Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh Everywhere!

Have you tried counting how many times you have a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan everyday? Start your day reading newspaper – he is there promoting his band KKR or spreading the smile with Sunfeast! If somehow he gets missed there, Bollywood section is sure to bring him in. On your way to work/study, you can’t avoid seeing him on hoardings of Nokia / Airtel. And these make sure you don’t miss them – at the traffic signals, the underways and alike. Off you go to shop and lo! He’s there on the wrappers as one of a brand’s ambassador.

 

Then you decide to catch up with a program on the TV in the evening, It’s no wonder that he appears in every second commercial these days. Here is a list of commercials Shah Rukh can be currently seen in, with his quotes.

 

1. Nokia – Dus saal se mera sathi (?!), Hamaara Nokia.
2. Sunfeast – He can be seen in the ad cooking biscuits.
3. Airtel – Garv se bolo, Hello !
4. HP Compaq Presario - Yeh Hui Na Baat
5. Belmonte – Welcome to the Belmonte academy of style.
6. Dish TV – Thoda aur wish Karo ! Dish Karo !
7. Hyundai i10 – Don’t just follow, Catch the i.
8. Pepsi – He is portraying a dumb and funny character here being the brother of Deepika Padukone. This one is my favourites among the lot :-) .
9. Videocon – Match On, toh Videocon .
10. Emami Fair and Handsome – He is shown helping a guy, to look handsome.
11. Navratna Cool Talc – Duniya Ka Sabse Chhota AC.

 

And now you take up for some cricket action in IPL, then our King Khan can be seen there too cheering for his team Kolkata Knight Riders. And by chance if u decided to watch a reality show, our SRK is anchoring on Star Plus for “Kya Aap Panchvi Paas se Tez Hain”! But this time, the IPL ruins the show’s TRP. Now Shah Rukh is in a fix. Will he want people to watch his ‘Paanchvi Paas’ or IPL ? Shah Rukh vs Shah Rukh, mind it!. May be he wants people to choose IPL over ‘Paanchvi Paas’ since his money is invested there.

 

By the way I haven’t mentioned his movie presence anywhere in this post. So willingly or not, having to see Shah Rukh so many times in a day, aren’t we taking slightly an extra dose of Shah Rukh everyday ?

Indian Premier League – A Hit or a Miss?

The first thing which comes into my mind when I think about IPL is the money invested in it. IPL is a county cricket, a game played between teams of different regions at domestic level. Each team is owned by a franchise. Take a look at the amount invested by different franchises for their players. The figures are staggering.

Bangalore Royal Challengers   – Rs. 19.8 Crores

Chennai Super Kings                – Rs. 23.7 Crores

Delhi DareDevils                        – Rs. 22.5 Crores

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers  – Rs. 23.5 Crores

Rajasthan Royals                       – Rs. 12.8 Crores

Kolkata Knight Riders               – Rs. 24 Crores

IPL Mohali                                   – Rs. 22.9 Crores

Mumbai Indians                         – Rs. 20.5 Crores 

When India exited from the World Cup in the first round in 2007, imagine how the sentiment of public was. Everyone was running away from cricket. The Twenty 20 world cup victory changed the entire dynamics in less than six months. Some of the big names in Indian business such as Dr. Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani, and movie stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Juhi Chawla are already associated with IPL. That makes IPL a blend of commerce, entertainment and sport in that order.

With players of different countries playing for a team together, no doubt, it will be an entirely different experience. India’s traditional rivals, players from Pakistan and off late rivals, Aussies will be in the same team. That’s something people will seldom get to watch.

But the Ultimate question remains “will the IPL be accepted by the public with open arms?” Will it create a spark in the country? I am skeptical. Take the previous Tri Series for example. When India was playing against Australia, millions of Indian fans from across the country were supporting the team. But this wont be the case in domestic cricket. A Kolkata fan won’t be so much interested in the tournament once his team is out. People like to stand for the “country” as a whole than for regions. Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is going on currently didn’t generate much public interest. So whether IPL will be a success or not, only future can tell.