Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan enthralled a packed show in Dhaka, dancing to his hit numbers and also spoke snatches of Bangla. But the superstar did not campaign to make the Sundarbans mangrove forests one of the seven natural wonders of the world as the organisers claimed he would.
At the show, titled ‘King Khan Live in Dhaka’, the over 25,000-strong audience comprising mostly youngsters kept up a chant of “Shah Rukh”, “Shah Rukh”.
Shah Rukh led a team of Bollywood actors, including Rani Mukerji and Arjun Rampal, and singers along with Bangladeshi artistes to put up a show that was “memorable for its wonderful performances”, New Age newspaper said Sunday.
Despite a claim by the organisers and Bangladesh Tourism Board, “King Khan did not campaign for the inclusion of the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sunderbans, as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World”.
Shah Rukh was to raise his voice to vote for the Sunderbans, media reports said.
Reaching out to the audience, the Indian superstar said in Bengali: “Ami Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman-er deshey Bharatbarsho thekey onek onek bhalobasha aar shubhechcha boye enechhi.” (I bring India’s good wishes to the nation of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader).
“I’ve heard of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jasimuddin. I love Runajee’s (Runa Laila) music. That’s why I’m in Dhaka,” The Daily Star quoted Shah Rukh as saying.
Bengali belle Rani Mukerji danced to a medley of hit songs from her films, including “Saathiya”, “Hum Tum” and “Shava Shava”.
Dazzling the audience with her smile and girl-next-door charm, Rani spoke to the audience in Bangla and said: “You folks have been supporting me since the beginning of my career. I want your love and support more in the days ahead, so that I deliver better performances.”
Arriving dramatically on a motorbike, actor Arjun Rampal too tried his hand at speaking Bangla.
“How is Dhaka? I love you,” Arjun yelled in Bangla.
Switching to English, he said, “Couple of days ago I suffered a back injury, but I had to come to Dhaka. I didn’t want to disappoint you all.”
Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji entertained the crowd by dancing to songs like “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Mitwa” and other numbers from their hits.