Shah Rukh Khan takes Mumbai franchise of I1 Super Series

After owning a cricket team, Shah Rukh Khan has entered his maiden venture in motorsports. The bollywood actor will be the co-owner of the Mumbai franchise for the I1 Super Series racing league beginning Jan 8.

Shah Rukh Khan along with partners of Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, the Mehta Group, will take charge of one of the nine teams to take part in the city-based competition.

Apart from having nine teams from as many cities, each franchise will have an Indian and an international driver.

The inaugural Indian Grand Prix held last week was a huge success and Shah Rukh feels the I1 Super Series will only add to the increase in the popularity of motorsports in India.


"The I1 Super Series is a very interesting concept as it gets racing drivers from across the globe to partner with young Indian talent. After the inaugural Indian GP it is clear that motorsports is hugely popular in India and I strongly believe that this series will be a success with its one-of-a-kind concept. The concept is similar to the IPL and I am confident that in the years to come this can become one of the biggest motorsport events in the world," said Shah Rukh.

Machdar Motorsports, the promoters of the I1 Super Series, welcomed Shar Rukh`s entry into the league.

"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Shah Rukh Khan to the I1 Super Series as the franchisee holder for Mumbai. The announcement marks a momentous occasion for motorsports in India with one of the biggest stars in the country aligning with the highly anticipated series," said Anjana Reddy, director, Machdar Motorsports.

The first two races out of the 12 will take place at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, India while the other venues will be Malaysia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

I1 Super Series is a single-make racing competition. Radical SR3 Supercar, which has a top speed of 250 kmph, will be used by all the teams. The total prize money of the event will be $2 million.

Juhi Chawla: Shah Rukh too busy for friends

Actress Juhi Chawla feels that the acknowledgment about his ailing producer-brother Bobby's contribution, from good friend and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, should have come much earlier.

Recently, at the music launch of Ra.One, Shah Rukh had dedicated the music of his forthcoming film to Bobby, who is in coma for over a year after brain haemorrhage.

"I want to dedicate this album to Yash Joharji and Bobby. When we started our company Red Chillies Entertainment ...the one who helped me start was Bobby," Shah Rukh had said at the music launch function.

Bobby is CEO of Red Chillies, a film production house founded in 2002. There were reports that Juhi was miffed with Shah Rukh as she felt the appreciation came late.

"I am not lashing out at Shah Rukh. But yes I do feel that why do we always talk about a person after the phase is over. I wish it (acknowledgement for contribution to Red Chillies success) was sooner," Juhi said in an interview.

"The other day I was coming from (ace fashion photographer) Gautam's condolence meet ...and I felt why do we talk about a person when he is not around. How many times have we said how much that person meant to us...when that person was around...we did not. But the moment the phase is over we remember the person," she said.

Asked if they had spoken to each other after the incident, Juhi said, "He (SRK) does not have time. He is workacholic...he works 20 hours a day...so where is the time."

Earlier also Juhi had rued that the superstar does not have time for his old friends anymore. Juhi and Shah Rukh have been good friends. Both have given hit films like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Darr and Yes Boss.

Ra One: Shah Rukh Khan keen to work with Lady Gaga

Be it the Gandhi or the Gaga way, superstar Shah Rukh Khan is set to reinvent himself and take on all his competitors with the 'biggest movie' made yet in Bollywood - Ra. One. Speaking at the launch of a new marketing book, King Khan said he was in talks with the international sensation Lady Gaga about collaborating on a song.

"I don't listen to ragas anymore, now I listen to Lady Gaga," Khan told the 300-strong audience at the event. "My son and daughter have converted me from Saturday night fever to Justin Bieber." Ahead of the release of Ra. One, his newest film and which he claims to be India's biggest movie, Khan said he had been speaking to Gaga's manager about possibly working together.

"I've been chatting up with her about a song I want to do with her, and her manager said 'Lady Gaga wants to introduce you to her audience and she wants to be introduced to your audience'," Khan said. "So one can say she believes in pure, simple and wonderful business," the superstar added.

Using his characteristic humour to keep the audience entertained - the actor even threatened to use a Gaga technique and begin undressing if his speech got too boring - Khan even boiled his ethos down to the focal point of the book he was launching - the art of selling.

"I believe everything should be sold. Even life doesn't come for free," the 46-year-old actor said. " I'm a proud seller of dreams, that's why you can buy me, you can pay for me to come to a wedding, you can tell me to stand over here on my head, to entertain people... I will even sell my body if it makes someone smile." Shah Rukh was speaking at the launch of the book Thorns to Competition by IIPM's Arindam and Rajita Chaudhuri.

Honorary director of the IIPM thinktank and also a film producer, Arindam, said the book was the result of four years of his wife's research into the most 'exciting' part of business: marketing.

"A satisfied consumer is a marketing man's worst nightmare because then I lie awake at night wondering how I'll sell you my next product," dressed in a characteristically flamboyant white suit, Chaudhari told the crowd.

"It's all about going to the market and smashing the competition," the businessman added.

Pointing to models as varied as Shahrukh and tobacco companies, Chaudhari said: "The key to marketing was marking out your own space in the competition.

"If a company is successful, it is because it has bought space in your mind. That's what all the best are trying to do now," Chaudhuri said.

Chaudhuri's wife Rajita, who co-authored the book and is also a faculty member at IIPM, pointed out that even Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi had to draw inspiration from marketing techniques to sell his ideas to India.

"He too had to reinvent himself, he used to dress like an English lawyer, but he changed, dropped that... he understood that he would never be able to sell armed fights in the streets to Indians," she said. "It's the power of being aggressive. You have to stand out, look out, shout out - or be shut out.

Salman and Shah Rukh's paths cross again

On August 16 Karan Johar started the shooting of his film Student of the Year with newcomers Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Malhotra at Mumbai's Yashraj Studio.

Socialite Parmeshwar Godrej switched on the camera for the mahurat shot that was directed by veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra.

Rishi Kapoor who does the role of a gay dean in the film broke the coconut. Farah Khan will choreograph the songs. Aditya Chopra dropped by to wish his erstwhile assistant Karan.

Many well-wishers dropped by to wish Karan. Since the film is a Dharma and Red Chillies Production, Shah Rukh Khan,

who is also Karan's best friend and the producer came over to wish the filmmaker and the youngsters in the cast.

Salman Khan who was shooting next door for Aditya Chopra dropped by too. So did the two warring Khans meet? Apparently not.

No. Instead sources say Salman came and charmed Karan's staff. He was accompanied by his lead actress Katrina Kaif.

Imran Khan also dropped by as did some of the directors who are working with Dharma like Karan Malhotra and Punit Malhotra.

David Dhawan and his wife Lali dropped by to wish their younger son and so did Soni Razdan, whose daughter Alia plays the female lead.