SRK faces NGO ire for smoking during Twenty20

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was on Friday issued a legal notice by an NGO for smoking in public during the two recent events - the Twenty20 cricket match in Mumbai and a media summit in Delhi. The NGO, National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) issued legal notice to the film actor for smoking in public during the two recent events - the Twenty20 cricket match in Mumbai and a media event in Delhi. NOTE, an anti-tobacco NGO, which is already into a legal battle with megastar Amitabh Bachchan over his movie posters showing him smoking cigar, issued legal notice through its lawyer. The NGO has threatened to sue Khan for promoting smoking in public places, which is banned under the Anti-Tobacco Act. The notice to Khan has been issued under Sections 4 and 5 (3) of cigarette and other tobacco products (prohibition of advertisements and regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution) Act, 2003. "Images of Shah Rukh Khan inhaling smoke were shown on Doordarshan during its telecast of the Twenty20 cricket match in Mumbai on October 20. The national television channel's telecast of such outrageous images is another act worth condemnation," NOTE general secretary Dr Shekhar Salkar said. Prior to this incident, Khan was shown sitting on the dais with a lighted cigarette in his hand during a media event in Delhi on October 12 and 13, NOTE said. These acts show the much-acclaimed actor and youth icon in a very poor light, the NGO mentioned. A superstar, imitated and adored by millions cannot lend a helping hand to promote smoking, Salkar added.

Health Minister asks SRK, AB to stop smoking

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has appealed to Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to stop smoking in movies as millions of youngsters emulate them and imbibe the bad habit."I have already made appeals to Shah Rukh Khan," Ramadoss said in Karan Thapar's "Devil's Advocate" programme being aired on a news channel."But I would be happy to do it again and say, 'Please don't smoke in your movies, Mr. Shah Rukh Khan'. I would like to make an appeal to Mr. Shah Rukh Khan and Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and all the other personalities."Fourteen-year-olds are taking to tobacco. India should be very, very concerned about the alarming rise of incidence of tobacco (use) amongst young people," the minister emphasised.Criticising movies with smoking scenes, the minister said: "The movies are most responsible (for encouraging smoking). When I said movies should not have smoking scenes, we have statistics which show that 52 percent of children have their first puff of a cigarette because of movie celebrities."When asked about Shah Rukh smoking during a recent cricket match, Ramadoss said the actor should not have done it.
What was the necessity? See these are celebrities and millions of youngsters look up to these celebrities...I again say to celebrities, in whichever field they are, whether it's movies or sports, not to do these things in public."Responding to a question if Shah Rukh and Amitabh could stop smoking like Tamil superstar Rajnikant, the minister said: "Easily, they could do it. Without a doubt."

Dard-e-Disco & Disco Dancer

It was the launch of E Niwas’s My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, starring debutant Nikhil Dwivedi, Amrita Rao and veteran Mithun Chakraborty, scheduled for 8 pm on Friday night.
Mithunda walked in first, followed by the rest of the cast. But there was one person who was yet to make a grand entry, King Khan — he was supposed to unveil the music of the film.
Mithun propped up the bar, chatting with all, drink in hand, smiling for the shutterbugs and trying to pass his time. It was nearing 11 pm when someone announced that Shah Rukh Khan was about to make an entry.
Mithun had by then moved to the first floor of the venue. Going to the balcony, he started bellowing, “Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh, kahan hain tu, yaar?” Moments later, SRK entered escorted by bodyguards. Again, Mithun called out the Bollywood Badshah’s name, this time louder than before to everyone’s surprise. Shah Rukh, unaware of the great presence above him, waved out the way he does to hysterical fans.
“He didn’t see me!” exclaimed Mithun, throwing his hands up in the air. But when SRK stepped out of the lift, the first thing he said was “ Da ,” on seeing Mithun.
The original Disco Dancer forgot his long wait and held open his arms to hug the Dard-e-Disco star. “I was calling out and you waved to me as if I was one of your fans,” complained Mithun. “Oh, was it you Da? I’m so sorry, I really thought it was just another fan calling out my name,” apologised the six-pack Khan. To which Mithun replied in jest, “It’s not your fault, dear, I’m so dark that you wouldn’t be able to see me from that distance anyway.”

SRK to attend Twenty20 World Cup final

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, business tycoon Vijay Mallya and BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla will join hundreds of fans to cheer for Team India when Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men take on Pakistan in the final of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup in Johannesburg on Monday.Shah Rukh, who played a hockey coach in his latest release 'Chak De India', earlier made a surprise visit to the India-England third Test at The Oval last month.Shah Rukh, Mallya and Shukla will leave tonight by the liquor baron's private jet."We will root for the Indian team, which has made us proud by its commendable show. An India-Pakistan match is always a humdinger and we are going to enjoy every bit of it," said Shukla.

'Chak De India' debutants cherish working with Shah Rukh Khan

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan 's co-stars in Chak De India are happy over the critical acclaim the film has received and give credit to the actor for making them feel comfortable.Model-actress Vidya Malvade , who plays the goalkeeper-captain of the Hockey team, says ''It was a fantastic experience working with SRK and the Yashraj banner. We all had a fabulous time and I guess it shows in the film as well. Shah Rukh Khan is a magnificent actor and human being and he really went out his way to remove our nervousness and make us feel comfortable on the sets.''She said she was overwhelmed at the response the film has generated and expressed confidence that she would do better work in future.''We really had a hard training schedule to learn playing hockey and after that I have realised that hockey players work so hard, yet are given such little recognition.I hope the film will inspire people to give our hockey team all the encouragement they need.''Sagarika Ghatge, who plays Preeti Sabrawal, said she was missing hockey practice terribly and so she went ahead and got herself a hockey stick to remind her of the fitness trend that her life had got used to during the shoot.The actress added that 'Chak De India' has changed her life forever, setting her life in the right direction.''''The discipline, training and lifestyle set for us will help each of us go a long way in not just this industry but in life,'' says Sagarika, a national athlete who is back to training post 'Chak De India'.