Shah Rukh Khan – Bollywood's most popular salesman of brands
21st June 2007 09.01 IST
By Agencies

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan not only rules Bollywood but also the advertising world.

According to the recent service tax collections SRK is the most popular salesman of brands.


Excise officials say that SRK alone paid Rs 4.8 crore as service tax last year, which is nearly 10 per cent of his annual Rs 50 crore income from advertisements.
Next in line is Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan who is second highest contributor to service tax in the film industry followed by son Abhishek Bachchan .
The Big B paid Rs 1.50 crore while Abhishek paid Rs 1 crore the same as Rani Mukherjee who tops among actresses.
Among other actors John Abraham paid Rs 79 lakh as service tax, Sushmita Sen 37.50 lakh, Preity Zinta paid 27.43 lakh, Salman Khan 13.50 lakh, Malaika Arora 3 lakh and Lara Dutta paid 2.93 lakh.
Service tax paid by Bollywood actors comes under the brand ambassador's sector, which is one of 104 sectors that the Central Excise collects tax from in Mumbai.
Last year, the Central Excise department had collected nearly Rs 12,000 crore in the form of service tax from various sectors like Insurance companies, Banking and Finance and Phone services.
The officials say that with the increasing involvement of film stars in promoting new brands, Bollywood is increasingly becoming one of the major sectors of tax collection.

Shah Rukh Khan – Bollywood's most popular salesman of brands
21st June 2007 09.01 IST
By Agencies

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan not only rules Bollywood but also the advertising world.

According to the recent service tax collections SRK is the most popular salesman of brands.
Excise officials say that SRK alone paid Rs 4.8 crore as service tax last year, which is nearly 10 per cent of his annual Rs 50 crore income from advertisements.
Next in line is Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan who is second highest contributor to service tax in the film industry followed by son Abhishek Bachchan .
The Big B paid Rs 1.50 crore while Abhishek paid Rs 1 crore the same as Rani Mukherjee who tops among actresses.
Among other actors John Abraham paid Rs 79 lakh as service tax, Sushmita Sen 37.50 lakh, Preity Zinta paid 27.43 lakh, Salman Khan 13.50 lakh, Malaika Arora 3 lakh and Lara Dutta paid 2.93 lakh.
Service tax paid by Bollywood actors comes under the brand ambassador's sector, which is one of 104 sectors that the Central Excise collects tax from in Mumbai.
Last year, the Central Excise department had collected nearly Rs 12,000 crore in the form of service tax from various sectors like Insurance companies, Banking and Finance and Phone services.
The officials say that with the increasing involvement of film stars in promoting new brands, Bollywood is increasingly becoming one of the major sectors of tax collection.

The Bollywood's Superstar Shahrukh Khan is going to endorse Emami's Fairness Cream for Men- Fair and Handsome. It's a really very interesting news. This is the first time when a celebrity is going for the advertisement of a fairness cream. Well, King Khan's Brand image might be helpful enough for Emami.

Here is a press release that I've got from Emami-


Emami Fair and Handsome signs on Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan
~First time endorsement by a Bollywood star for a men’s fairness cream~

Kolkata, 16th June 2007: Emami Group of Companies, the Rs 1,500 crore, personal-care and healthcare major in a major announcement today revealed that its has signed on Bollywood heart-throb and superstar, Shahrukh Khan for endorsing their brand Emami Fair and Handsome. Emami Fair and Handsome, the fairness cream for men, is the first in its category to sign on a Bollywood star as its brand ambassador in India. This endorsement follows the brand’s track record of being the first fairness cream for men in the world.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Mohan Goenka, Director, Emami Group of Companies said, “We are elated to have India’s superstar Shahrukh Khan onboard. We have a long association with Shahrukh Khan as he also happens to endorse some of our other products. Emami Fair and Handsome has been a star brand in the Emami portfolio and hence we at Emami thought of associating SRK’s brand image along with our own superstar Emami Fair and Handsome. This is all the more crucial as this brand is a category leader and SRK was the only name that came to our mind when we thought of selecting our brand ambassador.”

The endorsement deal has been signed on for a period of two years starting 2007. The television commercial with Shahrukh Khan has been conceptualised and produced jointly by Mumbai based Situations Advertising, the agency on record for the cream’s advertising campaign and Mr. Bhargav Krishnan of Eighty One. The ad-film has been directed by young & upcoming film director Mr. Shirish Kunder and produced by Red Chilli. The company has extensive plan to promote this new association across all media.
On his association with Emami Fair and Handsome, Shahrukh Khan added, “I share a long and fruitful association with the Emami Group and this is yet another step towards strengthening my faith in them and their products.”

From the last few months we got quite familiar with the name Fair and Handsome. through the various ad campaigns. And now the superstar Shah Rukh khan has agreed to endorse the product of Emami. He is so popular among young people because of his charisma. I hope brand image of Shahrukh Khan would bring positive result to Emami.

Shah Rukh Khan has done it again. After Madame Tussauds, his wax statue will be housed in France's Musee Grevin. And the actor is pleased as punch at the news, not to mention honoured. "I am the only living Indian who would be there," SRK says. SRK spoke to Narendra Singh about his upcoming film, Chak De India, his new hairstyle and more

Have you ever given a thought of working in a mythological film?
I don't know, I have not been offered any such role so it's difficult for me to comment on it.

Your looks have undergone a metamorphosis.
Actually, I am not shooting for any film now so I just grew my hair in my spare time. I will not be shooting for the next two or three months. When I am not working, I generally don't comb my hair and I prefer wearing normal clothes.

Do you like experimenting with your looks?
No, not at all. I would like to shoot every film wearing white T-shirts and blue denim.

How religious are you?
I am very god fearing and pray to Allah everyday. I pray for the health of my children and my family. As far as mythological films are concerned, the filmmakers decide the subjects of such films. It's difficult to make a comment on such films -- if people like them, then it's a good film.



The common notion among people is that your films always do well. Your comments?
God has been very kind to me. People keep saying such things about me but they are not true. I have given flop films too. But yes, it's true that in the past 19 years, God has given me a lot and I am happy that people think so. I will keep working hard so that people think so in future also.

Coming to your forthcoming release Chak De India, is it true that it's based on a real incident?
It's not completely based on a true story -- the end is different. Yes, (Mir Ranjan) Negisaab did suffer a similar fate but (writer) Jaideep Sahni, (director) Shimit Amin and (producer) Aditya Chopra have jointly written this film. Negisaab has given so many inputs for the film. In fact, all the hockey inputs in the film have come from him.



Yet another book on you will be launched next month. Please tell us more.
Till date there have been two books on me, the last one was written by Mushtaq Sheikh. Anupama Chopra has written the book this time after interviewing me for the past three to four years.
I have read certain parts of the book where it talks about the changes in the socio, political, economic, and of course, the film world of this country from the 1990s to now. It's not about me but talks about my perspective and views.
It's an intellectual book and very intricately researched book, and Anupama has devoted a few years of her life on it. But all said and done, I find this pretty strange because I don't consider myself so important.



Tell us more about Chak De India.
I like the thought of a film whose plot is about women. Actually, it's about young girls and I like young girls. I think young women should be encouraged in every field of life. It's difficult being a woman and that's why I try do such films every year.

You play hockey pretty well.
I don't play so well now. I used to a long time ago. I could not play so well for the film.

How was the feeling of being surrounded by 16 girls?
I love girls even more now.

Will you teach hockey to your kids?
When we do a film, it does not mean that the roles we portray on the screen need to be incorporated in our real life too.
But I have already started teaching hockey to my son. My daughter is too young right now. I would like my kids to learn whichever sport they like. I think if you don't play sports then you don't become a sport. You are not happy. If you play sport, then you learn to be nice to others and play like a team in your life. Sports is very important. I love people who play sports.



These days one can see many films based on sports. Do you see a trend?
I don't think it's a trend. If it's there in the movies, it's there. Sports is a good thing to show in films.

How do you react when people tell you that you have crossed all the frontiers of success in terms of awards?
All I can say is that I feel very happy and humbled. I really can't fathom why I got so many though my constant work may account for that. I can only pray and hope that I keep doing my work. I hope I deserve these honours because I don't feel I deserved them.