With emotions giving way to "professionalism", Shah Rukh said "a part of us might be a little cold", hinting that some hard decisions may have to be taken even at the auction.
"No, no… Dada is a friend, he is like a brother. I love him too much. I understand where he comes from. In my heart, he is one of my biggest heroes… has always been. We will certainly push for Dada in the auction," Shah Rukh Khan told The Telegraph today at a Mumbai hotel where his new TV show Zor Ka Jhatka was launched.
The actor was responding to a question if the decision not to retain Sourav in the team had any parallels with a statement of the coach, played by Shah Rukh in Chak De! India: "Har team mein ek hi gunda hota hai aur iss team ka gunda main hoon."
According to the Bollywood superstar, he would always have Ganguly leading the Knight Riders but SRK the KKR boss is no longer calling all the shots. "I am not the Chak De! coach that I played in the film… I have accepted that," he said.
Shah Rukh pointed out that whatever money the team was making was mainly because of his endorsements and not because of the exploits on the field.
"I take my IPL team very emotionally, not like a business as people believe. It's not a profit-making company. We make a little money because of my endorsements primarily. But we haven't performed well at all on the field. And sometimes you just have to accept the truth and the truth is I don't know how to run a cricket team," he said.
So, chucking Ganguly from the team has been a business decision, a decision not taken by Shah Rukh. "I have a new CEO now and I have got a new set of people and I have told them to do it the way they wish. And the first commercial decision was that retaining one player is too expensive. So, we had to either let go of all or retain all four. We decided to start anew, start afresh and hopefully go back to the auction and get back the players we want, including Dada."
Venky Mysore, who has worked in the financial sector for over 25 years, is the team's new CEO and MD.
Even if Ganguly doesn't make it to the side, KKR will gun for gold and glory. "In this process of professionalisation that we are going through, a part of us might be a little cold," Shah Rukh said.
"But the important thing is to win the IPL tournament for Calcutta. At the end of it all, that is the goal. Because I honestly think that I have let down Calcutta… a sporting city like Calcutta. This is how we have started but I want KKR to end as the best sporting club of the country. I just need that one victory. That is my goal. And I think Dada's goal is also that. All of us want to win it for Calcutta."
Shah Rukh said he had not been able to talk to Ganguly yet. The actor plans to make a trip to Calcutta in January not only to speak to Dada but to plot strategy for the auction with the full KKR team. "All of last year I couldn't do anything because of my back operation and the very difficult post-operative phase… so the last five months I shot back to back for Ra.One and Don 2," he said.
He plans to stay busy. "I have decided that I am going to do five films this year as an actor, work like a dog plus do television."
The television bit is Zor Ka Jhatka on Imagine TV, an adaptation of the international reality show format Wipeout. Of the films he is planning to do is Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's bestseller 2 States.
But first up will be his home production Ra.One, a special effects-heavy sci-fi film starring Shah Rukh himself and Kareena Kapoor. "I could have done a Rs 20-crore film and been very happy as a producer," he said.
"But there's a line in my book that I am writing, which goes: 'When was the last time you did something for the first time?' It's been a long time I have done something for the first time. Because I have done everything. God has been very kind to me. With Ra.One I want to change the way technology is looked upon in Indian films."
At a time when the other two Khans --- Aamir and Salman --- have rewritten box office history with 3 Idiots and Dabangg, Shah Rukh now wants to become the wind of change. "What will you remember me for at the end of another 20 years?" he asked.
A pause later, he answered himself. "I think I should be remembered as someone who tried to do something new. I did Baazigar, I did Darr, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was very different for me, I did Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I did Chak De! and Swades, I do television and live shows, I dance at weddings and I have a cricket team."
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101218/jsp/frontpage/story_13316809.jsp
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