Why ‘Chennai Express’ Needs To Be A Gamechanger?

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Chennai Express Poster

A lot of sentiments have been doing the rounds of late, when it comes to being an SRK fanatic, especially after the Jan 2^nd 2013 release ofChennai Express posters. For a man who starred in movies like Baazigar, Darr, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Chak De India and others which have received thorough critical acclamations, only statistics showing box office success do not define the quality of movies. But we will first see how his recent films fared at the gross earnings department.

Ra.One went in to gather a sum of around $35911700 by December 1^st, 2011. Don 2 had gross earnings of $3680350 by Feb 2^nd, 2012.Jab Tak Hai Jaan secured a good $26524680 by Dec 18^th, 2012. These are not exactly poor statistics. Though critically speaking, Jab Tak Hai Jaan failed to be a ground breaking piece, knowing it is the last Yash Chopra project and had music by none other than A. R. Rahman. Going by popular canteen – rumours,  Anushka Sharma and Ladakh – Kashmir  ended up being the sole highlights in the movie that probably aimed at being an epic tale of love.

But fans would like to know why recent Shah Rukh Khan movies failed short of creating the kind of buzz which movies like My Name Is Khan emanated, and why in an industry where almost all hyped movies managed to make a 100 crores in 2011 and 2012, take examples of Rowdy Rathore, Ek Tha Tiger, etc. keeping in mind that critics had humongous questions about the scripts of both these films, an SRK movie did not add the kind of difference we expected from the industry’s best salesperson and someone like Yash Chopra. Question is, is it safe to say, that while even the perfectionist, Aamir Khan’s Talaash suffered strong mockery due to the bhoot-twist, Shah Rukh Khan’s movies have, of late, just been mindless releases that fetch the house money? That is to say least about how Jab Tak Hai Jaan’s title poster drew inspiration from the French action flick Forces Speciales. Ra.One too had a lot to copy from the Batman Begins, poster wise.

Deepika Padukone, the leading lady in Chennai Express, starred in Cocktail that had gross earnings of $1027121 by 22^nd, July 2012. Her other films recently were Desi Boyz that earned $1066167 by Dec 11, 2011 and Aarakshan that earned $342801 in the first weekend. None of the films had over the top earnings and neither received any acclamation for script or acting from the critics.

Back to the Khans, thing is, stars like SRK, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan have  a very devoted fan base who are fanatics for too long to not be a fan anymore. So while trying to defend Shah Rukh as we knew him and not saying much about  miserable choice in movies, including disasters like Dulha Mil Gaya, Billu, Always Kabhi Kabhi, etc, (puhleez don’t give the guest-appearance excuse, an actor’s always an actor), here are some reasons why Chennai Express needs to be a game changer, every way possible :

• Latest Chennai Express poster makes you think of a certain Joker, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha as leads, poster. Can Shah Rukh even afford the speculation that Chennai Express can be something remotely close to Joker (the movie got lost in the crowd of epic bad cinemas, had gross earnings of around $130000)? Also, let us not forget this will be Rohit Shetty’s first film without Ajay Devgnafter box office successes like Golmaal, Bol Bachchan, Singham etc.
• Deepika Padukone has movies like Rana, Kochadaiyaan and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani lined up alongsideChennai Express and we all know how badly she needs to prove that there is more to her than hot pants. Simply speaking, she needs to show her worth as an actress, especially when Bollywood has gone totally experimental and thus have opened its arms to new comers with apt acting skills (let’s talk Parineeti Chopra, Yami Gautam, Illeana D’Cruz).
• Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s previous venture Om Shanti Om, a Farah Khan film, was huge and had gross earnings of $3597372 within a month from its release in 2007. We will only stick to statistics and not discuss how Farah Khan’s tribute to the 70s felt dull and lifeless and Shah Rukh Khan looked as if he had added 20 years, pardon the exaggeration, to his age in the make – up room! (Aamir Khan looked weird as a college student in 3 Idiots too but the script, the music and the acting saved it all!) So 5 years later none of the leads can afford to make a movie that earns lesser than Om Shanti Omespecially at a time, when so many movies are entering the 100 crore club!

All said and done, ardent fans wish to see the Shah Rukh Khan who in a 1996 Doordarshan interview with Rajeev Shukla made the host proclaim in front of a good old 90’s India how “he (SRK) came, he saw and he conquered”. We look forward to Shah Rukh Khan not taking his fans for granted as hopes rest in finding out how much Chennai Express will add to the list of the King’s conquests.

srk with deepika go to event party

Images for deepika padukon hot pics

SRK, Deepika, Farah team up for Chennai Express

The first time the trio of SRK, Farah Khan and Deepika Padukone came together was in the smash hit reincarnation saga Om Shanti Om. This time round, the trio is back again, not in the film's sequel, but in Rohit Shetty's much awaited Chennai Express.

It will be the quintessential SRK romancing the gorgeous Deepika and the duo shall be dancing to the tunes of Farah Khan. News has it that the song will be shot in Wai from December 24- 26. The song has been composed by Vishal- Shekhar. 

Post OSO, readers may recall that Farah had choreographed yet another dance track titled 'Love Mera Hit Hit' in the film Billu, which featured SRK and Deepika.

chennai express movie actress pics

Shah Rukh Khan's 'Chennai Express' posters spark debate; much ado about nothing?

New Delhi: Filmmaker Rohit Shetty has teamed up with Shah Rukh Khan for the first time in his career in 'Chennai Express'. The highly successful director is going to present Shah Rukh Khan in a new avatar, at least the initial posters suggest so. Shah Rukh Khan has avoided playing non-North Indian characters in his acting career, but a big turn came with 'RA.One' in which he played Shekhar Subramanium.

Shah Rukh's critics found his character a bit objectionable in 'RA.One' because of Shekhar Subramanium's personality traits. He ate with hands and cracked jokes about the lifestyle followed in South but some of them didn't go well with every section of the audiences. The film amassed good money but a huge budget restricted it from becoming a profitable venture.

Once again Shah Rukh Khan is ready to enthral the viewers with his forthcoming film 'Chennai Express'. One poster of the film features Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in 'lungi' while another shows wrestler like people in the background. The posters seem a deliberate effort to give a South Indian touch to the name of the film. The responses to the posters are mixed. Some liked the posters for their appeal quotient while some find them 'not so cool'.

People took to Twitter to express their opinion about the posters, Sathya Narayanan tweets, "Both Chennai Express and 2 States (which is directed by Karan Johar) are releasing this year. Can't wait for all the Madrasi stereotypes."

Another twitterati wrote, "Beware of @iamsrk in Chennai Express. We all know what happened the last time he played a South Indian."

Stylish names are a part of popular Twitter trends, one such twitterati called Dhinchak Womaniya wrote, 'Chennai Express' poster tells me it's gonna be full of Tamilian stereotypes, nariyal paani jokes and at least 3 'Enna Rascala'-type dialogues."

Sreedhar Pillai says, "Just saw SRK- Rohit Shetty's Chennai Express posters. Typical Bollywood attitude stereotype absurd images of south Indians."

Some Twitter users expressed their high hopes from the film, Rajeev Dash says, "Chennai express might well be that movie which would SRK give confidence to experimney in other movies."

Another film enthusiast opined, "Now i think srk get right director rohit is superb director n i think chennai express will b too much entertaining."

The film has generated both kind of emotions and it would be interesting to see what kind of reaction sustains till the release of the film. The promoters of the film would be happy to see the film making initial buzz.

Images for srk baby pics

Name : Shah Rukh Khan
Nationality : Indian
Profession : Actor
Address : 702 A Shree Amrit
Co-op Society, 15th Carter Road, Bandra
Mumbai 400 050
Phone : 91 22 6486116 / 6281413
Date of Birth : 2nd November 1965
Place of Birth : Delhi, India
Height : 5ft 10in
Family : Married to Gauri,
Baby boy called Aryan (born on 13th November '97),

Shah Rukh Khan works for 28 hours at a stretch

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan has set an example with his dedication to work -- and he proved it once again after he worked for 28 hours at a stretch without taking a break.

The actor, who is the brand ambassador of Hyundai, shot for an advertisement for the car brand, and after wrapping it up, he went straight to rehearse for his performance for the forthcoming Colors Screen Awards. He practised till the wee hours of Thursday morning, said a source.

Following his rehearsals, the 47-year-old, who is also busy shooting for his production ventureChennai Express, with director Rohit Shetty, spent three hours discussing strategies around the release of the movie.

That is some dedication!

Deepika Padukone Refuses to Spill Beans on Chennai Express and Ram Leela

Deepika Padukone, who was recently spotted at the launch of Fiama Di Wills Couture Spa Range with Wendell Rodricks, keenly spoke about her upcoming film Race 2. However, when it came to her other projects Ram Leela and Chennai Express, the lady clearly refused to spill the beans on the same.

When asked about her upcoming film Ram Leela, Deepika refused to reveal anything about it and bluntly said, “I am here to talk about Fiama Di Wills today so we’ll talk about my films some other day. It is too soon to talk about a movie, even before you’ve started shooting for it. And anyways it’s going to release next year. So, when the time is right I will tell you everything about it.”

Ask her about her Chennai Express, the film she is currently shooting with Shah Rukh Khan, and she says, “You’ll know very soon about it too… Next month!!”

However, when asked about the Abbas-Mustan multi-starrer Race 2, Deepika willingly answered, “I will be promoting Race 2 in January. There is not too much of action for me in Race 2. Yes, it is an action thriller. But I don’t have too much action scenes in this film.”

'Ram Leela' & 'Chennai Express' not to cross paths

The 2013 is looking forward to many exciting filmy adventures on screen with several big projects lined up in this year.

Among these are Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone starrer 'Ram Leela' and Rohit Shetty's Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika starrer 'Chennai Express' - both of which have made it to headlines several times.

Initially both were slated to release during the festival season of Dussera in October. However of late Bhansali said to have given a rethink about his film's release and has decided not to clash with the that of Rohit Shetty's film.

While Bhansali is quite confident of his project he is not willing to take a risk with a film that stars SRK and helmed by a blockbuster director.

It can be recalled that back in 2007 Bhansali's 'Sawaariya' and SRK-Deepika's 'Om Shanti Om' was released simultaneously on same day and the winner was naturally the latter one.

So according to sources the 'Ram Leela' filmmaker felt it would be better not to repeat history and to stay out of this race.

He now decided to postpone the film's release to November 29 - that is few weeks after the release of Hrithik Roshan's superhero project 'Krrish 3'.

Sources added that Bhansali and his team have worked really hard on 'Ram Leela'.

While Ranveer has worked on his physique, Deepika has given her best shot to perfect her dancing moves. So Bhansali doesn't want to go all those efforts in vain and decided to play it safe.

deepika and srk in chennai express movie