Stardust Scoop of day:SRK wants Negative

Shah Rukh Khan, who is playing the lead character in Karan Johar’s ambitious flick ‘My Name Is Khan’, has demanded the negative rights of the film as a part of his fifty percent share of the profit of the film. The buzz doing the rounds in the industry is that Shah Rukh does not want his remuneration in monetary terms and instead has opted for the half of the total profit of the film, which is going to be huge considering the deadly combination of King Khan and ace director Karan Johar.

Insiders say that as Karan Johar’s ‘My Name Is Khan’ is a serous film and will be different from the usual lavish products associated with Dharma Production, it is not going to cost more than Rs 15 crore. But given the standing of Shah Rukh Khan in the market, it is likely to be sold for around Rs 80 crore, the price that SRK’s last offering ‘Om Shanti Om’ fetched.

That would mean a cool profit of around Rs 60 crore and it is when box office collections are yet to be added. Given the huge craze for Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar’s films in the US and the UK, the amount from box office too will swell the coffers of the profit, benefiting SRK immensely in the bargain.

Karan Johar has planned the entire film to be shot in Los Angeles and New York with Shah Rukh Khan. Shah Rukh plays an activist in the film who gets abducted by some terrorists. This abduction and captivity changes the entire outlook of Shah Rukh on life and he becomes a changed man. Shah Rukh is thrilled with the serious idea of the story and waiting to do the film as soon as possible.

Originally, the shooting had been planned to begin just after the completion of Indian Premier League cricket matches, where Shah Rukh owns Kolkata Knight Riders. But after Aditya Chopra requested Karan Johar to give him the dates of Shah Rukh for his own ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, now it is expected to go on the floors by the end of this year.

However, the search for a suitable female co-star for Shah Rukh is yet not complete. Karna Johar had offered Kajol to play the role opposite Shah Rukh but the lady did not agree to do the honour, as she felt the character offered did not suit her image and personality. Karan has started looking for the female lead afresh and is expected to take a final decision in this regard very soon.

Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar have worked together in the past in films like Kabhi Khusi Kabhi Gham, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Kal Ho Na Ho etc and each of them had proved to be a blockbuster at the box office. There is no reason to believe why this winning combination will not work this time around.

Hmm……hmm…..whatever be the outcome of the film at the box office but Shah Rukh is certainly going to benefit with the negatives of ‘My Name Is Khan’ in the long run… and in the process also creating a new trend in bollywood of demanding shares rather than be satisfied with remuneration…..or it is just for creating a library of his films….hope, not so!!