RA.One includes a tribute to Rajinikanth

Shah Rukh Khan's most awaited film of the year, RA.One will pay a tribute to southern superstar Rajinikanth, whose Endhiran, a 2010 Tamil science-fiction film, broke many box office records.

Reports of similarities between Endhiran and RA.One have been surfacing since SRK's film went on the floors but the Bollywood actor claims that his release is different.

"They (Endhiran and RA.One) are different films. I will not like to talk about anyone else's film but Rajni sir is respectable to all of us. Actually, we have a tribute to Rajni sir in our film. We love him," Shah Rukh told reporters here last night.

RA.One, a sci-fi superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha, stars Shahrukh, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in lead roles with Shahana Goswami, Dilip Tahil and Chinese-American actor Tom Wu in supporting roles.

Endhiran directed by S Shankar featured Rajinikanth in dual roles - as a scientist and an android robot - alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Shah Rukh said his film is indigenous and made in India.

"Everything you have seen is produced here... we are proud of it and have done a great job. We have taken the technology forward and we should be proud of it," he said.

Besides, RA.One will also be dubbed in Tamil and Telugu for the southern audience.

"Dubbing for Tamil and Telugu is going on simultaneously. Also, we intend to dub the film in German and some other languages," he said.

RA.One is all set to release on October 26.

Shah Rukh met Children with Cancer

Shah Rukh Khan can be a charmer off the screen too.
Especially with little children. That’s what SRK actually did when he fulfilled the wish of a child who was battling cancer.
Khan told the kid that he’s absolutely fit and can win over his illness.
Says Sharmistha Adyanthaya, CEO, Make-A-Wish Foundation (MAWF):
"SRK met him, the child is really responding to the treatment. Another ailing child is coming from The Netherlands to meet SRK in December and he agreed to meet the child."

Shah Rukh Khan Prays for Salman Khan on Eid

Shah Rukh Khan prays for Salman Khan's speedy recovery, while celebrating Eid at his home.

Will 'Ra. One' turn out to be Shahrukh's 'Avatar'?

After 'Titanic', James Cameron spent twelve years of his life into making a masterpiece like 'Avatar'. Shahrukh Khan may not have spent as much time but he has come close by waiting for six years before 'Ra. One' could become a reality. Now that countdown has begun for his sci-fi superhero flick to arrive, film aficionados are wondering whether the results would indeed match up to huge expectations.

"Shahrukh has never spent so much time working on a single film. Yes, he generally works on one film at a time and at maximum may have two of his films release in a single year. However unlike an Aamir who may spend two-three in the making of '3 Idiots' or sit on 'Delhi Belly' for three years before arriving with final cut, Shahrukh isn't as patient. He would rather move on much faster though he has made an exception with 'Ra. One'. It is his very own 'Avatar'," says an industry veteran who has closely followed Shahrukh's progress ever since he was knighted as King Khan.

He could well be right here. After all it was exactly six years back in August 2005 when

 Shahrukh Khan had given a go-ahead to director Anubhav Sinha for making 'Ra. One'. The mandate was simple - 'Keep the entertainment going and make it the biggest ever film that Bollywood has produced'.

"Shahrukh was clear that if it all the super hero genre was being exploited, 'Ra. One' had to be the best ever in that genre. It was a no-compromise stand that he took and there was no restriction on time, scale or budget. In fact he opened his date diary for the film and since he also stepped in a producer, there was further flexibility to reinvent and improve as days progressed," informs a source connected to the film.

Now that 'Ra. One' is ready for release and that too in 3D, expectations are gargantuan as the film's budget is said to have been in excess of 150 crores while audience too has woken up to VFX laden masterpieces like 'Avatar'.

"Guess we can keep comparisons with James Cameron and his work aside because he is a great director though intrinsically his stories have a very Bollywood feel to them," says Anubhav who is obviously anxious about the two months ahead, "Having said that I guess it is only fair to say that 'Ra. One' should be a celebration for all involved. With Shahrukh spending six years on the making of this film and the coming back on screen as an actor 20 months after 'My Name Is Khan', the end result has to be extraordinary."

Well for that we would hold our verdict till Diwali 2011 when the film releases.

Shah Rukh Khan's new hairdo

We caught Shah Rukh Khan outside a Juhu resto-bar with a new bodyguard and a new hairstyle in place on Tuesday. SRK was going in to shoot a breezy cameo for Zayed Khan and Dia Mirza's debut production, Love, Break-up, Zindagi.

This was one of the several good-luck appearances he does for his friends. What most interests us of course is his hair style. Dilshad, come back from wherever you are, all is forgiven.

Rather Karan than Shah Rukh, says Salman!

Looks like other Khans have decided to avoid Shah Rukh in any way possible. 

While Aamir Khan had snubbed Shah Rukh by refusing to take part in a show simply because it is being produced by his production house, now superstar Salman has put his foot down to help the King Khan.

Reports say that Reliance Entertainment was planning to unveil the Don 2's first trailer with Salman Khan's Bodyguard, but the Dabangg star ensured that the plans don't reach fruition.

The actor categorically asked Reliance to not include the Don sequel's trailer in Bodyguard. And when the producers tried to reason things out, stating him that both films (Bodyguard and Don 2) belonged to Reliance, the actor is said to have retorted sharply. 

The beefy actor, apparently, refused to share any screen space with his arch-rival SRK in any way or format. 

But when it came to sharing the limelight with Hrithik Roshan or Sanjay Dutt, the actor did not seem to have any problem whatsoever. 

Ironically, Agneepath stars Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt were never always friends with Salman but Salman seems to be more forgiving towards them than to Shah Rukh. 

Salman even went to the extent of insisting Karan Johar's Agneepath trailer as a part of his upcoming Eid releaseBodyguard.

What is interesting to observe is Salman's close bonding with once SRK insider Karan Johar. There have been reports in the media for some time now over the growing friendship between the two. 

It must be noted that the SRK-Salman rivalry, which has become legendary now, began when the two had a spat at Katrina Kaif's 24th birthday bash in a suburban nightspot on July 16, 2008. 

Shah Rukh's Don 2 converted to 3D

Farhan Akhtar is probably the first and the only Bollywood filmmaker to change the format of his movie a few months before it releases. 

Don 2, the sequel to the producer-director-actor-singer’s 2006-hit Don, is now in the process of becoming a 3D venture. He admits it was friend and his film’s hero-cum-villain Shah Rukh Khan who inspired the move. “We make all the decisions together. Shah Rukh convinced me that it would be great to convert the sequel into 3D,” he adds.

However, Don 2, the year’s much-awaited Christmas release, is the third Bollywood film in the 3D format this year. Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted was the first and Shah Rukh’s super hero fantasy RA.One is being considered for 3D conversion as well. “It’s great that Shah Rukh and other filmmakers are working with the 3D format. It’s a sign that we’ve begun to trust technology,” asserts Farhan. 

The Dil Chahta Hai director claims that the conversion’s demo test on a couple of key sequences blew him away. “It’s co-incidental that certain moments, thrills, and some of the action sequences made a lot of sense when viewed in 3D,” he says. Farhan wasn’t familiar with the technology while planning and executing the change in Don 2’s format. But now he’s hooked: “I would love to experiment with 3D in the future. Once I had said that I wont make a sequel to Don. But the character just didn’t leave my system. I find him fascinating. I was drawn by magical powers to come up with this film. As for a sequel to Don 2 or Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara in 3D, I’ve learnt my lesson: never say never. ‘Wanted Don in a new avatar’

Farhan, also the film’s co-producer, hired a German action team called Action Concept to make the fight sequences edgier. Point out that the don looks more menacing in the just-released promos, and the Rock On!!! hero smiles, “I’d wanted Don to be introduced in a new avatar, something that immediately suggests that he’s been taking it easy for the last few years and killing time before he makes his next big move.”

Hair-styling experts, Farhan’s wife Adhuna, and Dilshad Pastakia, worked on Shah Rukh’s new look for the Don sequel. “He had to maintain that look for a couple of weeks and it wasn’t easy in the Malaysian weather. But Shah Rukh is a sport. He told me that his son Aryan felt he looks perfectly like a don. That helped,” says Farhan, adding that the temporary tattoo was designed as a representation of the central character’s attitude.