Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
SRK’S PRANK WAS STAGED
In the viral video made by a prank show host, Shah Rukh Khan gets angry. We now find out that it was all scripted
When Shah Rukh Khan (above) looked like he might become dinner for a Komodo dragon, did he know what was going on? The actor, on the face of it, was at the receiving end of a prank by Egyptian comedian Ramez Galal, the host of Ramez Underground. Ramez scares the wits out of celebrities, films them in that situation, and then airs that clip — television personality Paris Hilton had screamed her head off when she was put on a plane and then was told that her plane would crash; after that clip was aired, Paris sued Ramez. The Shah Rukh Khan video, a two-minute clip, surfaced online and sent fans and social media users into a tizzy. In it, Shah Rukh and a woman are semi-buried in a quicksand while a fearsome Komodo dragon moves menacingly towards them. They are rescued and the prank is revealed. The actor loses his cool for being put through this and nearly hits Ramez. However, many have claimed that the whole business, including Shah Rukh losing his temper, was staged. (The Paris Hilton episode had also apparently been staged, right down to the lawsuit.) Otherwise, how could Shah Rukh have kept so calm after falling into a quicksand? According to the news publication Al-alam, a source revealed that Khan was paid $400,000 (approx `2 crore) to appear on the show. Ramez later posted a selfie with SRK on Twitter, adding fuel to the reports that it was staged. However, it’s hard to say if the selfie was taken before or after the prank. When we contacted Shah Rukh’s team, his manager Pooja Dadlani confirmed, “Yes, it was staged and Shah Rukh Khan was aware and was acting as if he was angry.” However, there was no confirmation from the actor’s team on any payment being made for this. All this takes place in the deserts near Dubai, where Shah Rukh was supposed to be interviewed by TV presenter Neshan. They headed out for a desert safari, when the driver lost control of the vehicle. Shah Rukh and Neshan landed in the quicksand. While they were drowning, Shah Rukh tried his best to stay calm and save the others. Then this giant reptile began crawling towards them — it later turned out to be Ramez in costume. As soon as Ramez revealed the prank, Shah Rukh yelled, “This is nonsense. You got me all the way from India to do this sh*t?”