Omi's Korner - Much ado about nothing..

Know what? After roaming the net searching for gossips on Shah Rukh.. I've found out a vital thing. There is absolutely NOTHING to be found on him in the big bad cyber world. At least, not the type that usually plagues an actor.. oh, like rumoured scandals with co-stars or anyone of the opposite/same sex, fights in shooting locations, etc. etc. Yeah, yeah.. I know about his alleged off-screen 'practice' with Deepa Sahi to get the sex scene to look real.. or his rumoured affair with Karan Johar.. or...

Ok, that's all. Anyone can contribute anything else?

The only garbage that gets recyled every 3 months is his 'cold wars' with the Bacchans, the other two big Khans (one of which is now true, to the delight of quite a number of reporters suffering from writer's block coz yeay now they have something they can write over and over about ad nauseam and the articles are guaranteed to be read by the bored and unimaginative section of the masses), the new actors on the block, and....

Okkkay.. that's pretty much it. That's all the dirt I got on a man who's supposed to have a life like an open book. Doesn't make sense. But Shah Rukh seldom makes much sense to me. Why do you think I write about him so much?

What do I think about the Deepa Sahi angle? Well, that stuff is over a loooong time ago. Anyway, he walloped the ass off the reporter who wrote that stupid article and got arrested for it too. That's the 'jailed for a day' thing he talked about in his recent MNIK interview. It's also told in Anupama Chopra's King of Bollywood book, if I'm not mistaken. He still remembers you, reporter dude! Maybe he's forgotten your name (altho I honestly think he hasn't.. despite him always protesting that he's bad with names) but I bet he still remembers your face, and your newspaper, and the address of the place where you used to live.. if you've moved elsewhere. Incidentally, that's the first movie of his I watched.. yep, the uncut version coz I watched it on UK tv, don't remember which channel. She's the only woman Shah Rukh has ever kissed on the lips publicly (albeit fictionally), didja gals realise that? Not even Gauri has that over her. Bet it annoys a lot of people that he's so stubborn about getting the no-kissing clause in his contracts after Maya Memsaab, but I think..even that ultimately works in his favour. Coz he can be as erotic as he wants on-screen without getting into trouble later on. Clever guy.

About him supposedly being gay.. hmmm, it's true that the guys in his circle are not the most macho men on the planet: Karan Johar, Mushtaq Sheikh, Manish Malhotra, Shiamak Davar.. well, Arjun Rampal is considerably macho though while Saif has Kareena, so... ahhh, and those love messages to Abhishek in twitter are too casually given, aren't they? *grins* I also notice that guys can't seem to stop themselves from hugging him/holding his hands/grabbing his face/kissing his cheeks/checking him out.. in fact, there have been youtube comments by heterosexual guys admitting that they're turned on by him. See, when I think about it.. it seems that we're focusing on this issue from the wrong angle. I think it's not supposed to be "Is Shah Rukh gay?"... it should be "How much do you (manly men that you all are) want him to be gay?" ..ha!

What's my point in babbling all this? errrr...mmm...oh yes. Despite thriving in the prudishly strict media-policed world of the Bollywood entertainment industry for nearly 2 decades, being a celeb who has had more than 2 biographies written on him, and a life the public supposedly knows everything there is to know about.. that even he wrote in twitter to us fan + reporter followers something like: "You think therefore I am".. he's managed to escape unscathed year after year. Compare that to Tiger Woods who's currently languishing in a sex addiction rehab facility.. la la la la la. Shah Rukh is either THAT good.. or he's really totally squeaky clean *gasp*

I'm in despair of ever continuing my Omi's Korner, unless I change tact. And fast. So I've decided to focus on the controversy angle. It's pretty high-brow.. on the topics of religions, patriotisme, terrorism, sports, trade, yada yada yada.. I mean, seriously.. is this guy an actor or someone who runs for public office? So, I doubt my Omi's Korner is gonna be a popular section in this blog from now on given the discussion topic.. but what can I do? It's a life and death decision. And I chose to live the life of a bore, than to die a jester's death. Since I was born dull, this is not a difficult decision to make.. rather, it suits me just fine.. :P

On the subject of perfection...

Just musing aloud..

Shah Rukh tweeted on Jan 18th:

"perfection is so boring. jagged..raw..unfinished..tainted...so much more to complete for the beholder with his/her imagination."

..and of course the Indian media picked that up as an 'attack' against Aamir Khan. Since I'm not one of the thousands of people who believe that Aamir Khan is Mr. Perfection.. and I seriously don't understand how Salman got sucked into this equation too (maybe the 'boring' part?).. I find the media's take on the subject at worst laughable..and at best, highly amusing.

I'm not a sociology scholar who can discuss on the concept of perfection, but I've found a nice article on it. I like what he says about it:

"The ideal is impossible. According to the photo chart, all of the women at the top still fall short of the ideal. Yet when the ideal, the normative definition of perfection, is achieved, it looks weird and is unappealing. The ideal is, well, not ideal (take that Baudrillard). Transhumanists are acutely aware of the unreality of perfection."

I dunno what a transhumanist is, but the guy talks sense.. yaar. The post was on a study of trying to combine 40 ideal women to get the most definitively beautiful woman in the world.. In his next post, he put up a file emphasizing his argument.

Anyway, I doubt our idea of perfection is the same as Shah Rukh's idea of perfection. Take his accomplishments, for example. As an obsessed fan of Shah Rukh, and a student, I think I understand what he means when he says he's not as intelligence/good at business/etc. as people think he is.

His brilliance  is obviously at a level higher than average people.. and what you or me think can be called satisfactory, for him it's probably just below average. When he says he's not good with numbers and names, he probably means he can't memorize more than 500 digits in pi or more than 10,000 contacts stored in his digital archive (have you watched this interview? What kind of crazy memory is that?? Well, I dunno about anyone else, but I'm fuzzy about what I did last week..never mind 20 years ago). When he talks about being good in business, he'll compare himself to the billionaires, multi-millionaires, or anyone much above his income bracket. When he talks about being smart, he'd look towards those personalities who've won Noble Prizes/international recognitions/etc. But he'd also be overjoyed when he can solve his children's schoolwork.

He's humble, and yet he's not. But that's how most things usually go with Shah Rukh. He's like a coin, or that puzzle cube in K-20.. all his faces/facets/personas can rush out and embrace you like a storm. And I don't think any of us would want to have it any other way

Omi's Korner - Chapter 3

• Dulha Mil Gaya reviewed.."sleep walk through a role and yet be bloody convincing"?? Is that a compliment or an insult, Mr. Omar 'I dunno why I talk like a robot' Qureshi?

• Shah Rukh Khan missed the premier of the movie he nearly lost his arm acting in and nobody wrote an article commenting/speculating/rumour-mongering about it?? Hmmm... interesting.

• Even though every one keeps harping on about the SRK-Aish jodi and how much they want to see the hot on-screen couple whose personal & professional relationshipships were broken apart (by the messed up, drunken then-boyfriend on the set of Chalte Chalte) and that they have supposedly become amiable with each other after what seemed like foreva coz Aish was so determined to be such a victim about it.. Shah Rukh finally clarified in Jan 16th tweet to a question posed by fans that sadly.. no, Aish is not gonna make an appearance in Ra-1. Boo hoo.

• What is this? Where did this rumour of Shah Rukh playing The Peacemaker between Vivek and Abhishek come from?? Vivek is being such a good little boy now (he looks the part too, awww..so cute~). I have no idea why Shah Rukh is rooting so much for him, but we'll just have to trust his judgement coz his reputation of being a star-maker does precede him, not just of actors.. but directors and choreographers as well. I just hope that next time Vivek won't get into anymore trouble in his professional life just coz he's adamant to mix business with pleasure like he did in the past. Learn the code, Vivek~ ..or else the backlash will be fearsomely pricey.

• Shah Rukh clarified that there's no feud between him, Farah Khan and her husband.. AGAIN (1:02-1:50). He had replied before... I mean, seriously.. how many times are they gonna make him come up with various versions of the same answer?? Despite him being one of the most articulate, wittiest guys on earth (according to me), the man has a boredom button just like the rest of us. Stop it with the pushing already!

Omi's Korner - Chapter 2

Why do good things always come in three's? There's Shah Rukh-Kajol-KJo, and then there's Shah Rukh Khan-Salman Khan-Aamir Khan. Even the Bacchans come in as a power of three (Jaya auntie doesn't count coz she's not actively acting anymore).

I think the top stars held some kinda secret meetings end of last year and decided that for 2010, they're all gonna be praising each other's movies and attending each other's premieres.. starting with Paa and ending in MNIK, I think. Kites is in a different league coz Hrithik, who once was always pitted againts Shah Rukh, has managed to steer clear of the confrontation with the sheer power of his iron will (with no help from Papa Roshan, thank you very much). 

• It all started when Big B blew a huge honk over at his residence in bigadda.com  that he had invited Shah Rukh and Aamir to his premiere (what, no Salman?)
• Everyone (except non-moronic people like me) waited with baited breath to see Shah Rukh, Aamir and Amitabh in the same frame, but alas.. Aamir was too importantly busy to watch other star's movie until the end credit.. saying, "As Mr Bachchan had invited me, so I came to attend the premiere," ..yeah, whateva. I think the commentator said it (1:42 - 1:60) better than I ever could.
• Which left us with Shah Rukh's magnanimously sweet and humble presence..and that's how I like it anyway. Infact, Shah Rukh took it further when he asked for extra passes for his family! Love the way he just went.. "this is boring talk~" at the reporters when they started asking him about the non-feud between him and Aamir. You rock my sox, sir!
  
• Then it's time for 3 Idiots. And Shah Rukh came to the premiere and hugged everyone, including Aamir Khan! *gasp* ..he even told us that story about him having Aamir & Juhi as movie idols when he was in college which, if you've read his 4 kg biography by Mushtaq (Still Reading Khan), is entirely true. Mushtaq wrote (in the The Others chapter, I think) how Shah Rukh was so obsessed with reaching Aamir's level that he vowed to "destroy" the guy one day when he just started his film career. This hot exclamation is on par with the now-famous "I'm going to own this city one day" promise he made when he was down and out and frustrated during his search for Gauri in Mumbai. I love his hot spighit. Wish my thanda soul is as warm as his is.
• Oh, Salman came to the 3 Idiots premiere too but he was never anywhere near SRK at any time during the launch. And huh.. no Amitabh?
  
• This nice gesture was reciprocated by Aamir when he said how he's confident that MNIK's gonna be bigger than 3 Idiots. Sir, it's not rocket science that MNIK is gonna be bigger than 3 Idiots based on its marketing strategy alone so us fans have kinda figured that out from the start. But thanks anyway for the vote of confidence.
  
• Not to be left behind, Salman reportedly called up Karan Johar to tell him that he likes the MNIK promo and that he 'loves' Shah Rukh Khan in the movie (the way they frame that one word in this news clip is so hysterically filmi)... awwww. Is it coz of the eyes too this time?
  
• What else could Shah Rukh do but return the compliment? I mean, what else can you say but give praise when it comes to a film that prides itself for injuring so many people, innocent bystanders + annoying reporters + bothersome stalkers alike, even before it's released? I too think it's such an original campaign that only Salman can carry it out with such style and panache. He comes out of it all looking like a winner. Uhuh.
  

Omi's Korner - Chapter 1

I have to say, starting this corner with Karan Johar bears good omen for the endeavour. I absolutely love KJo.. he's so sweet! And Shah Rukh said in an interview with Rajeev Masand that a lot of relationships (in Bollywood?) go through Karan. That's like saying the guy is the Keeper of Secrets for the PTBs in hindi cinema..right? Cool.

I dunno how to link up specific tweets as reference. Is that even possible? Anyway..following Karan's tweets is such a delight. He's always coming up with exclusive stuff on MNIK. On Jan 14th, Shah Rukh tweeted us the link to the international promo.. just a bit later than KJo did. So most of us obsessed fans have already seen it, and told him so. Poor boy :P ..am still waiting for that exclusive stuff he promised us. When Shah bhai?? When?? Hmm...

Yesterday, KJo gave us the link to the Tere Naina 30 sec promo. O my.. any SRK fan who's not excited about this movie after watching it, you'd better go to a doctor and check your hormon level. That haircut scene was so charged it could power up my whole country (we're much smaller than India). I dunno why KJo didn't say anything about this new "K Korner" thing he's got going in NDTV, but apparently some youtubers are already up in arms screaming how dare he for saying that it'll be the last time Shah Rukh & Kajol will be together on screen.

Come one dudes & dudettes.. look at how long he tried to bring them together this time.. 8 bleeding years! Shah Rukh and Kajol are already wearing reading spectacles by the time they started filming MNIK and KJo's long been sporting grey hair. And I think KJo, who's such a worrier that I wonder how he's managed to keep all his hair intact all these years, is not really confident that he can give them another story that matches the brilliance of MNIK in the future. He really looks up to those two professionally, even though he's bullied a lot by them in his personal life. But even the bullying comes bundled up together in the warmest love and respect. Plus, it's a brilliant marketing strategy.. duh?

My Name Is Khan will be the cornerstone of hindi cinema..not only in the kind of ideas it wants to put across, but in the way it's marketed all over the world. There're people out there who still don't understand, or unwilling to accept, the significance of DDLJ and KKHH to the hindi film industry. If you're not there with us to experience the bang MNIK is gonna create..you'll be missing out on something phenomenal. And that's a promise.

Gossip of the day, week, or wheneva..

Inspired by Filmigirl's gossip posts/columns.. I think I'm going to emulate that style in my blog. Difference is mine will always be related to anything Shah Rukh. It's not difficult to fill up the pages coz basically 99.99% of what's going on in Bollywood has a connection with him, however tenuous it is.

I've decided to do this coz I'm tired of going around reading sporadic posts on him. I just want to collect all of them under one BIG heading and be done with it, and in the process..have fun blabbing about them. But be warned that this will be the end of my 'no talking about movie stars other than Shah Rukh in my OMBOLLYWOOD blog' rule (which I conveniently broke once in a blue moon when I felt like it) coz it's impossible not to talk about them when you're gossiping, isn't it?

With Shah Rukh, the gossips can span several years, so be prepared to read cobweb-y, rusty stuff I dragged out of the pile in order to make a point. Just bear with me, kay? You guys are welcome to join the fray, but pls don't post anything rudely personal to any of the other givers of comments, no matter whose fans you are. This is MY blog, and I'm the only goonda allowed in the ring I want everyone to be nice to each other, and to me especially.. kay?

I'm calling it my Omi's Korner. It's a combination of Om (for the blog), Ami (my name, duh) and K coz his name is Khan.. get it? No? Why not?? It sounds like some cheesy coffee shop thing? Ack.. okay.. I'm not good with names.. so whateva.

What am I waiting for?! Let's start, shall we?