SRK takes on Ramdev, says fast politically motivated

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan on Thursday said yoga guru Baba Ramdev's proposed hunger strike against corruption is politically motivated, and added that he would not support the agitation.
I do not know what his agenda is. As soon as somebody gets embroiled in politics and becomes a political leader, I think they develop their known way of thinking. I think what they are saying is very good, but if you have a political party, I am apolitical by nature. So I don't align myself. I think he has a political party now," Shah Rukh Khan told reporters here.

"This has been said for years, remove black money, corruption needs to be going out, and if this is one way of looking at it, wonderful, something is being done. But as far as I am concerned, I like to make an opinion through my work because everyone should do what they are supposed to do," he added.

Asserting that black money stashed abroad should be declared a national property, Ramdev earlier today remained firm on going ahead with his fast to demand urgent steps to curb corruption.


"The black money stashed abroad should be declared national property, and keeping black money should be considered a crime at par with sedition. We are not staging any protest or rebellion," he told reporters here.

Ramdev also rubbished reports of differences with veteran social activist Anna Hazare.

"I talked to Anna Saheb before coming here, there are no differences, we were together and we are together," he added.

Meanwhile, Anna Hazare announced that he will take part in Ramdev's movement against black money and corruption.


"I will join Baba Ramdev on June 5. I will sit with him on the dais and discuss many issues. If we all get together, then the government will have to concede to our demands,"
he told reporters in Ralegoan, Maharashtra.

Hazare made it clear that there is unity among civil society members and the perception that Ramdev is upset about the inclusion of father-son duo of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the Lokpal Bill drafting committee is in correct.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said the next round of talks between the government and Baba Ramdev will be held on Friday to further discuss the latter's proposed hunger strike plan.

"I am told that they have agreed to meet again on June 3 to continue the discussions and I will advise everyone to observe restraint," said Chidambaram.

The government had earlier deputed Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sudhir Chandra to persuade Baba Ramdev not to undertake the agitation, but the effort failed.

Ramdev announced his decision to go on a fast over the black money issue last month. He is demanding that black money stashed away in safe havens abroad be brought back to India.

RA.One' might have some parts in 3D Shah Rukh Khan

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who is highly ambitious about his superhero flick "RA.One" directed by Anubhav Sinha, said he might have certain stunts in 3D to woo his younger audience but would certainly not compromise on the acting part.
Some part of the film we are trying to do in 3D and Primefocus is doing that for us. They have a technology with which after you have shot the film, it could be converted into 3D," Shah Rukh told reporters at the theatrical release of the the first trailer at IMAX Wadala here Tuesday.

"But there are reservations on it because you know that we have to shoot that with different cameras.....t he same trailer, actually in a matter of fact, we are going to check out in few days and if it comes out well, then parts of the film I would like to do in 3D as it would attract the younger audience."

"It should look as good as acting, for sure. I think 3D has to be shot in a different way but it is post 3D. If the whole team approves the test we would go for it," he said.

Though the film would have a Diwali release, Shah Rukh decided to start promote the film much ahead of time to make his audience have some impression of his new superhero in their psyche and know him before they go to watch the film.

"I have started promoting the film from January, almost five months ago. The first ad came out on Jan 3. We know superheroes through comics or stories or if we take from mythology then we knew who was Karna, who was Abhimanyu? In our country we don't have any such character, which we could chose for our film."

"I wanted to introduce the character G.One so that by the time you go to watch the film, you kind of know the power, and you have seen a part of it jumping around, flying and feel that you know the superhero. That's the whole intention."

"What I thought was if I could introduce that G.One is made of electricity, made of pixels, he can fly, he can see through things half the jobs done as now you know the character," said Shah Rukh.

The half a minute long teaser shows how G.One (Shah Rukh) with his supernatural stunts like flying over the train frightens the living daylights out of small children or throwing off cars to save Kareena Kapoor makes her stop dead gawking.

Why the title character was not in the promo?

"You won't get to see RA.One until the film releases. We would reveal the character of 'Ra.One' slowly," said Shah Rukh.
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Talking about the characters briefly, Shah Rukh divulged: "G.One is the life giver, who saves life. He is the hero ... what I am playing the film. RA.One is actually Random Access Version One but it also stands for Raavan.

"Mythologically, amajority consider him as a bad person made of the world's 10 most evil brains. That's what the ten heads of Raavan's head represent and here it's like the connotation of 10 evil happenings of the world that sums of to make a character 'RA.One'," said Shah Rukh.

His friends and betters suggested him to change the name into G.One, but he used his logic to retain the name "RA.One", said Shah Rukh.

"Many of my friends, Karan(Johar), Adi (Aditya Chopra) suggested me to change the name to G.One. But whenever I have seen any superhero or larger than life film, including in our 'Sholay' or 'Mr. India", we very much talked about Gabbar Singh or Mogambo or Shakal."

"So I thought if I keep it 'RA.One' it would be bit different. People might be confused and take me as RA.One but it is not so. Evil doesn't have any face, that's also logic behind keeping this name," said Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh Khan's 'Ra.One' aims at Limca record with longest fan mail

Trust Shah Rukh Khan to do things differently. The Bollywood superstar is now aiming to create a Limca Book of World Records by launching a 3,600-foot long fan mail, which will travel through 50 BIG Cinemas properties across India, allowing audiences to share their messages for the actor.
The fan mail was launched during the theatrical trailer launch event of "Ra.One" in Mumbai Tuesday, and the first two Shah Rukh fans to sign the fan mail were the winners of a contest hosted by BIG Cinemas, a division of Reliance Mediaworks.

The activity has been planned as part of the promotion of his forthcoming superhero film "Ra.One", being co-produced by Eros International and Red Chillies Entertainment. It is set for a Oct 26 release.

"The whole of India swoons over Shah Rukh Khan and with the release of 'Ra.One', the mania is going to go even wilder. The longest travelling fan mail is our attempt to give all the BIG Cinemas patrons a chance to express their love for King Khan and ensure that their messages reach him personally. This initiative further strengthens our brand promise of 'you matter' to our audiences," said Archana Jhangiani, head - Brand and Marketing, BIG Cinemas.

The travelLing fan mail would be personally presented to Shah Rukh before the release of "Ra.One", which also features Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor, and is being directed by Anubhav Sinha.

I still cry and get stressed Shah Rukh Khan

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has transcended geographical boundaries and won hearts of millions with his charismatic screen presence, says he doesn't consider himself a star.
"The reason I say I am not a star is because I am completely human. I still cry, I still laugh, I crack jokes, I get stressed, I feel disturbed but I think you people love me so much because I could be human," he told reporters Wednesday at the music launch of his latest production "Always Kabhi Kabhi", releasing June 17.

"Even though I have this pedestal where I stand which says I am a big star but actually I am nobody till I work hard to make you smile," added the 45-year-old.

To give a Midas touch to the film, Shah Rukh has appeared in a promotional song of the film "Always Kabhi Kabhi".

"It's not an item number. It's the beginning of the film. The music and the lyrics of course make it a peppy number," he clarified.

This directorial debut of Roshan Abbas is also launching two new faces - Zoa Morani and Satyajeet Dubey. Actor Giselle Montario of "Love Aaj Kal" fame and Ali Fazal who did a small role in Aamir Khan-starrer "3 Idiots" play lead roles in the film.

Set in a school, "Always Kabhi Kabhi" is about four unique youngsters trying to compete with pressure of growing up and many firsts that everyone experiences in high school.

As today's school life has changed a lot, King Khan could hardly identify with any except the determination of the youths to accomplish their goal.

"The youth part of the film is the same as it was in my time, but the way they deal with their life has changed. There are many things in the film that I have not done in my school life. So there are many things I couldn't identify with," said Shah Rukh.

"Life has changed so much. But the thing that the film says, follow your dream, I could easily identify with. I never thought that I would come to Mumbai and do so much of work but yes I always aspired to be an actor or a sportsman. The film also shows that we should do something that I am willing to do instead of choosing the way where I can lead an easy life," he added.

Shah Rukh Khan launches music album of 'Always Kabhi Kabhi'

Bollywood actor-producer, Shah Rukh Khan launched the music of the upcoming film 'Always Kabhi Kabhi', produced by wife Gauri Khan under his Red Chillies Entertainment banner.
Speaking to the media here last evening, Khan said he hoped the audiences would like both the music and the film. The album also has Shah Rukh Khan's version of 'Antenna' and an unplugged 'Always Kabhi Kabhi' track.

Director Roshan Abbas said ''AKK is a film about first times, an age of experiments. We have carried the same to the album. I worked with three lyricists and Pritam, who is a gifted music director. We decided we would defy all conventions''.

Pritam's music, under the T-series label, incorporates a number of contemporary musical styles including rock, hip hop, sufi and traditional genres.

Out of the 10 tracks, Pritam has composed five including the title track, written by Abbas himself. Bhaven Dhanak, Sanahmoidutty, Harmeet Singh, Suhail Kaul, Shaan and Aditi Singh Sharma lend their voices for the other tracks.

A coming-of-age film, with a high school backdrop has four new actors Zoa Morani, Giselle Monteiro, Ali Fazal and Satyajeet Dubey and is set to release on June 17.