I’m looking forward to doing a film with him.”

KJO at Cannes with 'My Name Is Khan'

Joining the Bollywood brigade in Cannes for the film festival that started yesterday is Karan Johar.

“Anything to grab many more eyeballs,” says the dapper Bollywood filmmaker who’s hoping to negotiate a mega global release for his Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name Is Khan and the Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor film Jehaad with foreign distributing giants.

Karan will be pitching his own tent at the Market Section of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival between Saturday and next Tuesday to sell the world rights of his films. But, before that, he is slated to make a grand entry by walking the red carpet as one of many hotshot international celebs at the prestigious event for a lifestyle brand. Then only, will he be free to get into the private meetings set up with international studios.

“The Indian presence at Cannes has always been tremendous but now, with the world waking up to Indian cinema, we are only growing further. It’s great to see the exchange of ideas at various levels,” says Karan, adding, “I hope something will work out. It’s very important for me because my films have a global message.”

To get his message across, the filmmaker has made a short showreel of My Name Is Khan and kept it solely for private meetings with distributors. “There cannot be a bigger platform than Cannes,” he says. Incidentally, the film is only 50 per cent complete. Karan and Shah Rukh go to San Francisco to finish it in July.

Shahrukh, Aamir & Farhan bond with their daughters

There's more father-daughter bonding going on in Bollywood than meets the eye. As soon as Kartik Versus Kartik wraps up, Farhan Akhtar will take time off to be with his eldest daughter.

Says Farhan, "After I complete Kartik, I'm taking time off to be with my elder daughter who has her summer vacations. When her school opens in June, I leave to look for foreign locations for Don 2."

Then there's Shah Rukh. After bonding man-to-man with son Aryan for years now it seems Shah Rukh Khan is determined to forge an equally strong rapport with his daughter, Suhana.

Last week, when Shah Rukh visited Karan Johar's mom and Adnan Sami's father in hospital, it was not his wife or son but Suhana who accompanied the star.

Says a source close to SRK, "Suhana has always been closer to her mother (Gauri) while Aryan has been his papa's pet. Shah Rukh wants to change that. He's making a determined effort to spend quality time with Suhana."

According to close friends, Shah Rukh has been a boys' boy, a gadgets guy all his life. The delicate dainty girlie things have been beyond Shah Rukh's realm of understanding, let alone appreciation.

According to his guy pals, SRK would rather cheer for the IPL matches with Dhoni than sit at a fashion show with Gauri.

Says the friend, "Though Shah Rukh makes a very brave effort to be part of Gauri and Suhana's feminine activities and though he has been as much a part of Suhana's schooling as much as Aryan's it's only now that Shah Rukh is trying to make Suhana as much a part his activities."

And now with Shah Rukh, on the verge of completing his only assignment My Name Is Khan he intends to spend a lot of time with both his children.

In this, Shah Rukh seems to be united with Aamir who is currently on holiday with his son and daughter.
According to a close friend, both of Aamir's children Junaid and Ira are very close to the mega-star.

"Though the children stay with Aamir's first wife there's no dearth of empathy with their father. Junaid is bonding big-time with his dad and is already imbibing the rudiments of cinema from his father. Ira is a little shy of Aamir. But Aamir wants to change that."

Like Shah Rukh, Aamir too has taken almost a year off after his last assignment to be with his children.

Shah Rukh to give IIFA a pass

Just when I was beginning to believe that cock and bull story of SRK-Big B rivalry ending I was told this: Shah Rukh Khan has planned his annual vacation in such a way that he won't be able to attend the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards. And if one notices it has almost become a ritual of sorts every year.

Now the awards ceremony is said to be the bastion of the Bachchans. And that's reason enough for Shah Rukh Khan to avoid it as diplomatically as possible. But when Amitabh Bachchan publicly expressed his desire to invite SRK, everyone's ears perked up!

A little birdie tells me that Big B has also kept his word and sent out an invite to SRK. Needless to say our man has already found a suitable excuse.

Apparently SRK plans to vacation with his family in London for some 10 days. I am also told that he will address a select section of the media there before going to an undisclosed location after that.

'Happy New Year' will go on floors this year: Farah Khan

Bollywood's ace director Farah Khan says she will start filming her next film Happy New Year, which will have Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role, this year, denying reports that the movie has been postponed to next year.

"Happy New Year will definitely start this year, no matter what. I'm working on the script. It might go on floors on Dec 31, but I'm sure it will begin this year," Farah told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

"It is quite strange that people spread these irresponsible and baseless rumours... Shah Rukh and I don't even know from where such rumours originate," she added.

After directing two blockbusters Main Hoon Na (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007), Farah will complete her hat-trick with Shah Rukh with Happy New Year. Like her first two directorial ventures, this one will also be produced by Red Chillies Entertainment.