Shahrukh 40

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sweet_spicy

@sweet_spicy

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Posted: 19 years ago

40, and still smokin'

The reel king celebrates his 40th birthday in New York City... or so he thinks

Subhash K Jha

SRK'S BIRTHDAY: WORK IN PROGRESS

Karan Johar says they'll have absolutely no time to celebrate...

Bollywood's badshah counts the big 4-0 today, but he's far from getting down to party. Shah Rukh Khan is hard at work in New York, filming for Dharma Productions' Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, directed by best friend, Karan Johar. "There's no time to celebrate… we're working round the clock," complains a harassed Johar, whose film is being shot at full throttle in the heart of the Big Apple. His film also stars Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, John Abraham, and Arjun Rampal (in a guest appearance).

No concrete birthday plans have been made for Shah Rukh's birthday. "Everyone will probably go out for dinner with Shah Rukh after shooting...that's all," ventures Karan. "Right now, Shah Rukh is busier than all of us in the unit."

That's because, apart from shooting for Johar's film, Shah Rukh is busy promoting Paheli in the US for the Oscars. The actor is going all out to ensure that the film gets noticed at the right places. "Shah Rukh is making sure that Paheli has a genuinely valid shot at the Oscars and doesn't get left out of the nominations list owing to the lack of proper promotion. He's unarguably one of the best producers in Bollywood," says a colleague from the unit.

So, it doesn't look like the birthday boy will do much other than practice his lines, and load the promotional wagon for his Academy Award entrant.

SRK'S BIRTHDAY: SURPRISE SURPRISE

...but Rani Mulherji spills the beans about a secret bash

We are having a blast here. We started celebrating Shah Rukh's birthday a day in advance. It was Diwali, so we took some time out from shooting," says Rani Mukherji. The actor will be away from fans, but not family this year. SRK's wife Gauri Khan, son Aryaan and daughter Suhana have already reached NY, for the surprise celebrations that Karan Johar has planned for the birthday boy on the sets of the film. Rani, who is obviously on Karan's plans for Shah Rukh, refused to talk about the birthday bash, "Hello, do you know what the word 'surprise' means? Moreover, I don't think I should talk about something that Karan has planned for Shah Rukh," she added.

This multi-starrer was first proposed to be shot in London but Karan decided in favour of Australia. However, when the locations in Australia did not match up with what he had in mind, he zeroed in on New York. "We all are putting up at the same hotel and after we pack up today, we shall wish Shah Rukh and let him be with his family," says Rani. SRK's co-actor seems to be extremely excited about the film. "Working with Shah Rukh is like working with an energy bank, you will have to be alert. At this age, he is so vibrant, I doubt that at his age I will be able to put in half the effort," she laughs. SRK plays a father with a 7-year-old son in this film. "Finally I play my age," says SRK with his characteristic humour.

After his birthday, SRK will earnestly begin campaigning for his film Paheli, which is India's official entry to the Oscars. "It's my film too," says Rani. "We both will do as much as possible to promote the film among foreign delegates."