Mr Shah Rukh Khan, the one who has a crater in Moon named after him, has done it again. Though I have not watched his latest film, “My name is Khan”, I have read rave reviews about it and everything it seems, is going his way again.

This post is however not about the quality or the storyline of the film but about something else. It’s about the business side of it. One thing that I have noticed and I am sure everybody else also has, is the amount of controversy this film has generated over the past couple of months. First, there was the row over the US trying to stop SRK from entering that country and second, the recent protests by the unruly Shiv sena in Mumbai regarding some comments SRK made about some Pakistani cricket players. I am not sure whether these events were staged or they were just serendipitous consequences and I am not making any allegations here but if you consider that in both the cases seemingly unrelated situations have been turned on their heads and used for the publicity of the film, the entire big picture comes into scene.

The film, it seems, is tailor made for controversy. Let’s start with the name: My Name is Khan. In a World where every Muslim name is seen with suspicious eyes, this name alone does about half the job. The US, I have heard maintains a secret list containing the names of all those persons who are suspected to be  terrorists and this particular surname of Khan appears most number of times. Now, consider the setting: the 9/11 WTC twin tower aftermath. For the people who have lived through it, which by the way includes almost everybody above the age of 10, the sight of the twin towers falling down is nothing short of a Hollywood disaster movie. Almost all of us know how difficult it has become to travel between countries now – especially the western countries- with all the checking and questioning and profiling going on in the airports. In this mélange, if you throw in the spicy combination of SRK, the gorgeous Kajol and the ‘Koffee with Karan’, then the mathematical equation of

C=-P+S+M

where C = Controversy; P = Publicity; S=Star Power and M=Money

takes a new life of its own.

I have no idea how much impact this movie will have on Bollywood or for that matter even on SRK’s career, but it is a lesson in PR and marketing for any budding management student. Takes your notes, I have!!

Crater S R Khan

Bollywood is big, no doubt about that and its superstars are even bigger. Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and, Shahrukh Khan are nothing short of steller super-humans in the Bollywood community. People revere them and there are incidents of fans building shrines as a tribute to them. However, in the race among these actors about who the bigger star is, Shahrukh Khan has proved who the “King of Bollywood” is. He has become the first Indian actor to reach the Moon.

The International Lunar Geographic Society has named a 7km diameter crater, located at 3.4° North (latitude) and 20.8° East (longitude) on the Earthside of the Moon, in the Arago Crater Group, after the actor. The crater, which was originally known as Arago B was renamed S R Khan crater on the 2nd of November 2009.

Personally, I believe SRK doesn’t deserve this crater. Even if you only think about Indian cinema, there are people who are more deserving than King Khan. Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar instantly come to mind when you think about it. The father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and other great leaders and visionaries such as APJ Abdul Kalam have contributed much more than what SRK has done in his lifetime.

The only thing going for SRK has been his massive fan following, who petitioned the Society in huge numbers to name this crater for him. I understand why Mahatma Gandhi and APJ Abdul Kalam are loosing out. But what about Amitabh Bachchan? His fan following is comparable to SRK’s. Why is he  not getting a crater named after him.

Indians are a funny bunch of people. I am pretty sure that after this incident, Big B’s,  Aamir Khan’s and Sallu baba’s fans have now gone on a Red Bull induced hyperdrive to name even bigger craters after their respective idols. Soon, we will have  Crater A Bachchan, Crater A Khan and so forth… I dread the day when Crater M Sherawat and Crater R Sawant start existing. Craters, cracks and cleavages… What an amazing combination… !!

International Lunar Geographic Society… bad move, buddy!! Here, we come, the Indians…PPSGMN4V2HEC

Image Courtesy : http://www.lunargeographic.org/srkhan/index.shtml

Whether it will be able to attain the cult following that Sholay enjoys, only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, Sholay will be missed. Sholay had everything – romance, fights, emotions, drama, comedy, thundering laughs, gut wrenching music, terrifying villains and superman heroes. Compared to this, 3 idiots has nothing except maybe one very special thing – life. Everybody who has attended college and stayed in a hostel, will in some way or the other connect to it. It is this goody-goody nostalgic feeling, that has made the film such a huge success.

Happy New Year and three cheers to Rajkumar Hirani, Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi for making this gem of a movie.

1. Atif Aslam is just amazing. (and so is Katrina Kaif)

2. The melody is just mind blowing AND FINALLY

3. It mirrors my condition perfectly to the T…

Here is the lyrics in Hindi… Enjoy

तू जाने ना

कैसे बताएं

क्यूँ तुझको चाहे

यारा बता ना पाये

बातें दिलो कि

देखो जो बाकी

आँखें तुझे समझाए

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

हम, मिलके भी, हम ना मिले

तुमसे ना जाने क्यूँ, मिलोँ के

है फ़ासले, तुमसे ना जाने क्यूँ

अनजाने है सिलसिले

तुमसे ना जाने क्यूँ, सपने है

पलकों तले, तुमसे ना जाने क्यूँ

कैसे बिताऐं

क्यूँ तुझको चहे

यारा बता ना पाये

आ आ आ …

बाते दिलो कि,

देखो जो बाकी

आँखें तुझे समझाऐ

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

आ आ आ …

निगाँहो मे देखो

मेरी जो है बस गया आ आ आ…

वह है मिलता तुमसे हूबहू

ओ ओ ओ…

जाने तेरी आँखें

कि या बाते थी वजह

हुये तुम जो दिल कि आरज़ू

तुम पास हो के भी

तुम आस हो के भी

एहसास हो के भी

आपने नही ऐसे है

हम को गिले

तुमसे ना जाने क्युँ, मिलो के

है फासले, तुमसे ना जाने क्यूँ ओ ओ …

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

ओ जाने ना जाने ना जाने ना

आ आ … तू जाने ना

ख़यालो मे लाखों बातें,

युन तो कह गया,

बोला कुछ ना तेरे सामने

ओ ओ ओ … हुऐ ना बेगाने भी

तुम होके और के

देखो तुम ना मेरे ही बने

अफ़सोस होता है, दिल भी ये रोता है

सपने सनजोता है, पगला हुआ सोचे ये

हम है मिले, तुम से ना जाने क्युँ

मिलो के है फ़सले, तुमसे ना जाने क्युँ

अनजाने, है सिलसिले

तुम से ना जाने क्यूँ, सपने है

पलको तले तुम से ना जाने क्यूँ

हो ओ ओ ओ ओ …।

कैसे बताएं

क्यूँ तुझको चाहे

यारा बता ना पाये

बातें दिलो कि

देखो जो बाकी

आँखें तुझे समझाए

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

तू जाने ना आआआ…

तू जाने ना

तू जाने ना आआआ… तू जाने ना आआआ…

I am sorry for Salman Khan. His pet dog MyJaan passed away recently. He had just recovered from the traumatic experience of loosing Myson, his other canine companion, and now this. The family has not revealed the exact cause of death, but insiders say that the dog died of pure awesomeness.

Holi is celebrated by the masses by throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. Bonfires are lit the day before, also known as Holika Dahan (death of Holika) to mark the miraculous escape that young Prahlad had when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. Holika Dahan is referred to as Kama Dahanam in Andhra Pradesh.

Holi is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalugna or Falguna (Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in the later part of February or March. In 2009, Holi (Dhulandi) is on 11th March and Holika Dahan is on 10th March.

-Wikipedia

This small render is to mark this joyful and auspicious day.

Image courtesy: Times of India / Anindya Chattopadhyay