SRK yet to get RBI clearance on 'gifted' property

NEW DELHI: For nearly two years, film actor Shah Rukh Khan has been trying to figure out if a property he got as a gift from a Dubai-based builder is in conformity with Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema). He's yet to get an answer from the Reserve Bank of India which has been sending the papers from one ministry to another.

Khan's case is instructive about how the central bank and the government deal with files, even those of celebrities. The good bit about the episode is that it has forced the Centre to finally interpret how Fema is to be used for property acquisitions abroad.

The position that has now been honed is this: Any real estate acquisition by a foreigner in India is subject to compliance with Fema guidelines. Also, real estate that an Indian resident purchases aboard is subject to Fema rules. But anything that's gifted does not fall within the purview of the Act ^ a position which will comfort Khan but has not yet been formally conveyed to him by RBI.

When contacted by TOI, Khan confirmed that he was still waiting for the communication.

The delay is only in keeping with the wariness of different government agencies to take a call on his case. Sources said RBI was unwilling to take the responsibility of clearing transfer of the property from the real estate developer to Khan and sought the safe way out by sending the matter to the finance ministry to see if the deal was in compliance with Fema.

The finance ministry, in turn, sent the proposal to home ministry "to see if there were any security implications" and also to the urban development ministry (since the proposal was related to the real estate sector) and MEA. While others would have given up, Khan persevered, making inquiries about his request for clarification on the matter.

That's when the finance ministry got active and asked for comments from the other ministries which did not see any problem with Khan's acquisition of the Dubai property.

Accordingly, a couple of months ago, North Block wrote to RBI saying that it had nothing to do with the proposal since it did not involve an issue that was related to Fema violation.

However, Khan may still face a scrutiny by the tax department. The taxmen have not been nosing around yet, but may soon enter the picture if Khan becomes a brand ambassador of the builder who "gifted" the property to him.

Karan Arjun create history and OSO is red hot.

Karan Arjun create history on the small screen

The last episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati made the highest income in ad revenue for a single programme (outside cricket) on Indian television.It featured Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif with host Shahrukh Khan.

DDLJ continues to run and Om Shanti Om is red hot

King Khan has other reasons to celebrate as while the mother of jubilee films DDLJ completed its 600th week in Mumbai with collection of approx 30,000 his Om Shanti Om is red hot in distribution circles and the talk of the industry. A song was shot for seven days which featured nearly the whole industry with legends like Dharmendra and Mithun Chakraborty to today's superstars Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan participating along with Shahrukh Khan in the song. It is reported that 29 stars are in the song. This has created sky high expectations and the film may well break records when released in Nov/Dec 2007.

SRK Studios!

Buzz is that King Khan wants to buy the landmark Mehboob Studio, but he denies having the financial resources. However, he does admit that he is dying to give Mumbai a world-class film studio

Every few months, there are fresh rumours that Mehboob Studio is up for sale. This time, they came attached with Shah Rukh Khan’s name.

The buzz is, SRK is keen to buy a studio and when he heard that the Bandra studio was up for sale, he showed interest. Here, Khan clarifies whether he is turning studio mogul in the near future or not.

We hear you’re planning to buy a studio?

I am dying to buy a studio! But property rates have become unaffordable. I should’ve bought one three years ago. There was a lovely property in Bandra-Kurla Complex that I was interested in but I thought it was over-priced.

It was pegged at Rs 80 crore then, and I didn’t have that kind of money. With Kaun Banega Crorepati 3, I got the money and I thought I would buy the property, but the price has more than doubled. It is over Rs 200 crore now!

So now that KBC 3 is over, it’s confession time. Did you really get Rs 100 crore for the show?

I’ll admit that I got a lot of money. In fact, I could have put up a studio with

the money I got from KBC four years ago.

But now, even with the KBC money, I can’t afford it. The studio would never be able to sustain itself. Besides, where is the space?

How about a studio outside Mumbai?

I don’t want to go out of Mumbai. I want to do it here. At the risk of sounding too pompous, I think the city deserves a world-class studio.

And I think I should be allowed to do it because I’ve done well for the Bombay film industry as it has done well for me. I think it’s a good mix, and I will do it wonderfully. I will make the world’s greatest studio.

Om Shanti Om

great fotos, thanks LuNo!!!))))

with Rani

with fans...

amazing...

You're welcome Anush

And thanks for the pics

Sharing body language

Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan the same physical trainer Prashant Sawant, after an impressed Hrithik insisted on having a fit body like SRK.

Great minds sure think alike. Guess what is common between Bollywood baadshah Shah Rukh Khan and heartthrob Hrithik Roshan.

The two stars have the same physical trainer Prashant Sawant, after an impressed Hrithik insisted on having a fit body like SRK. Hrithik met SRK at his residence, Mannat, before SRK left for his long holiday to London.

That's when some serious guy talk happened between the two, since Hrithik was quite impressed by the way Shah Rukh's body was looking. And the next thing they did was exchange Prashant's number. A close source says, "Hrithik met Shah Rukh at his residence recently and was quite impressed with SRK's fit body. Hrithik immediately took Prashant's number and asked him to train him too."

Prashant confirms the news. "I have been training Shah Rukh for a long time now. Recently, I also got a call from Hrithik saying that he wanted me to train him too. I was a little surprised initially when Hrithik invited me to his residence. He was also impressed by the power equipment that I use to train Shah Rukh. It was great fun training him and he's quite a hard-working actor. Even though Hrithik has a state-of-the-art gym at his Juhu residence, he visited my gym and checked out the equipments and was quite impressed."

The source adds, "Prashant trained Hrithik for a week on a regular basis before he left for his vacation. Hrithik's wife Susanne was very pleased with Prashant's training and she also sent him a 'thank you cheque' after she met him the first time."

Book on Shah Rukh Khan to be released next month

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Noted film critic Anupama Chopra's next book, this time on superstar Shah Rukh Khan, will be released Aug 9.

Titled 'King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema in India', the book will trace Shah Rukh Khan's climb from a middle-class Delhi boy to a Bollywood superstar, both in India and abroad.

'King Of Bollywood ...' will also be available in Hindi, Marathi and German translations.

Chopra's earlier book, 'Sholay - The Making of a Classic', won her a National Award in 2000 for the best book on cinema.