Shah Rukh's bathroom trouble

Shah Rukh Khan is famous for arriving fashionably late. To launch the musical, Jhumru which will be showcased in Gurgaon, King Khan arrived hours after the scheduled time at the event held in Toronto as part of the film awards weekend. The star blamed that it was due to the shower taps! He claimed that whenever he travels, it takes him a while to figure out how the taps work in his hotel room. And by the time he makes sense of it, some hours have elapsed. Bath bath mein, kya SRK?

Shah Rukh Khan Denies Lip Lock Rumours

Shah Rukh Khan has denied reports that he has locked lips with Kareena Kapoor in his upcoming home production Ra.One.

The Bollywood 'badshah' said that he has never kissed on screen and has no plans to do so now, after 22 years in the film industry.

"I don't kiss because I am not good at it. Don't believe all the things that you read on the Internet," said the 45-year-old who was in the city to promote the luxury watch brand Tag Heur.

Recent reports claimed that the actor, who famously refuses to kiss any of his leading ladies, has finally taken the plunge for the mega-budget sci-fi flick and shot a reportedly sensuous scene with Kareena.

The actor said that he puts down two conditions before signing on the dotted line; he will not ride horses or shoot intimate scenes.

"There are two things that I refuse to do. Firstly, I do not want animals to be hurt while shooting, so I refuse to ride horses. I rode a horse for Asoka but never after that. So I always tell producers, I will not ride the horse or kiss the heroine," said the star.

But Shah Rukh said that he is not judgmental about actors who do so. "Some people know how to do it and look good while doing it and I have no disrespect for that," said the actor.

I don't know how to kiss, says Shahrukh Khan

Report which is doing the round that Shahrukh Khan has been indulge in deep lip-locking with his co-star Kareena Kapoor has been straightway refused by the actor himself. He said that he doesn't do things in films which he is not comfortable doing.
"I don't kiss on screen because I don't know how to do it. I don't do it because I feel weird...and I feel those who do it in films, do it well already," Shah Rukh told reporters.

"I feel discomfort in doing two things for films. When anyone comes to narrate a story to me, I tell them two things - main ghoda nahin chalaunga aur main choomunga nahin (I won't ride a horse and I won't kiss)," added the 45-year-old.

Shah Rukh says he never agrees to do scene where he feels he cannot do justice.
"I don't kiss simply because I am not comfortable doing it. I am pretty uncomfortable even at laughing in my films...so whenever there is a scene where I have to laugh, or where there is a scene where I am uncomfortable or I feel I will not be able to do justice to it, and whenever there are animals involved and I feel they might be mistreated, I quit the film in its narration itself", quips the actor.

SRK moves from Dard-e-Disco to Bharatnatyam

King Khan adds a southern touch to his dream production with the song 'Chamak Chalo'

Cut-throat competition in the Indian film industry has led the biggies of Bollywood to get on with some experimentation. With Salman Khan stunning the audience with the remakes of southern hits we have Shah Rukh Khan adding the southern flavour to his movie.

'Ra.One' is Badshah Khan's dream production and he is doing everything possible to make it the biggest hit of the century. After the high profile special effects for the film, next on block is SRK himself performing Bharatnatyam in the movie.

Choreographed by Ganesh Hegde the song is SRK' first attempt with this classical dance form. "This is for the first time in his career that Shah Rukh will perform Bharatnatyam. He always wanted to try Bharatnatyam and 'Ra.One' offered the perfect opportunity," says Ganesh.

The song features the lead pair, Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor dance on the beats of Bharatnatyam. And this is for the first time that international singer Akon will be singing in Hindi. Giving an insight about the track Ganesh says, "The name of the song is 'Chamak Chalo' and is sung in Hindi by Akon. The song will put on show the true chemistry between the couple, SRK and Kareena in the southern style. It is a specialised song and I have made it in a distinctive way. Only after you watch, will you be able to know the magnitude."

Bharatnatyam is a classical dance form and a very tough one too but it seems there is nothing to stop King Khan once he makes up his mind. "Normally Shah Rukh does not rehearse much for any dance number but for this Bharatnatyam song he was practicing for around four days continuously and managed to give the perfect expressions of Bharatnatya. Even Kareena practiced a lot and she too gave the best expressions. With Shah Rukh at his best and Kareena looking graceful in the traditional Bharatnatyam outfit, the song has simply turned out awesome," says the delighted choreographer.

Rumours were rife that SRK had first approached his so-called best friend Farah Khan to do the dance number but Farah refused due to some verbal dispute. We asked Ganesh if he knows about the happening, expressing a strong denial the choreographer says, "As per my knowledge this is not true at all. Shah Rukh had directly approached me first to do the song. He had even asked me to be present during the making of the music and I was with them throughout the process of music production. "

Speaking about the trust level that he and SRK share Ganesh says, "All big projects of SRK are choreographed by me, be it IPL or 'Don'. He trusts me a lot and prefers me over others as I have always delivered him the best. I believe in doing fewer projects but of good quality. I am not among those choreographers who get work done from their assistants," concludes Ganesh.

From the best visual effects to Bharatnatyam now, 'Ra. One' is turning out to be an extraordinary dream for SRK. Only time will tell how hard the film will hit the ready contemporaries.

Bachpan ke din...

Shah Rukh Khan is truly the Baadshah of Bollywood, not just for of his stardom, but because he knows how to keep promises. In spite of a knee injury, SRK made sure he attended the music launch of his upcoming film and obliged the media with questions:


Pic/Satyajit Desai
Time's the teacher
Every morning I wake up to a new experience and a new lesson. Sometimes I wake wake up feeling like a nobody and I feel humble the whole day. When I make people smile, I feel very proud of myself and so I behave pompous. And the remaining days I feel like I have achieved so much that I can afford to be humble or pompous. I am a very vulnerable person and I like to live each day differently. I think people who live life according to a time-table are extremely boring. Life is your best teacher. My parents died early, so whatever I have learnt is through my experiences. Much as I try to spend time with my kids and teach them the meaningful truths of life, I know that eventually they'll learn their lessons through the struggles that they face.
Childhood crush
My childhood was as simple as it could get. I was in an all-boys school so I missed all the fun of a co-ed. But I did have my shares of crushes. I used to love Mumtaz and Saira Banu. Like the latter in the Bhai Batur number from Padosan, I would get into a bathtub and perform that song. And I loved Mumtazji in Chakke Pe Chakka from the film Brahmachari. My dad really tried hard to turn my loyalties to Madhubala, but I couldn't get my eyes off these two beautiful ladies. 

SRK: I am still waiting to be a superstar

Shah Rukh Khan, who has been busy with his movies Ra.One and Don: The Chase Continues, took some time out to promote his new production Always Kabhi Kabhi, its young cast and debutant director Roshan Abbas.
SRK addressed a press conference and talked about the film, today's youth and why he doesn't think he's a superstar.
The film is titled Always Kabhi Kabhi. What is it that you 'Always' do and what is it that you do 'Kabhi Kabhi'? 

I am an actor. So I 'Always' lie, and 'Kabhi Kabhi' say the truth (Smiles).
Could you identify with the film?
Roshan has done an excellent job with the film. He did a thorough research. I could easily connect to the youth genre. The way today's school-going kids deal with their lives has completely changed. 
There were things I could not do when I was in school. So I couldn't identify with a lot of things in the film. But I learnt a lot from it. The lead actors romanced pretty girls in the film, which I never got the chance to do.
Did you dream of becoming an actor when you were in school?
I never thought that I would become an actor or come to Mumbai and become successful. I wished to become an actor. I also wished to become a sportsman. There were some dreams that I could not fulfill for certain reasons.

SRK had an exemplary journey in the industry, says Anupama Chopra

Eminent film critic and writer Anupama Chopra's new book 'First Day First Show' has already become a success with Shahrukh Khan's write up in its introductory page.

In an exclusive interview with the IANS, when Anupama was asked why did she chose Shahrukh to pen down the foreword for her book, the writer candidly articulated that the superstar's journey in the industry has been a very challenging and special one, and it is he who could summarize the changes in the film industry better than anyone else.
While addressing IANS, Anupama said, "I asked him to write the foreword because he is somebody whose career I have followed very closely and who in a sense to me is one who actually exemplified the journey. The three Khans have really spearheaded Bollywood. So for me he was the best person to encapsulate how much things have changed."
Anupama had earlier written King Khan's biography that was titled as 'King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema'.
About 'First Day First Show'
Anupama's new book 'First Day First Show' is all about the changes that have crept into the film industry, in the last 20 years.
'First Day First Show' is a collection of the author's very own former write-ups.
Talking about her new book, Anupama said, "It's the collection of the work that I have done. The idea was to put the articles together so that it shows how much Bollywood has evolved in the last 20 years. It sort of becomes the history of modern Bollywood. It's to see where we were in 1993 and now it seems like another world."
My relationship with film fraternity is very professional, says Anupama
Though Anupama has been happily married to the famous moviemaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra and as such is close to B-town celebs, the writer makes it very clear that her work has never been influenced by any of her associations in the industry.
Speaking about her association with the film industry, Anupama said, "My relationship with the film fraternity, apart from my husband, of course, is very professional. It's not that I am close friend with anyone. So I can tell you with all honesty that I have never been a case of being biased."