'Veer-Zaara' Preity, SRK hang out at their IPL team clash

Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta displayed some friendly camaraderie at the Punjab Cricket Association's stadium in Mohali despite being owners of rival IPL teams. At the match held between SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Preity's Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) last night, Shah Rukh's team may have emerged victorious but that didn't stop him from bonding with good friend Preity post the match.


Once the match got over, SRK and Preity took a walk around the stadium and even exchanged their team jerseys. While SRK wore the red KXIP jersey, Preity put on the KKR jacket which SRK was wearing throughout the match. Needless to say the shutterbugs went crazy seeing the friendly banter between SRK and Preity.

Preity even thanked SRK for coming down to Mohali and tweeted, "@imsrk So nice 2 finally have u at our home game Shah. Was funny seeing people with Veer Vs Zaara posters. Haha ! Lots of love always :-)"

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/photogallery/6286-6.html

SRK is like a real Pathan: Shyam Kaushal

 

I have done many action sequences in my career. My toughest however, has to be the fire sequence in Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om. As an action director, the risk factor is always high. But this topped it all. We had to shoot indoors. And the escape routes weren't many. There were three cameras, seven people from my team, the light men and the actors. Plus there was this big fire.

It was shot in Film City. The scene was an integral part of the screenplay and we shot it on the same set even after it got burnt once. We had to keep the fire under control. The lives of so many on the sets depended on me. We had hired a safety team also. One small mistake and the results could have been disastrous. When I was a stuntman, I didn't think so much. But as an action director, my role had changed. People trusted me. And I had to achieve that.

I had organised two teams - one to light the fire and the other to put it off. But it was keeping the fire under control that was the toughest bit. All the curtains would catch fire. And to keep it from getting out of hand was not easy. Even the monitors were installed outside. There was only so much space for the the actors and the technicians and the fire in the sets.

I used to pray a lot. After every shot, I would thank God for keeping everything fine. I felt that as a human being I had done my bit and the rest was up to God. The part where Arjun Rampal walks out was shot in two parts. But when Deepika comes in, the real fire starts. I had to keep a tab on the chemicals to be put on Deepika's dress so that the fire doesn't burn her.

And then SRK had to enter from the top. He is like a real Pathan. He never got scared. He had to do a blast scene and he never even questioned me. When he had to fight Arjun with his clothes on fire, he just trusted me completely.

Both SRK and Deepika were very supportive during the shooting. And Farah was very happy with the result. Even now people ask me how I had managed to shoot such a fire sequence. And I feel happy. The scene was shot five or six years back, but every time I look back, it feels nice.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/SRK-is-like-a-real-Pathan-says-action-director-Shyam-Kaushal/articleshow/12728047.cms

Jairam likely to rope in SRK, Vidya for sanitation campaign

Shahrukh Khan and Vidya Balan will come together, not to promote a commercial venture, but to act as brand ambassadors to fight open defecation, propagate sanitation and appeal to the people to get clean.

Idea broached

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who also holds the portfolio of drinking water and sanitation, has broached the idea with the actors, and their response has been positive.

Mr. Ramesh has said he will pursue the idea of roping in Shahrukh Khan and Vidya Balan for a massive communication programme for the success of the total sanitation campaign to make the people use toilets.

The latest census report points out that more people in India use mobile phones than toilets; about 50 per cent of the population still defecate in the open.

India accounts for 60 per cent of the world population that practises open defecation.

Greater visibility

The aim, Mr. Ramesh says, is to give greater visibility to the sanitation programme. The budgetary outlay for the programme during the current fiscal has been increased to Rs.14,000 crore.

The Ministry has already brought in Sachin Tendulkar, and now Mr. Ramesh intends to cash in on the fan following of Shahrukh Khan and Vidya Balan, who is said to be topping the popularity charts.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3329145.ece

Didn't imagine staying in films so long: Shah Rukh Khan

Superstar Shahrukh Khan on Sunday said he never imagined that he would be able to survive in the film industry for such a long time - a good 21 years - and ascribed his long innings to greater opportunities available in the country now.

"Because our country is progressing so fast, a lot of people like me, who perhaps don't even deserve it, get a lot more opportunities than what actors and stars got in years past," the star, who just received the prestigious Chubb fellowship by the Yale University in the US, said.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the first phase of Prayag Film City here in West Midnapore district as the brand ambassador of the film city.

"I come from a lower middle class background and for the last 30 years it has been my habit to work for 18-20 hours a day. Through my hard work I try to make the life of my family better," he said.

Asked if he was drifting towards entrepreneurship from acting, SRK said he considers himself just as an actor.

"I am hardly an entrepreneur. I don't even think of myself as a star. I only try to make a difference in the world with my acting," he said.

Describing acting and sports as two of his passions, he said, "Whatever I do, promotions and other things, they are offshoots and ancilliaries".

Emphasising the importance of a film city, he said he had always wondered why a country like India, which makes the largest number of films worldwide, does not have world-class infrastructure and facilities.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_didn-t-imagine-staying-in-films-so-long-shah-rukh-khan_1676230

It was nice, as it always happens: Shah Rukh

Unfazed by his detention at a New York airport by US immigration authorities for a couple of hours, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, joked about the incident later at Yale University, where he was honoured as a Chubb Fellow.

Khan, who has millions of fans in India and around the world, was detained at New York's White Plains airport, about 35 miles from New York, when he arrived Thursday on a private plane along with Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

While Ambani, whose student daughter Isha is president of the South Asian Society at the university, and the rest of their group were cleared immediately, Khan was allowed to go only after his hosts intervened and took up the issue with the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, according to sources.

Later talking to students, Khan, dressed in a chic black suit thanked Ambani for getting him to the US after a long flight. Then he was "detained at the airport as always", said Khan adding with a smile, "It was nice, as it always happens."

"Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom," he said.

But he always has his "small victories" even in such circumstances, said Khan, who was detained at New York's Newark International airport in August 2009 too when he arrived to take part in an Independence Day event in Chicago.

"They (immigration officials) always ask me how tall I am and I always lie and say 5 feet 10 inches. Next time I am going to get more adventurous. (If they ask me) What colour are you, I am going to say white," he said.

However, he made no mention of the incident during a press conference or his lecture to a capacity crowd as he spoke to them about success and failure and how to live life to the fullest.

Encouraging young people to find fulfilment in creativity, to learn to laugh at themselves and to never become cynical about their lives, he said: "Failure is a fiendish friend that can lead to success by teaching one to be pragmatic, to work harder, and to be true to oneself."

But sources said Khan's detention at White Plains airport had caused "tense" moments for Khan and his team as they were "struggling" to get the situation sorted out.

Later, after the intervention by the Indian consulate here, the US Customs and Border Protection authorities expressed "profound" apology in a letter to the mission.

Khan's name was "flagged" in the system and airport people needed approval of 'senior' authorities to clear him, it clarified.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/It-was-nice-as-it-always-happens-Shah-Rukh/articleshow/12652520.cms?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweets

Shah Rukh Khan's detention: US apologises, India talks tough

 The US customs and border protection authorities have expressed "profound" apologies for the Shahrukh Khan detention incident.

However, taking the incident seriously, external affairs minister SM Krishna has asked the Indian ambassador to US Nirupama Rao to take up the matter with the authorities.

Reacting strongly to the detention, Krishna said it has become a policy of detention and apology by the US which cannot continue.

Earlier, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University here.

While Nita, wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, and the rest of their group were cleared immediately, Khan was stopped and was given immigration clearance only after about two hours, sources told PTI.

46-year-old Khan was to address a press conference at 2pm and deliver his lecture at 4pm at the Yale University.

However, he arrived for the press meet three hours behind schedule and his hour-long lecture started at about 6pm.

"Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom," Khan said with some sarcasm addressing the students at the University.

He added that he always has his "small victories" even in such circumstances.

"They (immigration officials) always ask me how tall I am and I always lie and say 5 feet 10 inches. Next time I am going to get more adventurous. (If they ask me) What colour are you, I am going to say white," Khan said.

Earlier, when informed about Khan being held up at the White Plains airport in New York, Yale University officials "contacted and spoke with officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of US Immigration and Customs in Washington," the sources said.

They added that Khan was "very very upset" at the episode and it "took time for the university officials to make him comfortable again."

The actor, who is scheduled to fly back to India later on Friday night, visited Connecticut-based Yale University, which had conferred him with its prestigious Chubb fellowship.

As part of the fellowship, Khan addressed a gathering of hundreds of Yale students, parents, faculty and other members of the Indian-American community at the Yale campus.

Before beginning his address to the students, Khan, dressed in a chic black suit, said that it had been a long flight and thanked Ambani for getting him to the US.

Ambani's daughter Isha is a student at Yale and is also president of the South Asian Society at the university.

Khan went on to say that he was "detained at the airport as always."

"It was nice, as it always happens," Khan said with a slight smile even as students in the audience gave out a large sigh and booed the US authorities when they heard Khan telling them he was detained.

While Khan told the students he was stopped for about an hour and a half, sources said he was at the airport for over two hours.

They said he told them that this is not the first time he has been stopped at an airport in the country and this has happened to him "three to four times before."

The most recent one was in 2009 when Khan was detained at the Newark Airport in New Jersey.

Khan had said at the time he was detained for nearly two hours at the Newark International Airport because of his last name.

The private plane carrying Khan, Ambani and their group landed at White Plains Airport, which is about 53 kilometres from Manhattan, at around 12:45 in the afternoon.

Sources said while everyone with him cleared immigration soon, he was stopped and had to wait till 2:30pm before he was cleared by the immigration.

The sources said since the White Plains airport is a small facility, everyone who was with Khan waited together for him to get his clearance.

The detention had caused "tense" moments for Khan and his team, who sources said were "struggling" to get the situation sorted out.

Khan did not mention anything about the detention during the nearly 20 minute press conference.

Members of his team as well as the university officials too did not talk about the reasons for his detention.

When contacted, Khan said through a member of his team that he would not make any comments on the episode.

The person said Khan stressed that the American immigration officials "kick the star out of stardom," adding that the episode had left a bad taste. 

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Shah-Rukh-Khans-detention-US-apologises-India-talks-tough/articleshow/12648019.cms?prtpage=1

Shah Rukh Khan to become Yale's Chubb Fellow

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan will join the roster of Yale University's Chubb Fellows, one of the Ivy League institution's highest honours, on April 12 for promoting human ideals through art. Through his films and his philanthropy Khan has been among his generation's most important examples of the power of art to promote higher human ideals and aspirations, the Chubb Fellowship noted. Chubb Fellowship roster has included heads of states, Nobel Prize winners, and leaders from every area of human endeavour who have inspired Yale students to see service to the public good as the highest calling to which a global citizen can aspire. Former Chubb Fellows include Presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter; authors Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes and Toni Morrison; filmmaker Sofia Coppola; architect Frank Gehry; choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov; and journalist Walter Cronkite. Established in 1936, through the generosity of Hendon Chubb (Yale College Class of 1895), the programme is based in Timothy Dwight College, one of Yale's residential colleges. Each year three or four distinguished men and women have been appointed as visiting Chubb Fellows. Chubb Fellows spend their time at Yale in close, informal contact with students and deliver a public lecture. Khan has acted in over seventy Hindi films. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations for his work in Indian films. Eleven of the films he has acted in have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $1 billion dollars. As part of his visit, Khan will also speak to the Yale community and the general public at an event April 12.



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