SRK, Om Shanti Om fever hits Germany

By: Upala KBR, Mid-day
Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Shahrukh Khan and Om Shanti Om appear to be the hottest thing in Germany right now. What else could explain the mass hysteria for the film there? Says director Farah Khan, “A hand-written petition, signed by 10,000 German fans, has been sent to Dorothy Brennar (the director of the Berlin Film Festival) to get Om Shanti Om featured at the Berlinale.

Apart from that, the Om Shanti Om website (omshantiomfilm.com) has gotten at least two lakh hits and posts from Germany, Poland, France, Austria and Russia. They all want the film to be released there, which is shocking!"

Khan adds that these SRK fans come from all over Europe to attend the Berlin film festival and hence want OSO to be shown there. “I have asked our distributors, Eros International, to release the film in Russia and thus open up a new market for us there," says Farah, elated.

Euphoric feeling

However, as much as she"s delighted with the response and euphoria towards her film, Farah says she can"t show OSO at the Berlinale. “The festival is scheduled to take place in February. It"ll be too late to release it there," she says.

Shahrukh Khan, who is also aware of the petition, adds, “OSO will release in Germany, along with the rest of the world, on November 9." Farah adds that Shahrukh has a huge fan following in Germany. “Main Hoon Naa did very well there after we dubbed it in German. His fans keep asking him to come there as they"re dying to meet him, and now they"re desperately looking forward to OSO. They have a lot of fun watching our films, and all the songs, dances and emotions that go with it," she says.

The German love for SRK doesn"t end there. “The German magazine Rapid Eye is doing a book on the making of Om Shanti Om. They came here to cover the shoot and even sent their photographers. Mushtaq Sheikh is writing the book on OSO in India, while Rapid Eye will be in German," says Farah.