SRK gets support from Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan may not show it but he is definitely upset with the way his team is performing at the IPL. Kolkata Knight Riders has lost all its matches, except one, and is at the bottom in the points table.

SRK has come back to Mumbai and will be going back to South Africa only after his team wins a match.

And, as far as his cricket team goes, the industry seems to be with Shah Rukh, even his rivals.

After Aamir Khan made peace with him due to the multiplex issues, it is now Akshay Kumar who is by his side.

Akki, who is currently shooting in Singapore, wishes SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders all the best on his blog.

"The most important thing to me my IPL! I called up my producer and said I don't care where I stay even if it's in the back of a kitchen, I need to watch my IPL. Bad news, my hotel didn't have the channel so what else could I do but personally find the hotel manager and fold my hands in humble request and plead and plead for whatever it takes to please get that channel.

”By the next day, I was sitting in my room watching KKR vs PK XI. Happy is not enough to describe how I was feeling. And wow! What a season it's been. Seriously, I wish the best for all the teams, you have me on the edge of my seat, and I'd like to send my best regards to Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders, they've put up a good fight. So don't worry boys, you will always be loved”, he wrote on the blog.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that SRK is in talks with companies to sell off his share in Kolkata Knight Riders and get out of cricket.

SRK is said to be negotiating with Nokia, Anil Ambani and the Sahara Group to dispose off his share in the IPL team.

His PR agency, however, has denied the reports and said Shah Rukh has a major holding in Kolkata Knight Riders and is still emotionally attached to it.

All the three companies too have denied the report but have said they would definitely buy Shah Rukh’s stake it if they are approached by him.

Arjun get a stake in SRK’s ‘knights’

Boys always bond over sports, right? And it couldn’t be truer than at this moment when the entire nation is bonding over IPL and cricket. But buddies Arjun Rampal and Shah Rukh Khan have one thing in common — their sporting spirit and their loyalty to one team. In every match that the Knight Riders play, Arjun cheers the boys unfailingly, while simultaneously adding to the glam quotient.

So, just out of curiosity, we asked the sports fanatic if he would want to own a cricket team, or would he rather go international (now that he’s had his first brush with the West, courtesy Nicole Kidman) and target the New York Yankees instead? He quickly replied, “No! I wouldn’t want to own a piece of the New York Yankees simply because I don’t like baseball that much. I prefer cricket.

And yes, I’d love to own a cricket team someday. Maybe one day, when Shah Rukh is selling a stake from his share of the Knight Riders, I’ll definitely buy some. Because I really like that team.” Now that’s news to us. He’d rather keep his loyalties with SRK, than trade it off to another team. Fair enough, Arjun. Such is their dosti! But dude, take a closer look at their current game, and do a re-think, puhlease.

Do you ‘really’ want to bet your moolah on them now that they’ve been faring a tad badly? After their unfortunate run (so far) is the knights-in shining-armour still shiny? Hopefully, they’ll ‘up’ the game now. At the end of the game ... it’s all about the money, honey!

SRK won't shake a leg at IPL 2 finale

While Shah Rukh Khan insists it's because of his shoulder injury, the pathetic performance of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is possibly the main reason

There's bad news for Shah Rukh Khan fans across the globe.

They'll miss King Khan in action, as he won't be performing at the grand finale of the IPL season 2, which will be held at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg tomorrow.

The finale will have a grand show put up by Cineyug's Morani Brothers and Development Network Africa.

Says a source from South Africa, "The Morani Brothers are very close to Shah Rukh and are scripting and directing the event.

It's strange that Shah Rukh, who performs in almost every show of the Morani's, won't be performing this time. In fact he's not even going t o south Africa for the finals."

Commenting on SRK not performing at the finals, Mohammed Morani, says, "Shah Rukh has been a part of most of our shows and it's sad not to have him this time. Actually, he's busy shooting and didn't have dates for the event."

Besides, a source adds that people had expected SRK to come for the IPL finals and cheer his team but apparently he's keeping a low profile, as KKR failed miserably in the tournament.

"Hence, Shah Rukh just wants to keep away from all the controversies and concentrate on his work," he says.

Speaking to MiD DAY, Shah Rukh said, "I won't be able to perform at the IPL finals this time as my shoulder is till healing."

A source close to Shah Rukh, dismissing the gossip, says, "Shah Rukh is busy completing his shooting commitments and hence, he's unable to attend the event.

Also, he's not keeping a low profile – it's just that there are no parties or social events for him to attend right now."

But a source from South Africa perseveres, "Shah Rukh performed at builder Kanti Govani's nephew's wedding, which was held on April 30. If he could perform then, why not now?" he questions.

Apart from Katrina Kaif and Shilpa Shetty, the IPL finals won't have any big tinsel town stars performing this year.

However, Morani says, "As IPL is a global event, it will witness performances by Eddy Grant, percussionist Sivamani with 100 drummers, Akon, Miss Bollywood (South Africa) and quite a few internationals acts."

SRK gets IPL gyan

Shah Rukh Khan’s Knight Riders may have failed to create magic, yet again, but King Khan takes it all in his stride.

In fact, he cites his team’s ouster from IPL 2 as a life lesson. He has no plans of giving gyaan like a guru; nevertheless, he did a good job when he pep-talked the audience at the Delhi chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organisation here on Thursday.

Talking about the event, a source present at the function says, “YPO has members in almost 85 countries. Every year, they invite people from different walks of life to interact with the members. This year, it was Shah Rukh, since he’s been very successful in his life and the members were all ears when he spoke on what success meant to him.”

Talking on his favourite subject – success – SRK says, “Success is never final, just like failure is never fatal. Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Fear failure so much that you get the courage to succeed. Talking about how I became successful is a waste. Success comes by chance. My first few films failed. My IPL team failed in the first and second seasons. But I’m not giving up – I want to win next year.”

When we spoke to SRK after the event, he sounded happy about the improvement in his health. “I’m much better,” he said, adding, “I’ll soon leave for the USA to shoot for My Name Is Khan. It’s a month-and-a-half long schedule.”

A source close to SRK reveals, “He felt dejected when his team wasn’t playing well initially. However, he’s reconciled to it now but is not going to South Africa for the finals. In fact, he returned after leaving Gauri’s brother there to take care of the team.” Well, the Badshah knows best!

I'm not as rich as SRK: Amitabh

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he couldn't bid for an Indian Premier League (IPL) team because he doesn't have "as much money as (Kolkata Knight Riders owner) Shah Rukh Khan".

"I don't have as much money as Shah Rukh. He has money and so he owns a team," Amitabh said on Zee News' celebrity chat show "Kahiye Janab" to be aired on Saturday.

Amitabh sent a congratulatory SMS to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his Padma Shri and didn't get a response. But he says he holds no grudge against the cricket star.

"He must have been busy, there's no need to make an issue out of this."

The sexagenarian otherwise makes for an avid viewer of the IPL and says he watches "almost all the matches".

Depressed Shah Rukh stops blogging

King Khan began blogging in style for his team, the Kolkatta Knight Riders. But after writing for a couple of days, SRK has stopped writing after his team crashed to the bottom of the IPL.

It’s been 2 weeks since Shah Rukh last wrote on his official site - www.kkr.in. At that point, he was looking at a couple of defeats as a good thing. “So let's start from the fact that, yes, we have been hit already. So, this is a good thing. A very good thing! We have been hit, and hit hard, so the difficult part is over now. We all should accept that we do lie, at this point, very nearly on the floor. So, now comes the part which is more important. The part that we need to show everyone around us that we can take a hit; we can fall down, but we also know how to scrape ourselves from the floor and continue to fight…” But as the team was battered, the actor fled South Africa and has not gone back.

And now he's even stopped communicating to his fans through his blog. At an event earlier this week he refused to speak on the team. In an interview on Thursday morning, Shah Rukh said that the plan was now for his team to "go out and have fun!" But that will be difficult for a team that dropped so many catches in their last match (against Delhi) that commentators lost count.

SRK said in the interview: "Some of the matches were close, and almost broke our hearts. But the others were complete losses." "Even so", he said, "we haven't lost the motivation..." Certainly, he has lost the motivation to write!

And he then revealed the team's true sentiment by confessing: "The boys are depressed; they can't do more, and my being around only makes it worse for them. My presence in the dressing room makes them break down."

SRK turns to prayer to save KKR

The going is not good for the Kolkata Knight Riders at the IPL and so team owner Shah Rukh Khan has taking to penning down his problems- virtually though. Yes, the superstar, who once famously said that he doesn’t like to blog because he’d rather connect with his fans through the media, is now typing out his worries for the world to see. He’s also using the blog as means to encourage his team to pick themselves up off the floor.

Here’s his latest post titled Keep the Faith:

You must have heard a thousand times that the way to victory does not lie in how hard you can hit; but how hard you can take the hit. And I am not telling you anything new. Every teacher says that to his student, every coach says that to his team and I am sure John has said this to you guys enough times already, just as a father says that to his son.

When they all say this, in their hearts they also wish and hope that their team does not get hit; it doesn’t have to learn to win that way. A father feels, let my son win without ever getting hit; but you still say this to them because you know this world is a hard place. Games are a hard battlefield…your opponent wants to win as much as you do…so there is always going to be a chance that you will get hit. The best of us get hit…Mohammad Ali got hit…Carl Lewis got hit…John Buchanan must have been hit…Sourav Ganguly here has been hit several times.

So lets start from the fact that yes we have been hit already. So this is a good thing. A very good thing! We have been hit and hit hard, so the difficult part is over now. We all should accept that, we do lie at this point very nearly on the floor. So now comes the part, which is more important. The part that we need to show everyone around us, that we can take a hit; we can fall down; but we also know how to scrape ourselves from the floor and continue to fight. We still can take a few hits more and still fight back. Lots of people are saying lots of things about us, but none of them are right. The only right thing is that the owners have faith in this team, the coach has faith in this team; as a matter of fact the team has faith in this team. So there is no problem here at all. Just go out and play to have a great time…enjoy yourselves because pressure only builds more pressure. There is no need to prove anything amongst us. We all trust we are a great bunch of people and cricketers.

One lakh people out there have only one prayer in their hearts, god give our kids strength and a bit of luck to beat the shit out of their opponents. God will listen and deliver today, but just to make sure run faster, hit harder and go out destroy the opponent.

Lets play this like our first game ever as if we have to prove it to the world that we are good and can hit, then lets play this game like the last game of our lives, because we need to prove it to ourselves…that we can take being hit and get up from the floor.

I say a prayer my father taught me; whatever your faith, lets get together and say it… “Nasrun minal lahe wah fatahun kareeb” …

Exclusive Report: Shah Rukh Khan To Sell Knight Riders

After dropping “Kolkata” from Indian Premier League team (IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), actor Shah Rukh Khan has started discussions with Nokia, Sahara, the Anil Ambani group, and several other companies to sell the team he bought just over a year ago for Rs 300 crore, and exit the business.

According to sources in Red Chillies Entertainment, KKR’s holding company, “Shah Rukh Khan has been trying to sell a stake in KKR for some time now. But since most companies he approached also wanted management control, Khan is now talking to Nokia, Sahara, Anil Ambani and others to sell his entire shareholding.”

Khan’s public relations officer, however, said she would not be able to confirm the development because she had not met the actor.

None of those who have reportedly been approached confirmed the development. Sahara India’s communications director Abhijit Sarkar said: “We have not been approached by Shah Rukh Khan yet. But if he does, we would be happy to buy the team.”

D Shivakumar, vice-president and managing director (markets), Nokia India, sent a text message saying: “Shah Rukh Khan will keep the team.”

A Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment. “A lot of people negotiate with Anil Ambani. I cannot comment unless there is something concrete on table.”

According to the Red Chillies official, Khan wants to exit, owing to the team’s poor performance — so far the team has won only one rain-curtailed game under the Duckworth Lewis method — and rising costs.

“If the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) does not increase the number of teams for next year, Khan could get double what he paid,” said the Red Chillies official.

Khan is supposed to pay Rs 30 crore per year for the next 10 years. The total annual cost for the team is about Rs 75 crore.

Khan had earlier said that KKR was easily the most successful IPL franchise, making a Rs 13 crore profit last year. However, his costs trebled last year owing to interventions from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Cricket Association of Bengal.

According to initial calculations, Red Chillies had to pay Rs 90 lakh per match and was supposed to earn Rs 3 crore if all stadium tickets were sold at Eden Gardens. Red Chillies had to pay Rs 20 lakh to the police and municipal tax of Rs 5 lakh. So its expenses per match would have been over Rs 1 crore. But this figure had trebled.

Last year, however, Kolkata Police demanded Rs 2 crore as security fees, against Rs 50 lakh that the organisers of the IPL offered. Then, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) demanded Rs 25 lakh from Red Chillies as amusement tax for holding IPL matches at Eden Gardens.

To settle the dispute between Kolkata Police and the IPL organisers over the cost of security arrangements at Eden Gardens, Red Chillies Entertainment had to agree to pay Rs 75 lakh as security fees.

About 5,500 uniformed personnel and about 1,500 sleuths were deployed to secure the stadium and its surrounding areas, since many celebrities were expected to watch the IPL matches at Eden Gardens.

SRK won’t return to SA until KKR wins

Shah Rukh Khan has decided to try the tough love approach with his team, The Kolkata Knight Riders: he’s not going to cheer for them in South Africa until they buck up. After playing 5 matches and with just 1 win to their name, the Knight Riders are in the worst position in the IPL ranking, coming in seventh on the list.

They’ve had some real bad games, and team owner Shah Rukh Khan is not at all happy. So much so that after returning to India to vote for the upcoming elections, he was quoted to have said, “I won't return to South Africa unless the team starts winning. I feel really sad when I see my team losing. They are trying very hard, so it's even tougher to digest the losses... I will only return to South Africa and cheer for my team when they start winning.”

Shah Rukh’s present attitude is a far cry from what we heard him say a few days ago. The actor was full of hope while he wrote his blog in South Africa. It said: “So let’s start from the fact that, yes, we have been hit already. So, this is a good thing. A very good thing! We have been hit and hit hard, so the difficult part is over now. We all should accept that we do lie at this point very nearly on the floor. So, now comes the part which is more important. The part that we need to show everyone around us that we can take a hit; we can fall down, but we also know how to scrape ourselves from the floor and continue to fight.” Now, reality has sure ‘hit’ Shah Rukh as he landed on Indian soil, and he’s too embarrassed to be present while his team struggles to ‘scrape’ themselves up from the bottom.

At the start of the IPL, SRK created quite a stir with his innovative decisions: he dropped Sourav Ganguly as team captain and brought out his ‘multiple captaincy’ strategy as his ticket to win the IPL. However, the plan turned out to be a major disaster, and the score card is witness to that. Surprisingly, the Knight Riders have an impressive list of coaches assisting the players. So, is it just a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth that’s leading to the team’s downfall?

SRK sends back his Indian cheerleaders

Shah Rukh Khan has sent back the six girls he picked as cheerleaders, saying they could not cheerlead his team in South Africa.

The heartbroken girls, who won a much-hyped reality show, are back in India without cheerleading even once.

"We were told that people only wanted South Africans cheerleaders on the field," Sunanda, one of the six cheerleaders told Star Box Office.

The girls flew to South Africa on April 15 and say that they they were told beforehand that they will not be given the opportunity to cheer for the team on the field.

So were the girls given any money for their trouble? Not yet, but they're hopeful.

Rupali, another cheerleader said about the contract: “We were made to sign a one year contract which said that financial help would be considered only after Shah Rukh was back from South Africa, and that is on April 30.”

To promote his team Kolkata Knight Riders, SRK had staged the massive reality show called ‘Knights and Angels’ (NDTV Imagine). The purpose of the show was to pick six Indian girls who would cheer his team during the IPL matches.

The winners were: Sanna, Samyukta, Ritika, Ananya, Sunanda and Rupali.

The girls don't believe the reality show was just a stunt. “I don’t think that these people will spend so much money in a reality just like that. I am sure if IPL would have happened in India, we would have surely been on the field,” Sunanda said.

The six cheer leaders attended three matches which were held in Capetown. Sunanda says the experience, “was great… We were not on the field but we were continuously cheering for SRK’s team as audience. We were obviously disappointed but we also know that SRK tried very hard but things couldn’t work…”

SRK's first ever blog on Knight Riders' official website

Shah Rukh Khan is the latest Bollywood superstar to enter the webspace with the launch of his personal blog on the official website of his IPL team - 'Knight Riders'. The following is Shah Rukh's first ever blog that he wrote after 'Knight Riders' were defeated by 'Rajasthan Royals' in their last match on April 23:

The beginning of a new day!

When the season started, I thought I would write every couple of days to all our fans that visit our site.

Firstly, thanks for doing so and a special thanks to all who believe in the Knight Riders and support us as a team. Apologies for not being a regular at my blog or actually not even writing the first entry with the start of the season. So here is the first one.

I thought I would start the first write up by detailing the threshold and culture of this franchise. That would have been apt if we hadn't started playing. Right now, as I write at 5 a.m. in Cape Town, having lost yet another game, which we could have won, the heart is heavy and the mind is numb. Full marks to Rajasthan Royals for proving that a true champion team does not choke at the finish line. Congratulations guys.

Since the commencement of this season, we have a trail of one win out of three, which is not a good position to be in. So at this time I will not get into why the franchise was started and what dreams we all have as far as our ambitions are concerned. All ambitions finally will get fulfilled only when the team wins and keeps true to the faith that all our fans have invested in us. Till such time, I am going to talk a bit about the game as I understand, which needless to say is quite limited. I will also talk about the role that I choose to play as part of the Knight Riders.

I treat this team as I treat my own children. I am quite a doting father and perhaps a bit too emotionally involved with all the things my team goes through. I feel like crying when they lose and go wild with happiness when they win. Throughout the tournament last year, my only concern was that the team members should not in any way feel sad or bad after the losses we suffered. If I could, I would want to take all the disappointments they face with every loss or a bad performance onto myself. As much as I try, I now realise that it is not possible.

This is a set of professional players and they seem to understand one rule that most of us cannot understand. And the rule is that this is a game, and one team will lose while the other will win.

If either the success or the defeat of the last match lingers beyond a day, it would be impossible for them to face a new match and a new challenge the next time round, with full steam and gusto. They gather the broken pieces, try and understand what could be done better and start afresh. Like a father learns from his children, I am beginning to understand this lesson too. Earlier I used to pep talk our team before and after every match, so that their morale would remain positive. As the year has passed into another, I now realise that these boys actually walk the talk; and I need to do the same. I am learning from this whole experience that the more I practice, the easier things seem.

The harder I run, the farther I can go. The more I pray, the less I feel the burden of performance. Also I am learning that after doing all this, there is no guarantee of winning everyday. So all one can do is to give it your best shot and leave the rest.

In attempting to give it our best, our team has taken lots of unpopular decisions. Starting with, the multiple captains to choices of whom we play in which match. A truckload of criticism from all quarters has been dumped at our doorsteps. Every time I go and sit in the stadium, I feel the weight of all the choices made. If we come out winners through this tournament, will I feel vindicated? The answer is no. If we don't perform as well as we should, would I feel we did the wrong thing? Again the answer is no.

The decisions we take in life, need not always lead to a black and white solution as in mathematics. The decisions are guidelines and beliefs we chalk down our path towards a goal. Sometimes we get to the goal inspite of the decisions and sometimes because of them. And there are times when all goes wrong. The strength lies in sticking to a path that you chose to begin with. As the journey progresses, whether that path turns out to be tough or easy, you have to follow it because therein lies your principles and beliefs.

Assessing how a ball should be played after seeing it at 1500 frames per second on your television sets is one thing…but to take that split millisecond decision, when the ball tears down at you, at 150 kilometers per hour, is another ballgame altogether. In retrospect things can be explained and faults and genius can be torn apart or praised, but in the moment that you have to live and deliver, a path has to be chosen and walked on, with complete belief that it will work out fine.

I don't know if the path we have chosen is correct or not…and that's why we won't feel vindicated in victory and neither will we feel ashamed in defeat. It's just a path we the Knight Riders have chosen to walk on and will stick to it, till the very end. I hope all those who believe in this team will walk along with us.

This is getting as long as a Test Match, and I need to end it. I can feel the first rays of the Sun beginning to break through. A new day is about to begin. The defeat still lingers thick in my mind…so I will try and sleep it off and start afresh again. I know my boys will do the same. We will face our disappointments head on with a smile and a prayer. I close my eyes with these thoughts from Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts;

Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,

Or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,

Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;

Who strives valiantly;

Who errs, who comes short again and again,

Because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

But who does actually strive to do deeds;

Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;

Who spends himself in a worthy cause;

Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,

And who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,

So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who

neither know

Victory nor Defeat.

SRK defends his Knight Riders!

Passion could well be Shah Rukh Khan’s middle name.

Be it his films or his IPL franchisee Knight Riders, SRK puts his mouth where his heart is. Like in this interview to BT hours after the Knight Riders scored their first points in IPL-II on Tuesday, after winning against Kings XI Punjab courtesy the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The turning point in that match, feels SRK, was that the entire team got into the act. “Dada getting quick wickets, Ishant Sharma doing his bit, and then Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum coming out and batting like that, it was heartening to see the team supporting one another,” says SRK. But even as he states that the Knight Riders were “deserving winners”, he admits that the Knights are also “spirited losers”. “We were cold at the start of the tournament,” SRK says it as it is, when asked about the team’s dismal first performance against Team Hyderabad, “but the first few matches are all about team building and team strengthening, and we’re getting there.”

Over to the team. Is there additional pressure on the Knights to perform, considering the team has been mired in controversies from the start? “What everyone says need not always be true. We have a thought process behind our decisions, be it the multi-captain theory or the change of captain. We aren’t bothered by controversy, in fact, it brings us closer, binds us more, when the world puts us down, we find confidence and support in each other. We stick to what we believe in, we Knights are married to each other,” says the ever-positive Khan.

The Knights will play against last year’s champs Team Rajasthan today, tough match? “Each match is tough, because the pitches are unknown to us. But we’ll give Shane Warne and his team an entertaining fight!” promises SRK.
But the Bollywood star has a peculiar dilemma — he was born in Delhi, works in Mumbai and owns a Kolkata franchisee — how does he balance his loyalties?

“Kolkata is my playground, Mumbai, my home. It just shows I’m a true Indian, a walking, talking epitome of being a true Indian!” he laughs. But despite being the owner of the team, SRK knows when to step back and let others do the talking.

“When it comes to cricket, I am also an outsider. I let those who know the game make the decisions. I don’t know if a decision is good or bad, but I will support it nonetheless. I treat my team like I treat my children, and fans should support us in good times and bad. It should be from the heart...”

No wonder, then, that King Khan is their Knight in shining armour!

Insider leaks KKR information on blog

Shah Rukh Khan is not going to be a happy person for too long; especially since an anonymous blogger seems to be telling the world what’s happening in the green room.

The blogger is penning down details of team strategy, happenings at the team meeting and gossip in the dressing rooms and other private circles.

The blog’s authenticity hasn’t been proven yet. The writer writes using either code names for the players (Lord Almighty for Saurav Ganguly, Sheikh of the Tweak for Shane Warne).

The management has condemned the poison pen writer and hopes to bring a stop to his posts soon.

Exclusive: Shah Rukh Khan on his Knights

Kolkata Knight Riders have registered their first win in IPL season 2 and team owner Shah Rukh Khan now wants to put all the controversies behind and concentrate on cricket. He spoke to Vimal Kumar after the victory celebrations.

SRK: It's going to be difficult at times. People are not going to understand from outside. All I can tell you is: "You can love us, you can hate us, but you can't ignore us. We will try our best as humbly as possible. We will try and entertain everyone. We are open to be talking about the team the way we wish to. We love you and we are going to try our best. Whichever the part of the country you are in, make sure you are proud of Kolkata Knight Riders."

Q: IPL is shifted to South Africa. Rain is playing spoilsport. Your take on that

SRK: Weather is not something that even I can control or, you can control. It's unfortunate. But apparently, it is not seasonal rain here, either. So things happen like this. When the moment is big, the occasion is really important, small things can spoil it. But the idea was the IPL2 should be held. So forget the rain. Whenever it rains we just sing a good rain song. But beyond that, yes it's unfortunate. I feel sad that some of the matches are getting curtailed because of rain.

Q: You must be feeling happy that your team has started winning.

SRK: I don't think we have started winning. We have twelve more matches to go. I can't be happy so soon. But I am very happy that the team has started playing together. And inshe allah... as we go along the next twelve matches we will play together. As long as we play together, winning or losing is not important. I think if we are able to bring the spirit of the Kolkata Knight Riders into this, that is more important. So I am happy for the kids. I think they were very depressed after losing the first match. I am happy that they are happy now. But a long way to go.

SRK's KKR '09 Sprite Ad Shoot

SRK's Korbo, Lorbo... is passe

Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re – these were the lyrics of the Kolkata Knight Riders anthem last year.

But that was when the IPL was held in India. Now, since the tournament has shifted to South Africa, SRK’s team has also changed its anthem, so that supporters there can easily chant it when the team takes to the field. “The tournament has moved to SA. Keeping that in view, the anthem Korbo, Lorbo... has been changed. The beats are different and the lyrics too will have a more international feel to it,” said a source close to the team.

Looks like Shah Rukh Khan is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the success of his team this time round. That might be the reason why there are rumours that the video of the song will also be re-shot. “SRK has heard the song and there are talks of a new video being shot for it. But nothing is confirmed as of now,” informed the source. The original video for the song featured SRK in the team’s golden-and-black colours – wearing a dhoti in Kolkata ishtyle. Do you have a golden-black bermuda in mind now, Shah Rukh?