Shahrukh Khan: Once a King, Always a King!

There is only one King in bollywood, that is Shahrukh, and he has proved it time and again with his amazing acting prowess, and his movies creating magic at the box office, with amazing sales of tickets.

Now, with his business ventures in the game of cricket, by becoming a franchisee owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, he has once again proved that he sure is the King of this business venture as well.

The IPL team KKR, had managed a staggering profit of Rs. 13 crores, in its first year and is almost sure to make three times that amount this year. But, King Khan reportedly has said that he has not purchased the IPL team for business ventures. This proposition is purely for fulfilling his passion for sports, and that too cricket.

As for his over flowing Bank Balance, he has hundreds of products to endorse, and a never ending line of films to work in. So, that takes care of his financial needs.

Thus, SRK is not much saddened by his IPL team’s defeats, nor is he very ecstatic when they win any match. This year, King Khan has surely showed his grit and determination in controlling his emotions while his team is playing for the tournament. His earlier emotional side is not much evident.

Thus, Shahrukh has conquered it all; he has shown to the world that he remains a King, no matter where he is, in bollywood or in the world of sports. Perhaps, the saying once a King always a King, does fit him in all respects!

Rs. 1 crore superhero suit for SRK!

Shahrukh Khan More PicsShah Rukh Khan had to enter a chamber filled with hot molten latex to create his superhero suit for Ra.One. The cost? A cool Rs 1 crore

It’s probably the most expensive body suit in Bollywood history, but Shah Rukh Khan will remember it for entirely different reasons.

Shah Rukh, who plays a superhero in the Anubhav Sinha directed Ra.One, will be seen in the special body suit which was custom made for him in Los Angeles. The process involved in creating that suit was something the actor had never experienced before.

He was required to lower himself wearing just the bare essentials into a 12X3 chamber while a very warm liquid latex-like material was gradually released in it till it reached his neck. Then it was allowed to solidify. Once the mould was formed, it was slit from the side and slowly peeled off Shah Rukh. The whole painful process took one hour. The two sides were later joined together with a concealed zipper.


The mould was then taken for further modifications to form the final suit he’ll be seen wearing in the film.

“The suit is steel blue in colour and made of a special material like reinforced latex, meant to provide both flexibility and protection. It acts as a tough exoskeleton to minimise external injury while being flexible enough not to hamper body movement while performing stunts. But it didn’t come cheap - the suit, fitted with micro-computer circuitry required for the film, cost nearly Rs 1 crore,” says a source.

Despite repeated attempts, both Shah Rukh and Anubhav Sinha remained unavailable for comment.

Shah Rukh Khan gives young ones tips for six-pack abs

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who flaunted six-pack abs in blockbuster “Om Shanti Om” but couldn’t maintain them later, is doling out fitness tips to youngsters through micro-blogging site Twitter.

“Six-pack more to do with diet than exercise alone. You need to be very disciplined. (Do it for) 30 to 40 days…they will start to show,” Shah Rukh posted on his Twitter page Monday.

“Exercise regimen – four times a week. Thirty minutes do a weights or any exercise which makes you sweat. No rice or bread at all with food, grilled food. Lots of water. No alcohol. If you do, then exercise (for) 50 minutes. No music and wasting time during exercise. Just do it like a job…push yourself.”

“No desserts, ice creams or colas. No food in between meals like chips, etc. Singlehandedly try and bring the junk food industry to closure,” he wrote.

Shah Rukh says he does 100 push ups and 60 pull ups when he is regular. “When I start I can only do five push ups and one pull up. It just happens (later) if you are regular,” he posted.

The actor, who was last seen in “My Name Is Khan”, is strictly against quick fix diets, and says people must make a careful choice about what they eat and drink.

“You make your choices according to your needs. When I work out I don’t drink colas myself.”

FICCI Frames Diary, Day 3

The last and final day at FICCI Frames didn't turn out to be as hectic and loaded with seminars as the previous ones, but certainly had quite a few high-profile dignitaries as speakers. It's safe to say it turned out to be a star studded finale of the three day event. Here are the highlights.

A panel discussion on 'User Generated Content' was an apt one following the discussions over evolving digital technologies over the past two days. The discussion was moderated by Neeraj Roy, CEO & MD, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, had a panel of senior executives from technology developers and content providers - discussing the impact user generated content will have on different mediums. The panel also discussed the room for growth in this arena and the technological advancements that need to hand-in-hand to support content creation.

Like the previous two days, there was another session dealing with the television industry. It's nice to see that FICCI has been giving TV equal importance as the film industry. Moderated by Jagdish Kumar, President South India, Star TV Pvt. Ltd., the panel on "Where is the profitability in the TV industry" consisted of COOs, CEOs and MDs of the major TV channels. The panelists busted some myths about the TV industry's revenue turnover and then proceeded to discuss the prospects and avenues they are trying to monetize for higher profitability.

A discussion on film marketing was next, where the panelist shed light on the innovative strategies utilized in the past to those which are in play currently. The use of handheld platforms and internet was highly stressed upon, especially since the recent times have seen many films being released over the internet. The panelists found that to be a safer medium and also a great profit earning move. The future of digital-exhibition in Indian theatres was also brought up. With the lower costs of distribution, releasing films has become considerably cheaper and will aid smaller budget films to find a release.

A key note address by Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India - was thronged by delegates.

As we drew closer to the evening, the major highlights of the day began to roll out. The session on 'Film Industry Anti-Piracy Coalition Launch', with personalities like Yash Chopra, Harish Dayani, Siddharth Roy Kapoor and Sandeep Bhargava on stage brought out alarming facts and figures to establish the magnitude of losses suffered by the Indian film industry due to piracy - an astronomical amount of close to 20,000 crores. Many reports have stated that a major chunk of this money earned by pirates goes on to fuel terrorism and anti-state activities. The film industry, it seems has decided to come together and fight this evil along with the help of the government.

The next discussion on a key topic - 'Entertaining India in the Next Decade' was moderated by NDTV'S Vikram Chandra and the panel consisted of actress Vidya Balan, theatre personality Sanjna Kapoor, music composers Vishal and Shekhar and Yash Chopra. Together they painted an optimistic image of the future as they saw potential in emerging talent which is going to be supported adequately with evolving technologies. The internet according to all of them will make content much more accessible to the masses and hence change the scenario all together - but not in away where it would replace film and theatre, but instead create a new genre of entertainment.

The valedictory session had Ambika Soni, I&B minister of India and Ashok Amritraj giving the keynote addresses. Ambika Soni spoke about her opinions on the issues raised in the last 3 days of FICCI and also discussed the actions she will take to resolve those issues. Most importantly she elaborated on what will be the steps the government will take to combat piracy.

FICCI Frames concluded with an award ceremony, which honored various personalities from the Indian media industry. The winners included big names that were present personally to collect the awards - Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Ranbir Kapoor and Shahrukh Khan. The award ceremony turned out to be a gala event, with music performances and short speeches.

There is nothing called crossover cinema, says SRK

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan said he is averse to the usage of the term 'crossover cinema' and felt that Indian film industry requires to share expertise and knowledge from Hollywood rather than just focussing on monetary investments.

"There is no such genre called 'crossover cinema'. Slumdog Millionaire is not a Bollywood film nor is Monsoon Wedding... or Bend it like Beckham an Indian film. We in India need to forge alliances to share expertise and knowledge with Hollywood rather than just monetary investments," Shah Rukh said delivering a keynote address on 'New Connect between Hollywood and Bollywood' at the inaugural of FICCI-FRAMES Conference in Mumbai.

The actor-producer felt the science of marketing in Hollywood is worth learning.

"We can learn new aspects of film making from Hollywood without giving up our cinematic individuality because we are a self sufficient film industry," he said.

Shah Rukh said Hollywood looks at screenplay writing not as an art but as a science.

"It can help us in exchanging knowledge to develop screenplay writing in that manner," he said.

SRK roots for 'star system' in B-town

Tinsel town's unwritten "star system" has often been blasted by many filmmakers, saying it stops them from doing meaningful cinema.

But Shah Rukh Khan disagrees with the notion that a star-based system is detrimental for Indian cinema.

"Star system is good. You can do a study on any country without the star system and find out that the film industry of that particular nation died out," the actor says, justifying his point of view.

SRK says both India and the US have a thriving film industry and are two nations where cinema is based on a "strong star system". In other words, film stars in the two countries demand - and get - a whole lot of attention and money.

It's no wonder then that Shah Rukh is fine with the things as they are, considering he is Bollywood's biggest star himself.

In fact, Karan Johar recently remarked that going by the numbers, SRK was a bigger star than Hollywood actors such as Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.

And why not, Shah Rukh is adored by over 3.2 billion people around the world while the fan base of Hollywood stars is just 2.7 billion, at the most.

Preview: Mumbai vs Kolkata, Match 17 Sachin & Sourav face off,

Both the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders are coming off losses after both of them had pleasant starts to their campaigns. For the Knight Riders though, the loss to the Rajasthan Royals was more serious than the Indians trip up to the Royal Challengers. The Knight Riders will be remembering their painful experiences of the previous two IPLs and will not want that defeat to have been the start of a downward spiral back to the hells of the bottom of the barrel.

If Chris Gayle has recovered from the fever that kept him out of the clash with the Royals, he is a shoe-in for the starting eleven. It's likely that Brad Hodge will sit out and now the omission of either the Australian or Owais Shah is justifiable because of the way Kolkata batted in their chase against the Royals. Despite having wickets in hand, they failed to keep up with a run rate that wasn't too demanding and will need someone who is not afraid of the likes of Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga.

Zaheer Khan has a reputation for dismissing left-handed openers, so if Gayle plays, he will have to be careful not to fall victim to the stereotype. Malinga may have Gayle's number as well and given how he struggled against Zimbabwe's spinners, even Harbhajan Singh may be sniffing Gayle's blood. There's no doubt that if he plays, he will be the man Mumbai target, because a quick-fire innings from him could do a lot to boost KKR's morale.

With the possibility of the spotlight turned on Gayle, Saurav Ganguly could use this match to worm his way back into the hearts of his own team's fans. They booed him at Ahmedabad and he has come under criticism for his inability to bat quickly enough. This time, he'll be away from the die hard Kolkata crowd and could use the Brabourne as an opportunity to make up for what fans see as his error filled ways.

In the bowling department, Kolkata will present the biggest challenge of the match when Shane Bond and Ishant Sharma come up against Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. The Sri Lankan has yet to fire in the tournament but very rarely do the words Jayasuriya and poor form appear in the same sentence. He has a tough task ahead, because the opening pair of the KKR attack are unlikely to offer him any sympathy, but if he does see them off and capitalize he could finally "arrive" in this year's IPL.

Charl Langeveldt is still battling with his fitness so the rest of the KKR bowling responsibility will lie with Ashok Dinda, Murali Kartik, Angelo Matthews and Rohan Gavaskar, who is likely to come back into the side for Cheteshwar Pujuara. That might prove too much for a brittle Mumbai middle order made up of Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu. The hosts will need their West Indian contingent of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to really step up a gear if they hope to make a dent into KKR's bowling attack. The two will also have to improve their bowling for Mumbai. They were badly exposed by Jacques Kallis in their previous match and went for 11.05 and 12.00 runs per over respectively.

KKR pulled off a famous win in Mumbai when they beat the Deccan Chargers in the first match of this year's competition. That's the only bit of history they have on their side. Mumbai beat them all four times in the previous two IPLs, three of those times comprehensively. Seven, eight and nine wicket wins showed the sheer disparity in the two teams' quality in the previous IPLs, with the last win being a sneaky nine-run victory for Mumbai. Mumbai have lost only one match out of three, while KKR have lost two in four. They have to call on their giant killing ways from their victories over Deccan and Bangalore and remember that slaying the Mumbai might will go a long way to getting their campaign back on track.

This match will also pit Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly against each other. Often called India's best opening pair in ODI history, the veterans will have to adjust to the faster nature of Twenty20s. While Tendulkar has done it superbly, Ganguly's struggles have been painful to watch. While he may be an inspirational captain, it is that much more difficult to inspire your troops if your own form is in the doldrums.

I’m rooting for SRK: Kangna

She neither follows sports news, nor has ever watched a T20 game. So, what made Kangna Ranaut go to Eden Gardens to watch SRK’s knights flight Dhoni’s kings?

You were recently spotted at Eden Gardens cheering SRK’s team on against Dhoni’s boys. What prompted you to go to the stadium?
The IPL fever is high and having never seen a T20 game before, I was quite interested in experiencing this myself. The event organisers had invited me to come for the match. I had the evening open. So, I decided to go.

How much of a cricket buff are you? Do you read the sports pages of a paper or rather follow the articles on sportstars that are published in the entertainment sections of newspapers?
Honestly, I’ve never been a sports person. My interests were always more inclined towards the arts — dancing, music, drama. I don’t follow sporting news either. But, I must say the match was very interesting and I found myself praying hard for Shah Rukh’s team, who I am really rooting for.

Do you understand the technicalities of the game? Can you tell between a third man and gulley?
I understand the game broadly and so can follow it. I understand how a batsman gets out, how runs are scored and the eventual goal of the game. But, the finer nuances are not something I’m so familiar with. I did really enjoy the match though I wish Team Kolkata had won!

With stars buying IPL teams, how difficult is the choice of deciding which team to root for?
I’ve not been following the matches per se or taking sides. But, I’m definitely cheering for Team Kolkata at the moment. And they’ve been playing so well this season. It’s early days yet, so fingers crossed!

Are IPLs also increasing the feelings of camps in Bollywood? Isn’t being present on the grounds for a particular star owner of an IPL team also an indication of who you are aligned to?
I have not experienced this really. I would definitely try and attend any event a friend invited me to if I did not have a prior commitment like a shoot or something.

There are matches being played in Himachal Pradesh. Do you plan to go there too? Have you ever played cricket as a child?
I have never played cricket, but I have heard that the Himachal grounds are stunning. I am shooting for six movies that release this year. So, it is an exceptionally busy time. I don’t think I will be able to attend those matches, but I would love to if I was free.

Cricketers today have a very hectic schedule with a lot of travel. Would you be game being in a relationship with someone with such hectic travel schedules? Or would you prefer someone who is more stationed since your own profession requires you to travel a lot and long distance relationships sometimes don’t work?
I don’t think you can choose who you are going to fall in love with. Each relationship has its own great aspects and challenges. So, I will take that as it comes and when it does.

If you are offered to do a film on women’s cricket, would the idea excite you?
I’d be interested in doing any good script with a good director, cast etc. It would really depend on the story. So, if it is a good script, sure why not?

SRK, Saif want to dance like Shahid!

Shahid Kapoor brought the house down when he paid a eight-minute tribute to pop icon Michael Jackson at the Filmfare Awards ceremony.

Not only was the audience up front spell bound by his perfect foot work and provocative mannerisms, it seems even the actors backstage were actually admiring Shasha. One little birdie says that actors — Shah Rukh Khan (who actually thinks Shahid is one of the finest young talents) and hold your breath, Saif Ali Khan, the emcees that night, were heard saying, “Arrey yaar this boy is so good. We must learn to dance like him.” At least for that night, Shahid found fans in-house too!

Rajasthan Royals elect to bat against Knight Riders

Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne won the toss and opted to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League encounter on Saturday.

Rajasthan Royals would be desperately seeking to snap their three-match losing streak.

Despite Yusuf Pathan's hurricane 37-ball 100, 2008 champions Royals lost their opening match against Mumbai Indians.

They were done in by a Virender Sehwag special against Delhi Daredevils before a free fall against Royal Challengers Bangalore saw them slump to IPL 3 lowest total of 92.

Shane Warne's side, which has lost South African Graeme Smith and Englishman Dmitri Mascarenhas due to injuries, will have to come up with something special to arrest the slide.

New recruit Shaun Tait has been disappointing so far leaking runs and the Jaipur-based side will have to think whether to continue with the Australian fast bowler.

The Knight Riders, on the other hand, began IPL 3 with a bang with two consecutive wins, against defending champions Deccan Chargers and last edition runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore, only to suffer a comprehensive loss at the hands of Chennai Super Kings.

The Knight Riders though will be strengthened by the return of swashbuckling West Indies batsman Chris Gayle who joins the side and either of Brad Hodge or Manoj Tiwary will have to drop down the order.

Teams (From):

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (capt.), Ajit Agarkar, Shane Bond, Ashok Dinda, Eklak Ahmid, Rohan Gavaskar, Brad Hodge, Varun Aaron, Chris Gayle, Iqbal Abdulla, Murali Kartik, Harshad Khadiwale, Charl Langeveldt, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Chirag Pathak, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Owais Shah, Ishant Sharma, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Ganapathi Vignesh.

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (capt.), Swapnil Asnodkar, Johan Botha, Faiz Fazal, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Kamran Khan, Michael Lumb, Damien Martyn, Morne Morkel, Sumit Narwal, Naman Ojha (wk), Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Paunikar, Syed Quadri, Abhishek Raut, Amit Singh, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Trivedi, Amit Uniyal, Shrikant Wagh.