native name	Kolkata (কলকাতা)
former name	Calcutta
type	Metropolitan City
type 2	Capital
locator position	left
Skyline	Kolkata Imgs.jpg
skyline caption	Clockwise from top: Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral, Downtown Kolkata, Howrah Bridge, Kolkata tram, Vidyasagar Setu Bridge
nickname	City of Joy, Cultural Capital of India, Literary Capital of India, City of Furious Creative Energy, City of Palaces, City of All Cities, City of Bridges in India, City of Football in India, Paris of the East
state name	West Bengal
district	Calcutta †
founded	1690
founder	Job Charnock
leader title 1	Mayor
leader name 1	Sovan Chatterjee
altitude	9
population as of	2011
population rank	5th
population total	4,486,679
population total cite
population metro	15,644,040
population metro cite
population metro as of	2010
population metro rank	3rd
languages type	Spoken languages
languages	|Bengali|English|Hindi|Urdu}}

| ethnic_groups = |Bengali|Marwari|Bihari|Others}} | population_density = 24,252 | area_total = 1480 | area_telephone = 91-33-XXXX XXXX | postal_code = 700 xxx | vehicle_code_range = WB 01-79 | unlocode = IN CCU | website = Kolkatamycity.com | footnotes = ^† The Kolkata urban agglomeration also includes portions of North 24 Parganas , South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly districts. }}

Kolkata (; , '''', ), formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata is the commercial capital of East India, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River. The city of Kolkata has 4.5 million residents, and the metropolitan area, including suburbs, has a population of approximately 15.7 million, making it the third most populous metropolitan area in India and the 13th most populous urban area in the world. The city is also classified as the eighth largest urban agglomeration in the world.

Kolkata served as the capital of India during the British Raj until 1911 when due to geographical disadvantages and growing nationalism in Bengal the capital was shifted to New Delhi. The city is noted for its vibrant political culture, ranging from the Indian struggle for independence to contemporary politics. Once the center of modern education, science, culture, and politics in India, Kolkata witnessed economic stagnation in the years following India's independence in 1947. However, since the year 2000, an economic rejuvenation has led to an acceleration in the city's growth. Like other metropolitan cities of India, Kolkata continues to struggle with urbanisation problems like pollution and traffic congestion. Despite its problems, Kolkata remains the dominant urban area of eastern India and a major educational and cultural hub.

Etymology

The name "Kolkatā" (and the anglicised name Calcutta) have their roots in ''Kalikatā'', the name of one of the three villages (Kalikatā, Sutanuti, Govindapur) in the area before the arrival of the British. "Kalikata", in turn, is believed to be a version of ''Kalikshetra'' (, ''Kalikkhetro'' "Land of [the goddess] Kāli"). Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term ''kilkilā'' ("flat area"). Again, the name may have its origin in the indigenous term for a natural canal, ''Khal'', followed by ''Katta'' (which may mean dug). There is also another theory that the place used to specialize in quicklime (''kali chun'') and coir rope (''kátá'') and hence the place was called Kalikátá.

Thus, while the city's name has always been pronounced "Kolkatā" or "Kolikatā" in the local language, its official English name was changed from "Calcutta" to "Kolkata" in 2001, in order to reflect the original pronunciation. In part, this was a move to erase the negative legacy of British rule. (See also "Renaming of cities in India".) This change has not always been reflected by overseas media, but news sources like the BBC have opted to call ''Bombay'' Mumbai and ''Calcutta'' Kolkata.

History

The discovery of the nearby Chandraketugarh, an archaeological site, provides evidence that the area has been inhabited for over two millennia. The city's documented history, however, begins with the arrival of the English East India Company in 1690, when the Company was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator with the company was traditionally credited as the founder of the city. However some academics have recently challenged the view that Charnock was the founder, and in response to public interest, the High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a specific founder.

Up to 18th century Kolkata was under indirect rule of the Nawab of Bengal comprised three villages Kalikata, Gobindapur and Sutanuti. These villages were part of a khas mahal or imperial jagir or an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor himself, whose jagirdari rights were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. Against the wishes of this family and in spite of their protests, the rights over these villages were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. The British in the late 17th century wanted to build a fort near Gobindapur in order to consolidate their power over other foreign powers — namely the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the French. In 1702, the British completed the construction of old Fort William, which was used to station its troops and as a regional base. Calcutta was declared a Presidency City, and later became the headquarters of the Bengal Presidency. Faced with frequent skirmishes with French forces, in 1756 the British began to upgrade their fortifications. When protests against the militarisation by the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Daulah went unheeded he attacked and captured Fort William, leading to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta incident. A force of Company sepoys and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year. Calcutta was named the capital of British India in 1772, and starting in 1864 during the summer months, the capital was temporarily shifted to the hill station of Shimla. In the early 19th century the marshes surrounding the city were drained and the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, the Governor General between 1797–1805, was largely responsible for the growth of the city and its public architecture which led to the description of Calcutta as "The City of Palaces". The city was a centre of the British East India Company's opium trade during the late 18th and 19th century. By the 1850s, Kolkata was split into two distinct areas — one British (known as the White Town) centred around Chowringhee, the other Indian centred around North Calcutta. The city underwent rapid industrial growth from the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries: this caused massive investment by British companies in infrastructure such as Howrah station and telegraph connections. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new ''Babu'' class of urbane Indians — whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, Anglophiles, and usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities. Throughout the nineteenth century, a socio-cultural reform, often referred to as the ''Bengal Renaissance'' resulted in the general uplifting of the people. In 1883, Surendranath Banerjee organised a national conference — the first of its kind in nineteenth century India. Gradually Calcutta became a centre of the Indian independence movement, especially revolutionary organisations. The 1905 partition of Bengal on communal grounds resulted in widespread public agitation and the boycott of British goods (Swadeshi movement). These activities, along with the administratively disadvantageous location of Calcutta in the eastern fringes of India, prompted the British to move the capital to New Delhi in 1911. The city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese during World War II, the first occasion being 20 December 1942, and the last being 24 December 1944. During the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943, caused by a combination of military, administrative and natural factors. In 1946, demands for the creation of a Muslim state led to large-scale communal violence resulting in the deaths of over 4,000 people. The partition of India also created intense violence and a shift in demographics — large numbers of Muslims left for East Pakistan, while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city. Over the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist-Maoist movement — the Naxalites — damaged much of the city's infrastructure, leading to a period of economic stagnation. In 1971, Bangladesh liberation war led to the mass influx of thousands of refugees into Kolkata resulting in a massive strain on its infrastructure. In the mid-1980s, Bombay, now Mumbai, overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985 Rajiv Gandhi referred to Kolkata as a "dying city" because of the social and political traumas. Kolkata has been a important base for Communism as West Bengal was ruled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M))-dominated Left Front for 34 years (1977–2011) — the world's longest-running democratically elected communist government. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after economic reforms in India introduced by the central government in the mid-1990s. Since 2000, Information Technology (IT) services have revitalized the city’s stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing a growth in the manufacturing sector.

Geography

Kolkata is located in the eastern part India at in the Ganges Delta at an elevation ranging between to . It is spread linearly along the banks of the River Hooghly in a north-south direction. Much of the city was originally a vast wetland, reclaimed over the decades to accommodate the city's burgeoning population. The remaining wetland, known as East Calcutta Wetlands has been designated a "wetland of international importance" under the Ramsar Convention.

Like the most of the Indo-Gangetic plains, the predominant soil and water type is alluvial. Quaternary sediments consisting of clay, silt, various grades of sand and gravel underlie the city. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds, the lower one at depths between and and the upper one ranging between and in thickness. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town falls under seismic zone-III, in a scale of I to V (in order of increasing proneness to earthquakes) while the wind and cyclone zoning is "very high damage risk", according to UNDP report.

Urban structure

Kolkata city, under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of . The Kolkata conurbation (Kolkata Metropolitan Area), however, is spread over , and comprises 157 postal areas, as of 2006. The metropolitan area is formally administered by several local governments including 38 local municipalities. The urban agglomeration comprises 72 cities and 527 towns and villages. The suburban areas of Kolkata metropolitan district incorporates parts of the districts North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Nadia. The east-to-west dimension of the city is narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east, a span of barely –. The north-south expansion is roughly divided into North, Central and South Kolkata. North Kolkata locality is the oldest part of the city, with 19th century architecture and narrow alleyways and is made of neighborhoods like Nagerbazaar, Bangur, Lake Town, and Shyambazaar. It's northern border is roughy near Kolkata Airport and it's southern border is approximately near Lake Town. It is bordered by the Hoogly River to the west and V.I.P Road to the east. Central Kolkata comprises of B.B.D. Bagh, Esplanade, Dharmatulla, and Kankurgachi with the Hoogly River to it's west and V.I.P Road and the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass to the west. South Kolkata grew mostly after independence of India and consists of localities such as Ballygunge, Tollygunge, Alipore, and New Alipore. It's northern border is on Park Circus Ave. and it's southern one near Thakurpukur, Joka, Garia, and Kamdahari. It's western border is the Hoogly River and it's eastern border is the Easter Metropolitan Bypass. Two recently-developed (and planned) areas of Kolkata are: Salt Lake City (Bidhannagar) to the northeast and Rajarhat, also called New Town, to the north of Bidhannagar. The former was developed between 1958 and 1965 to accommodate the burgeoning population of Kolkata.

Central Kolkata houses the central business district around the B. B. D. Bagh area. The government secretariat, General Post Office, High Court, Lalbazar Police HQs and several other government and private offices are located here. Several companies have set up their offices around the area south of Park Street which has become a secondary central business district. The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city where several sporting events and public meetings are held. Several statues of Britisher colonial officials and Indian freedom fighters and martyrs are erected in the Maidan area. Other notable park in the city include Central Park in Bidhanagar and Millenium Park beside the Hooghly river.

Climate

Kolkata has a tropical wet-and-dry climate (Köppen climate classification ''Aw''). The annual mean temperature is ; monthly mean temperatures range from to . Summers are hot and humid with temperatures in the low 30's and during dry spells the maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) during May and June. Winter tends to last for only about two and a half months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9 °C – 11 °C (54 °F – 57 °F) between December and January. The highest recorded temperature is and the lowest is . On average, May is the hottest month with daily temperatures ranging from a low of to a maximum of , while January the coldest month has temperatures varying from a low of to a maximum of . Often during early summer, dusty squalls followed by spells of thunderstorms or hailstorms and heavy rains with ice sleets lash the city, bringing relief from the humid heat. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are locally known as ''Kal baisakhi'' (, Nor'westers).

Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the South-West monsoon lash the city between June and September and supply the city with most of its annual rainfall of . The highest rainfall occurs during the monsoon in August—. The city receives 2,528 hours of sunshine per annum, with the maximum sunlight occurring in March. Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata, and the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) level is high when compared to other major cities of India, leading to regular smog and haze. Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments such as lung cancer. Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones, including the cyclones of 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands of people.

Economy

Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of East India and the northeastern states. It is home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange — India's second-largest bourse.

Until recently, flexible production had always been the norm in Kolkata, and the informal sector has comprised more than 40% of the labour force. For example, roadside hawkers generated business worth Rs. 8,772 crore (around 2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2005. State and federal government employees make up a large percentage of the city's workforce. The city has a large unskilled and semi-skilled labour population, along with other blue-collar and knowledge workers. As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a major growing sector in Kolkata since late 1990s, with the IT sector growing at 70% yearly — twice that of the national average. In recent years there has been a surge of investments in the housing infrastructure sector with several new projects coming up in the city led by companies such as Tata Housing Development Company, DLF Limited and Unitech Group. Kolkata is home to many industrial units operated by large Indian corporations with products ranging from electronics to jute. Some notable companies headquartered in Kolkata include ITC Limited, India Government Mint, Kolkata, Haldia Petrochemicals, Exide Industries, Hindustan Motors, Britannia Industries, Bata India, Birla Corporation, CESC Limited, RPG Group, Texmaco Limited, Bengal Ambuja, Philips India, Eveready Batteries, Coal India Limited, Damodar Valley Corporation, PwC India, and Peerless Group. Recently, various events like adoption of "Look East" policy by the government of India, opening of the Nathu La Pass in Sikkim as a border trade-route with China and immense interest in the South East Asian countries to enter the Indian market and invest have put Kolkata in an advantageous position for development in future, particularly with likes of Myanmar. Kolkata is an important centre for banking and finance. At present it has the headquarters of three large nationalized banks Allahabad Bank, Uco Bank and United Bank of India.

Civic administration

Mayor:
Police Commissioner:

The civic administration of Kolkata is executed by several government agencies, and consists of overlapping structural divisions. At least five administrative definitions of the city are available; listed in ascending order of area, those are: # Kolkata District, # the Kolkata Police area (Divisions of Kolkata Police), # the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area ("Kolkata city"), # "Greater Kolkata", which includes the KMC area and a few neighbourhoods adjacent to it, and # the urban agglomeration or Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMDA) is responsible for the statutory planning and development of the metropolitan area). Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)- The governance of the city proper—the area within which KMC has a directly elected council of 141 ward councilors who elect a council Chairman and an executive Mayor. The Mayor, in turn chooses a Deputy Mayor and not more than 10 elected councillors to form the Mayor-in-Council which works like a cabinet. In addition, there is a Municipal Accounts Committee (MAC)of five to seven elected councillors, other than the MiC, chosen through proportional representation, to act like a public accounts committee (PAC), usually headed by the Leader of Opposition. The MiC was introduced in 1980 and the system has been replicated in other Municipalities and Panchayats as Mayor/ Chairperson-in-council during 1981-1991. No other state in India has introduced a system of political executive in local government.

The main functions of the KMC are water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid wastes management, streets and public places, street lighting, and building regulation. Fire services are handled by a state agency- Kolkata Fire Brigade. Similarly, for the river port services, there is a Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government.

Other authorities: the Collector of the Kolkata District, the Kolkata Police, the District Magistrate (DM) of South 24 Parganas District, and the (SP) of South 24 Parganas District. As of 2010, the All India Trinamool Congress holds the power in KMC, its mayor is Sovan Chatterjee while the deputy mayor is Farzana Alam. The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata.

As the capital of the state and the seat of the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata houses not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, the state Secretariat (Writers' Building) and the Calcutta High Court. Kolkata also has lower courts; the Small Causes Court for civil matters, and the Sessions Court for criminal cases. The Kolkata Police, headed by the Police Commissioner, comes under the West Bengal Home Ministry. The city elects three representatives to the Lok Sabha (India's lower house) and 21 representatives to the state Legislative Assembly.

Utility services and media

The KMC supplies potable water to the city, sourced from the Hooghly River. The water is purified and treated at Palta water pumping station located in North 24 Parganas. Almost all of Kolkata's daily refuse of 2500 tonnes is transported to the dumping grounds in Dhapa to the east of the town. Agriculture on this dumping ground is encouraged for natural recycling of garbage and sewer water. Parts of the city still lack sewage facilities leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal. Electricity is supplied by the privately operated (CESC) to the city region, and by the West Bengal State Electricity Board in the suburbs. Frequent interruption of power supply was a problem until the mid 1990s; however the situation has since improved immensely with seldom power cuts occurring presently. The city has 20 fire stations (under West Bengal Fire Service) that attend to 7,500 fire and rescue calls on average per year.

State-owned BSNL and private enterprises like Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance Communications, Uninor, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Indicom, Virgin Mobile and MTS India are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city. Cellular coverage is extensive with both GSM and CDMA services being available. Broadband Internet penetration has steadily increased with BSNL, Tata Indicom, Sify, Airtel, Reliance and Alliance being the leading service providers.

Bengali language newspapers like ''Anandabazar Patrika'', ''Bartaman'', ''Sangbad Pratidin'', ''Jago Bangla'', ''Aajkaal'', ''Dainik Statesman'' ,''Ganashakti'',''Ekdin'' are widely circulated. Popular English language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include the ''Times of India'', ''Hindustan Times'', ''The Hindu'', ''The Indian Express'', ''The Statesman'', ''The Telegraph'' and ''Asian Age''. Some major periodicals are ''Desh'', ''Sananda'', ''Unish Kuri'', ''Kindle'', ''Anandalok'' and ''Anandamela''. Being the biggest trading market in East India, Kolkata has a substantial readership of many financial dailies including ''The Economic Times'', ''The Financial Express'', ''Business Line'' and ''Business Standard''. Vernacular newspapers such as those in Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Oriya, Punjabi and Chinese are also read by a minority. Dainik Jagran world largest read Hindi daily news paper(AIR), the state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several AM radio stations in the city. Kolkata has 12 local FM radio stations, including two from AIR. The state-owned television broadcaster Doordarshan provides two free terrestrial channels, while four MSO provide a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English and other regional channels via cable. Bengali 24-hour television news channels include STAR Ananda, Tara Newz, Kolkata TV, 24 Ghanta, Ne Bangla, News Time and Channel 10.

Transport

Public transport is provided by the Kolkata suburban railway, the Kolkata Metro, trams and buses. The suburban network is extensive and extends into the distant suburbs.

The Kolkata Metro, run by the Indian Railways, is the oldest underground system in India since 1984. It runs parallel to the River Hooghly and spans the north-south length of the city covering a distance of 22.3 km. There are several more lines being built for the metro to serve other areas of Kolkata such as Howrah and Bidhan Nagar. Buses are the preferred mode of transport and are run by both government agencies and private operators. Kolkata is India's only city to have a tram network, operated by Calcutta Tramways Company. The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city. Water-logging due to heavy rains during the monsoon sometimes interrupts the public transport.

Hired forms of mechanised transport include the yellow metered taxis, while auto rickshaws ply in specific routes. Almost all the taxis in Kolkata are Ambassadors. This is unlike most other cities where Tata Indicas or Premier Padminis are more common. In some areas of the city, cycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws are also patronised by the public for short distances. Private owned vehicles are less in number and usage compared to other major cities due to the abundance in both variety and number of public vehicles. However, the city witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles; 2002 data showed an increase of 44% over a period of seven years. The road space (matched with population density) in the city is only 6%, compared to 23% in Delhi and 17% in Mumbai, creating major traffic problems. Kolkata Metro Railway and a number of new roads and flyovers have decongested the traffic to some extent. Kolkata has three major long distance railway stations at Howrah, Sealdah and Kolkata (Chitpur). The city is the headquarters of two divisions of the Indian Railways — Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway. Dainik Jagran world largest read Hindi daily news paper

The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at Dum Dum to the north of the city, operates both domestic and international flights. The airport is presently being upgraded to accommodate increased air traffic. Kolkata is also a major river port of East India. The Kolkata Port Trust manages both the Kolkata and Haldia docks. There are passenger services to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and cargo ship service to various ports in India and abroad, operated by the Shipping Corporation of India. There are ferry services as well, connecting Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah.

Demographics

thumb|The Chinese New Year celebrated in Chinatown. Unofficial estimates put the number of [[Chinese community in India|Chinese in Kolkata anywhere from 5,000 to 200,000, most of whom live in or near Chinatown in Tangra.]] {{India census population |title = Population Growth of Kolkata |1981= 9194000 |1991= 11021900 |2001= 13114700 |2011= 15644040 |estimate= |estyear= |estref= |footnote= Source: Census of India }} {{bar box |width=250px |barwidth=100px |title = Religions in Kolkata |left1=Religion |right1=Percent |float=left |bars= }} Residents of Kolkata are called Calcuttans. According to the provisional population of 2011, Kolkata city has a population of 4,486,679, while the urban agglomeration had a population of 13,216,546 in 2001. The sex ratio is 928 females per 1000 males which is lower than the national average, because many working males come from rural areas and neighbouring states (mainly Bihar, UP, Orissa), where they leave behind their families. Kolkata's literacy rate of 81% exceeds the all-India average of 66%. Kolkata Municipal Corporation area has registered a growth rate of 4.1%, which is the lowest among the million-plus cities in India.

Bengali comprise the majority of Kolkata's population, with Marwaris and Bihari communities forming a large portion of the minorities. Some of Kolkata's minor communities include Chinese, Tamils, Nepalis, Oriyas, Telugus, Assamese, Gujaratis, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Greeks, Tibetans, Maharashtrians, Konkanis, Malayalees, Punjabis and Parsis. Tibetans mostly came as traders. There were also many Armenians, Greeks and Jews, although these have declined in 20th century. After the establishment of Israel, many Jews left to live in Israel and the size of the Jewish community had a severe decrease. Chinatown in the eastern part of the city of Kolkata is the only Chinatown in the country. The locality was once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, now the population has dropped to 2,000 or so. The traditional occupation of the Chinese community here had been working in the nearby tanning industry and the Chinese restaurants.

Bengali is the dominant language spoken in Kolkata, which also serves as the Official State Language. English is also used, particularly by the white-collar work force.

According to the census, 73% of the population in Kolkata is Hindu, 23% Muslim, 2% Christian and 1% Jains. Other minorities such as Sikhs, Buddhist, Jews and Zoroastrian constitute the rest of the city's population. 1.5 million people, who constitute about a third of the city's population, live in 2,011 registered and 3,500 unregistered (occupied by squatters) slums.

Kolkata reported 67.6% of total Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes registered in 35 Indian mega cities in 2004. Kolkata police district registered 10,757 IPC cases in 2004, which was 10th highest in the country. The crime rate in the city was 71 per 100,000 against the national rate of 167.7 in 2006, which is the lowest among all the mega cities in India. Some estimates state that there are more than 60,000 brothel-based women and girls in prostitution in Kolkata. The population of prostitutes in Sonagachi constitutes mainly of Nepalese, Indians and Bangladeshis. Some sources estimate there are 60,000 women in the brothels of Kolkata. The largest prostitution area in city is Sonagachi.

Culture

Kolkata has long been known for its literary, artistic and revolutionary heritage. As the former capital of India, Kolkata was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought. Kolkatans tend to have a special appreciation for art and literature; its tradition of welcoming new talent has made it a City of Furious Creative Energy. For these reasons, Kolkata has often been dubbed as the Cultural Capital of India or the Literary Capital of India.

A characteristic feature of Kolkata is the ''para'' or neighbourhoods having a strong sense of community. Typically, every ''para'' has its own community club with a clubroom and often, a playing field. People here habitually indulge in ''adda'' or leisurely chat, and these adda sessions are often a form of freestyle intellectual conversation. The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures to propaganda.

Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Gothic, Baroque, Roman, Oriental and Indo-Islamic (including Mughal) motifs. Several major buildings of the Colonial period are well maintained and have been declared "heritage structures", while others are in various stages of decay. Established in 1814, the Indian Museum is the oldest museum in Asia and houses vast collections of Indian natural history and Indian art. Marble Palace is classic example of European mansion in the city. Netaji Bhawan is museum and shrine dedicated for honor of Netaji, Indian freedom fighter of World War II. The Victoria Memorial, one of the major tourist attractions in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library of India is India's leading public library. Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions.

The city has a tradition of dramas in the form of ''jatra'' (a kind of folk-theatre), theatres and Group Theaters. Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed "Tollywood" after Tollygunj, the location of Bengali movie studios. Its long tradition of Art-Film making includes globally acclaimed directors such as Academy Award winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Rituparno Ghosh.

In the nineteenth and twentieth century, Bengali literature was modernized in the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. This literary modernization, coupled with the social reforms led by reformers like Ram Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda and others, constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance . The rich literary tradition set by these authors has been carried forward in the works of Jibanananda Das, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay, Ashapurna Devi, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha, Mahashweta Devi, Samaresh Majumdar, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay among others.

Kolkata is also an important centre of art and has hosted many important artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Ramkinker Baij, Bikash Bhattacharya, Paresh Maity and Devajyoti Ray. In the 1960s, the city has seen the emergence of the famous Calcutta Group, which preceded the Progressive Artists Group in field of modern Indian art. In 2005, the first exhibition on Pseudorealism was held at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture. The city continues to be the home of one of the most passionate lovers of art in country. Kolkata is often also called the backyard of Indian art.

The city is also noted for its appreciation of Rabindrasangeet and Indian classical music as well as Bengali folk music such as baul and kirtans and ''gajan'', and modern songs including Bengali adhunik songs. From the early 1990s, there has been an emergence of new genres of music, including the emergence of what has been called Bengali ''Jeebonmukhi Gaan'' (a modern genre based on realism) by artists like Anjan Dutta, Kabir Suman, Nachiketa and folk/alternative/rock bands like Moheener Ghoraguli, Chandrabindoo, Bhoomi, Cactus, and Fossils.

Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and Machher jhol (fish curry), with roshogolla, sandesh and mishti dohi (sweet yoghurt) as dessert. Bengal's vast repertoire of fish-based dishes includes various eelish preparations (a favorite among Bengalis). Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (deep fried crêpe with tamarind and lentil sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from China Town in the eastern parts of the city are quite popular. Sweets occupy an important place in the diet of Kolkatans and at their social ceremonies.

Bengali women commonly wear the ''shaŗi'' as per tradition and global/western outfits. Among men, western dressing has greater acceptance, though the traditional dhoti and panjabi/kurta comes to life on festivals.

Durga Puja, in the autumn, is the most important festival and the most glamorous event in Kolkata. Other notable festivals include Jagaddhatri Puja, Diwali, Saraswati puja, Eid, Holi, Christmas, poila boishak (new year), Rath Yatra and Poush parbon (harvest festival). Some of the cultural festivals are Kolkata Book Fair, Dover Lane music festival, Kolkata Film Festival and National Theatre Festival.

Education

Kolkata's schools are either run by the state government or by private (many of which are religious) organisations. Schools mainly use Bengali or English as the medium of instruction, though Urdu is also used, especially in Central Kolkata. The schools are affiliated with any of the following — West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Institute of Open School (NIOS) and the A-Level (British Curriculum). Under the 10+2+3 plan, after completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in a 2 year junior college (also known as a pre-university) or in schools with a higher secondary facility affiliated with West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, ICSE or CBSE. Students usually choose from one of three streams — liberal arts, commerce, or science, though vocational streams are also available. Upon completing the required coursework, students may enrol in general or professional degree programmes.

Kolkata houses seventeen universities or autonomous institutions and numerous colleges affiliated to them or to other universities located outside. The University of Calcutta (founded in 1857) has 153 affiliated colleges. The Calcutta Madrasa College, founded in 1781, was upgraded to a university in 2007. The Jadavpur University is a notable university known for its arts, science and engineering faculties. Calcutta Medical College is the first institution teaching modern medicine in Asia. Other notable institutions are Presidency College, St. Xavier's College, Bethune College (the first women's college in India), and Scottish Church College. Some institutions of national importance are the Asiatic Society, Bose Institute, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, the Indian Statistical Institute, the Indian Institute of Management, the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, the Marine Engineering and Research Institute, the Rabindra Bharati University, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management- The First B-School of India, the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, the West Bengal University of Technology and the National Institute of Fashion Technology.

Notable scholars from Kolkata include physicists Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha and Jagadish Chandra Bose, chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy, statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, mathematician Raj Chandra Bose, physician Upendranath Brahmachari and educator Ashutosh Mukherjee.

Sports

The most followed sports in Kolkata are football and cricket. Kolkata, a major centre of football activity in India and home of top national football clubs such as Mohun Bagan AC, East Bengal, Chirag United S.C., and Mohammedan Sporting Club is known as Mecca of Indian Football. Calcutta Football League, which started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia. Mohun Bagan AC, one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only club to be entitled 'National Club of India'. Kolkata is also home to Kolkata Knight Riders IPL cricket team franchise.

As in the rest of India, cricket is extremely popular and is played throughout the city in its grounds and streets. Tournaments, especially those involving outdoor games like cricket, football, and badminton or indoor games like carrom are regularly organized on an inter-locality or inter-club basis. The maidan area hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.

Notable sports stars from Kolkata include former Indian national cricket captains Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, as well as current cricketers Ashok Dinda, Wriddhiman Saha, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Manoj Tiwary, Olympic tennis bronze medallist Leander Paes. Former football stars include Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P.K. Banerjee, and Subrata Bhattacharya.

The city is known for its large stadia. The Eden Gardens is one of only two 100,000-seat cricket stadiums in the world. It hosted final of 1987 Cricket World Cup. It is home to Bengal cricket team and Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL. Salt Lake Stadium (also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan)—a multi-use stadium—is the world's second largest capacity football stadium. Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world. Kolkata has three 18-hole golf courses at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (the first golf club in the world outside Britain), Tollygunge Club and Fort William. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC) holds regular equestrian races and polo matches. The Calcutta Polo Club is now considered as the oldest polo club of the world. The Calcutta South Club is the venue for some national and international tennis tournaments. From 2005, Sunfeast Open, a Tier-III tournament of Women's Tennis Association Tour, takes place in Netaji Indoor Stadium. The Calcutta Rowing Club hosts regular rowing races and training. Although it is a minor sport, Kolkata is considered the "capital" of rugby union in India. The city also gives its name to the name of the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the Calcutta Cup, which is of Indian workmanship.

When the Elite Football League of India was introduced in August 2011, Kolkata was noted as one of eight cities to be awarded a team for the inaugural season. Named the Kolkata Vipers, the team's first season will be played in Pune, and it will be Kolkata's first professional American football franchise.

Sister cities

Kolkata has sister city relationships with the following cities of the world.

Sister city	! Country
Long Beach, California	Long Beach	United States
Odessa	Ukraine
Macau	Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China>China S.A.R.
Thessaloniki	Greece
Naples	Italy
Dhaka	Bangladesh
Guangzhou	China

See also

Bengali

List of people from Kolkata

List of people from West Bengal

Places of interest in Kolkata

West Bengal

Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry

List of million-plus cities in India

Neighbourhoods in Kolkata

References

Further reading

External links

}}

Category:Cities and towns in West Bengal Category:Eastern Railway (India) Zone Category:Former national capitals Category:Indian capital cities Category:Metropolitan cities in India Category:Populated places established in 1690 Category:South Eastern Railway (India) Zone

af:Kalkutta ang:Caligardamana ar:كلكتا an:Calcuta as:কলিকতা az:Kəlkütə bn:কলকাতা be:Горад Калькута be-x-old:Калката bo:ཀ་ལི་ཀུ་ཏ bs:Kolkata br:Kolkata bg:Колката ca:Calcuta cs:Kalkata cy:Kolkata da:Kolkata de:Kalkutta et:Kolkata el:Καλκούτα es:Calcuta eo:Kolkato ext:Calcuta eu:Kalkuta fa:کلکته hif:Kolkata fr:Calcutta fy:Kolkata ga:Calcúta gd:Kolkata gl:Calcuta - কলকাতা gu:કોલકાતા ko:콜카타 hy:Կալկաթա hi:कोलकाता hr:Kalkuta io:Kalkuta id:Kolkata os:Калькуттæ is:Kolkata it:Calcutta he:קולקטה kn:ಕೊಲ್ಕತ್ತ pam:Kolkata ka:კოლკატა ks:कलकाता kw:Kolkata sw:Kolkata ku:Kolkata la:Colcata lv:Kalkāta lt:Kolkata lmo:Calcuta hu:Kalkutta mk:Колката mg:Kolkata ml:കൊൽക്കത്ത mr:कोलकाता arz:كولكاتا ms:Kolkata my:ကာလကတ္တားမြို့ nl:Calcutta ne:कोलकाता new:कोलकाता ja:コルカタ nap:Calcutta no:Kolkata nn:Kolkata oc:Calcuta or:କଲିକତା pnb:کلکتہ pms:Kolkata pl:Kalkuta pt:Calcutá ro:Calcutta qu:Kolkata rue:Колката ru:Калькутта sah:Колката sa:कलकाता sco:Kolkata scn:Calcutta simple:Kolkata sk:Kalkata sl:Kolkata sr:Колката sh:Kolkata fi:Kalkutta sv:Calcutta tl:Kolkata ta:கொல்கத்தா te:కోల్‌కత th:โกลกาตา tr:Kolkata tk:Kalkutta uk:Колката ur:کولکاتہ ug:Kalkutta vec:Calicute vi:Kolkata vo:Kolkata war:Kolkata zh-yue:架利吉打 bat-smg:Kalkota zh:加尔各答

County	Kolkata Knight Riders কলকাতা নাইট রাইডার্স
coach	Dav Whatmore
slogan	Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo
captain	Gautam Gambhir
founded	2008
colors
ground	Eden Gardens
capacity	90,000
owner	Shahrukh Khan Juhi Chawla Jai Mehta Red Chillies Entertainment
website	Kolkata Knight Riders }}

Kolkata Knight Riders (; often abbreviated as KKR) is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. Sourav Ganguly led the team in IPL1 and IPL3, Brendon McCullum in IPL2, and Gautam Gambhir in IPL4. Sourav Ganguly was the team's Icon Player for the first three seasons. The official theme of the team is ''Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re'' (Bengali for We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) and the official colors are purple and gold. As per the recent study done by a UK based brand valuation company, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are ranked as the second most valuable franchise brand at US$46 million. Celebrity co-owner Shahrukh Khan’s hard-selling of the KKR brand has counteracted the team’s poor on-field performance through the first three seasons. But the performance of KKR in 2011 was better as compared to the previous seasons and also qualified for the playoff's for the first time. KKR will also be playing the qualifying stage of Champions League which will be held from 19 to 21 September. The home of the Kolkata Knight Riders is Eden Gardens, the largest stadium in South(east) Asia with Bung Karno Stadium, the home of Persija Jakarta, and Salt Lake Stadium, the home of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal FC.

Franchise History

Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the 10 franchise teams taking part in the Indian Premier League. It was bought by Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband Jay Mehta for a price of USD 75.09 million.

2008 IPL Season

Performance

The Kolkata Knight Riders made a good start to the season by winning their first two matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers. Kolkata Knight Riders' opening batsman Brendon McCullum scored 158 runs in the first match, which is a record for the most runs ever scored by a batsman in a Twenty-20 match. However, the team began to experience failures and lost the next four matches. The team managed to stage a comeback of sorts by winning the next three matches, helped by strong performances by Sourav Ganguly and Shoaib Akhtar. But their performance dipped again and they lost the next three matches. These included their match against Mumbai Indians, in which they were bowled out for 67 runs, the lowest score by a team in the IPL 2008 season. When their match against Delhi Daredevils was washed out due to rain, they lost any chance of making it to the semi finals. The Knight Riders ended their season on a winning note by defeating Kings XI Punjab on their home ground.

Controversy

There were reports of a rift between Shahrukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly over various issues such as team composition, Ganguly's choice of batting first in the game against Chennai Super Kings, entertainment tax being imposed for matches played at Eden Gardens (Shahrukh reportedly wanted Ganguly to speak to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya about it, which was refused by Ganguly). It was also reported that Shahrukh Khan bestowed more powers to John Buchanan including giving him full powers to select the team for the following year which was not liked by Ganguly. However, the team management issued a statement that the reports of a possible rift are untrue.

Shahrukh Khan was further barred by the International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Unit from entering the dressing room of the team when matches were in progress. Shahrukh Khan then issued a statement that he would be boycotting the remaining matches of the IPL till the code of conduct was clarified by the IPL authorities.

There were also speculations that Kolkata Knight Riders will shift its base from Kolkata to Ahmedabad because of the money demanded by the C.A.B. But after a meeting with Jagmohan Dalmiya, Shah Rukh Khan assured everyone that his team will stay in Kolkata.

Financial

Financially, the Kolkata Knight Riders are easily the most successful franchise in the IPL, achieving a profit of Rs. 13 crore. Many say,this was solely due to the efforts of the advertising maestro, Shah Rukh Khan who supported and cheered for his team despite their dismal performance.Kolkata has a number of great franchisees such as Nokia and Matrix.

2009 IPL Season

Players

Kolkata Knight Riders was among the least active franchises during the offseason, with no player trades. However, the team signed Mohnish Parmar during the offseason and also re-signed Ajantha Mendis to a long term deal.

Controversy

The rift between Sourav Ganguly and Shahrukh Khan took a new turn as Ganguly was removed from the captaincy in the 11th hour and replaced by Brendon McCullum. Rumours are that John Buchanan wanted Ganguly out. First, he floated a series of theories discussing "multiple-captains" before Ganguly was removed. Soon thereafter, a blog popped up on the web whose author was an anonymous blogger, who claimed to be a member of the team and seemed determined to reveal every team secret, warts and all. The posts described what the blogger claims are team meetings, arguments between staff and team members, post-match parties and pre-match strategy. It created a lot of media frenzy and bad blood within the KKR, but was eventually found to be a fake.

KKR also set up a Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW) in 2009 to spot local talent nationwide. This was based on BCCI's 2002-06 model which had discovered talents like MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina. The wing was headed by Makarand Wainganker, who had first initiated the TRDW concept for the KSCA. However, Wainganker eventually resigned after persistent disagreements with John Buchanan over team selection and Buchanan's "multiple captains" theory.

Cheer Leaders

They were the first team in IPL to select their cheer leaders by a talent hunt show called Knights and Angels, judged by Sourav Ganguly and Guest Star and hosted by Bollywood actor Purab Kohli. However, the winning team did not get a chance to perform at games during the 2009 season since local authorities only allowed South African cheerleaders to be used.

2010 Season

Players

The Kolkata Knight Riders traded Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques for Manoj Tiwary and Owais Shah. At the Player auctions they managed to successfully buy Shane Bond in the silent tie-breaker against competing bids from Deccan Chargers.

Performance

The Kolkata Knight Riders had a fantastic start to the season by beating Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore. That was followed by three consecutive defeats at the hands of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. The Knight Riders then had a roller-coaster ride in the tournament. After 11 games, they were required to win all their three remaining games to qualify for the semi-finals. A defeat at the MAC Stadium at the hands of Chennai Super Kings put paid to their chances. However, the Knight Riders made a decent comeback by beating the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in their last two games.

2011 Season

Players

In this edition of the IPL, the Kolkata Knight Riders decided to revamp the team, starting with a new look and by changing the entire set of players. Sourav Ganguly, the team's captain for the past three years was dropped in the IPL auction held earlier that year. Gautam Gambhir, who was bought for a record-breaking $2.4 million was appointed as skipper. KKR also managed to buy Yusuf Pathan for a whopping $ 2.1 million. other international names were added to the squad, including Shakib Al Hasan, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee and Ryan ten Doeschate.

Brad Haddin was replaced by Mark Boucher in mid-season due to a finger injury he sustained during practice.

Performance

The Kolkata Knight Riders had a disappointing start of season by loosing to Chennai Super Kings by 2 runs. But they came back stronger, winNing their next three matches against the Deccan Chargers and the Rajasthan Royals in both Kolkata and Jaipur. After two consecutive defeats in kolkata, the team had a string of wins against Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers. The crowds did not support the team at the bigging of the season. But their reaction gradually improved as the team's performance began to improve and the Eden Gardens stadium began to witness screaming KKR fans again as the team qualified for the playoffs for the first time.

Controversy

In the 2011 edition of the IPL , Sourav Ganguly was not picked by the owner , Shahrukh Khan and team officials. This created a huge uproar in Kolkata where Sourav was called the, " Prince " . Fans were angry and went on a protest march. However , due to the brilliant performance of the KKR team , which was newly built , the uproar came to an halt. KKR lies amongst the top of the teams after the completion of the mid season game-play. The final match against Mumbai Indians played at Eden Garden witnessed, for the first time, an overcapacity with over 80.000 tickets sold.

Livery

The logo of the team consists of a blazing golden Viking helmet against a black background with the name of the team ''Kolkata Knight Riders'' written in gold. The main theme of the team ''Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo Re'' (We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) has been created by Vishal-Shekhar duo. A ''Knight Rider'' album with several singers and music composers including Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri will also be created. The tag line of the team is ''All the King's Men''. The team's official colours are purple and gold. The jersey was created by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra. The name Knight Riders has been chosen keeping in view the kids and the youth. The new anthem of the team has been composed by Salim- Suleiman and is crooned by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. It was reported that Shakira will shake leg with Srk for the promotional video of the team for the year 2011

Players

Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian cricket team was the icon player and led the Kolkata franchise in the inaugural season 2008 and 2010. He was unceremoniously dumped when KKR released all the players and did not rebid for Sourav during the 2011 Jan auctions. The earlier team also included all rounders Chris Gayle, David Hussey, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Angelo Mathews, wicket keeper batsmen Brendon McCullum, Wriddhiman Saha. The main bowlers are Shane Bond, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar and Murali Karthik. Australian batsman Bradley Hodge and Sri Lankan bowler Ajantha Mendis were bought outside IPL Auction on 2008. On IPL Auction 2009 Team bought Bangladeshi All-Rounder Mashrafe Mortaza. Team also includes Charl Langeveldt who was signed outside of Auction. Due to unavailability of Pakistani players in 2009 KKR had to suspend contract of key performer from the 2008 season Umar Gul.

On 26 April 2009, KKR administration sent back two of its players Akash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar on the premises of poor performance. But there was high media speculation that one or both of them have been caught or strongly suspected of being the "Fake IPL Player" responsible for the blog which had been creating ripples with inside information on KKR team. Shane Bond is the latest KKR acquisition after releasing Ricky Ponting, Morne van Wyk, Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Akhtar for IPL III. Moises Henriques was traded to Delhi in return for Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary. Their international players for the 2010 season are - Shane Bond, Mashrafe Mortaza, Brendon McCullum, Charl Langeveldt, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Owais Shah & Chris Gayle.

Sourav Ganguly is no longer part of the KKR franchise after the IPL 2011 auction. This has created quite a buzz online with lot of people using Social media tools to display their anger. Shah Rukh wants to get back his former captain in the team but in a different role.

Current squad

Old squad

Administration

Owners - Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla & Jai Mehta (Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.)

CEO — Venky Mysore

Fixtures and results

Overall results

1 1 0 0 2

+Summary of results
!! Wins !! Losses !! No Result !! % Win !! Position
IPL 2008>2008	6	7	|	45%	6
IPL 2009	2009	3	10	|	21%	8
IPL 2010	2010	7	7	|	50%	6
IPL 2011	2011	8	6	|	58.33%	4
Total	23	29	|	45.23%	''''''

2008 season

Royal Challengers Bangalore 20 April 26 April 29 April 1 May 3 May 8 May 11 May 13 May 16 May 18 May 20 May 22 May 25 May

style="width:5%;"	No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result
1	18 April	|	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium>Bangalore	Won by 140 runs, [[Man of the match#Cricket
2	|	Deccan Chargers	Eden Gardens>Kolkata	Won by 5 wickets, MoM – David Hussey – 38*
3	|	Chennai Super Kings	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium>Chennai	Lost by 9 wickets
4	|	Mumbai Indians	Kolkata	Lost by 7 wickets
5	|	Rajasthan Royals	Sawai Mansingh Stadium>Jaipur	Lost by 45 runs
6	|	Kings XI Punjab	PCA Stadium>Mohali	Lost by 9 runs
7	|	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Kolkata	Won by 5 runs, MoM – Sourav Ganguly – 20 (22) and 1/7 (3 overs)
8	|	Deccan Chargers	Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium>Hyderabad	Won by 23 runs, MoM – Sourav Ganguly – 91 (57), 2/25 (4 overs) and 2 catches
9	|	Delhi Daredevils	Kolkata	Won by 23 runs, MoM – Shoaib Akhtar – 4/11 (3 overs)
10	|	Mumbai Indians	Wankhede Stadium>Mumbai	Lost by 8 wickets
11	|	Chennai Super Kings	Kolkata	Lost by 3 runs (decided by D/L method due to rain interruption)
12	|	Rajasthan Royals	Kolkata	Lost by 6 wickets
13	|	Delhi Daredevils	Feroz Shah Kotla>Delhi	Match abandoned due to rain
14	|	Kings XI Punjab	Kolkata	Won by 3 wickets, MoM – Umar Gul – 4/23 (4 overs) and 24 (11)

2009 season

Kings XI PunjabRajasthan RoyalsChennai Super KingsMumbai IndiansRoyal Challengers BangaloreMumbai IndiansKings XI PunjabDelhi DaredevilsDelhi DaredevilsRoyal Challengers BangaloreDeccan ChargersChennai Super KingsRajasthan Royals

style="width:5%;"	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result
19 April	Deccan Chargers	Cape Town
21 April	|	Durban	Won by 11 runs (D/L Method), MoM – Chris Gayle – 44* (26)
23 April	|	Port Elizabeth	Lost by 3 runs in Super Over
25 April	|	Cape Town	Match abandoned due to intermittent rain
27 April	|	Port Elizabeth	Lost by 92 runs
29 April	|	Durban	Lost by 5 wickets
1 May	|	Durban	Lost by 9 runs
3 May	|	East London, South Africa>East London	Lost by 6 wickets
5 May	|	Durban	Lost by 9 wickets
10 May	|	Johannesburg, South Africa>Johannesburg	Lost by 7 Wickets
12 May	|	Pretoria	Lost by 6 wickets
16 May	|	Port Elizabeth	Lost by 6 wickets
18 May	|	Pretoria	Man of the match>MoM- Bradley Hodge 71*(44)
20 May	|	Durban	Man of the match>MoM- Laxmi Shukla 48*(46)

2010 season

Royal Challengers BangaloreChennai Super KingsRajasthan RoyalsMumbai IndiansKings XI PunjabDelhi DaredevilsDeccan ChargersKings XI PunjabDelhi DaredevilsRoyal Challengers BangaloreChennai Super KingsRajasthan RoyalsMumbai Indians

style="width:5%;"	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result
12 March	Deccan Chargers	Navi Mumbai
14 March	|	Kolkata	Won by 7 wickets MoM- Manoj Tiwary 50(29)
16 March	|	Kolkata	Lost by 55 runs
20 March	|	Ahmedabad	Lost by 34 runs
22 March	|	Mumbai	Lost by 7 wickets
27 March	|	Mohali	Won by 39 Runs MoM- Manoj Tiwary 75(47)
29 March	|	Delhi	Lost by 40 Runs
1 April	|	Kolkata	Won by 24 Runs MoM- Sourav Ganguly 88(54)
4 April	|	Kolkata	Lost by 8 wickets
7 April	|	Kolkata	Won by 14 runs MoM- Sourav Ganguly 56 (46)
10 April	|	Bangalore	Lost by 7 wickets
13 April	|	Chennai	Lost by 9 wickets
17 April	|	Kolkata	Won by 8 wickets MoM- Jaydev Unadkat (3/26)
19 April	|	Kolkata	Won by 9 wickets MoM- Murali Kartik( 2 catches and 2 wickets )

'''

2011 season

Deccan ChargersRajasthan RoyalsRajasthan RoyalsKochi Tuskers KeralaRoyal Challengers BangaloreDelhi DaredevilsKings XI PunjabDeccan ChargersKochi Tuskers KeralaChennai Super KingsRoyal Challengers BangalorePune Warriors IndiaMumbai IndiansMumbai Indians

style="width:5%;"	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result
8 April	Chennai Super Kings	Chennai
11 April	|	Kolkata	Won by 9 runs MoM- Jacques Kallis 54(42)
15 April	|	Jaipur	Won by 9 wickets MoM- Gautam Gambhir 75*(44)
17 April	|	Kolkata	Won by 8 wickets MoM- Lakshmipathy Balaji (3/15)
20 April	|	Kolkata	Lost by 6 runs
22 April	|	Kolkata	Lost by 9 wickets
28 April	|	Delhi	Won by 17 runs MoM- Manoj Tiwary 61*(47)
30 April	|	Kolkata	Won by 8 wickets MoM- Iqbal Abdullah (2/19)
3 May	|	Hyderabad, India>Hyderabad	Won by 20 runs MoM- Yusuf Pathan 47*(26)
5 May	|	Kochi	Lost by 17 runs
7 May	|	Kolkata	Won by 10 runs(D/L) MoM- Iqbal Abdullah (1/15)
14 May	|	Bengaluru	Lost by 4 wickets (D/L)
19 May	|	Navi Mumbai	Won by 7 wickets MoM- Yusuf Pathan took (2/23) and scored 29 (25)
22 May	|	Kolkata	Lost by 5 wickets
25 May	|	Mumbai	Lost by 4 wickets
Total	|		Overall Record of 8-7

'''

References

External links

Category:Indian Premier League teams Category:Kolkata

bn:কলকাতা নাইট রাইডার্স fr:Kolkata Knight Riders ko:콜카타 나이트 라이더스 hi:कोलकाता नाईट राइडर्स kn:ಕೋಲ್ಕತ್ತ ನೈಟ್ ರೈಡರ್ಸ್ ml:കൊൽക്കത്ത നൈറ്റ് റൈഡേർസ് mr:कोलकाता नाईट रायडर्स pa:ਕੋਲਕਾਤਾ ਨਾਇਟ ਰਾਈਡੱਰਜ਼ ta:கொல்கத்தா நைட் ரைடர்ஸ் te:కోల్‌కత నైట్ రైడర్స్

name	Shahrukh Khan
other names	King Khan, SRK, King of Bollywood, The Baadshah of Bollywood
birth date	November 02, 1965
birth place	New Delhi, India
years active	1988—present
residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
spouse	Gauri Khan (1991—present)
occupation	Actor, producer, television presenter
children	2 }}

Shahrukh Khan (pronounced ; born 2 November 1965), often credited as Shah Rukh Khan and informally referred to as SRK, is an Indian film actor. Often referred to as "The King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films. Khan has won fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations for his work in Indian films and shares the record for the highest number of Best Actor awards with Dilip Kumar, 8 wins. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian Cinema.

After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in economics, he started his career appearing in theatre and several television serials in the late 1980s and later made his film debut in 1992 with ''Deewana''. Early in his career he was recognised for his unconventional choice of negative roles in films such as ''Darr'' (1993), ''Baazigar'' (1993) and ''Anjaam'' (1994). Since then he has played leading roles in a wide variety of film genres, including romantic films, comedies, thrillers, action and sport films and historical dramas, among others.

Eleven of the films he has acted in have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over 1 billion. Khan's films such as ''Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'' (1995), ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' (1998), ''Devdas'' (2002), ''Chak De! India'' (2007), ''Om Shanti Om'' (2007) and ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' (2008) and ''Ra.One'' (2011) remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits, while films like ''Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...'' (2001), ''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' (2003), ''Veer-Zaara'' (2004), ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' (2006), ''My Name Is Khan'' (2010) and ''Don 2'' (2011) have been top-grossing Indian productions in the overseas markets thus making him one of the most successful leading actors of India.

In addition to movie acting, Khan is a television presenter, a regular stage performer, and a social activist. He is the founder/owner of two production companies: Dreamz Unlimited and Red Chillies Entertainment and, along with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta, the owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai franchise in the motorsport racing league i1 Super Series. Globally, Khan is considered to be one of the biggest movie stars, with a fan following claimed to number in the billions. In 2008, ''Newsweek'' named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world.

Early life and background

Khan was born on 2 November 1965 to Muslim parents of Pathan descent in New Delhi, India. His father, Taj Mohammed Khan, was an Indian independence activist from Peshawar, British India. According to Khan, his paternal grandfather was originally from Afghanistan. His mother, Lateef Fatima, was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan, who served in the Indian National Army. Khan's father came to New Delhi from Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar before the partition of India, while his mother's family came from Rawalpindi. His father lost his battle with cancer when Khan was 15 years old and his mother passed away in 1990 after a long illness. Khan was very attached to his parents as a child and describes their death at such a young age as a turning point in his life and as his biggest motivation for hard work, he explained that is ideology in life was:"I want to make movies so damn bloody big...that my parents somewhere sit down on a star and from there also can look at their son and say 'I can see his movies from here better than I can see the Wall of China or anything. We see his movies covering the face of this earth'." Khan has an elder sister named Shehnaz. Growing up in Rajendra Nagar, Khan attended St. Columba's School where he was accomplished in sports, drama, and academics. He won the ''Sword of Honour'', an annual award given to the student who best represents the spirit of the school. Khan later attended the Hansraj College (1985—1988) and earned his Bachelors degree in Economics. When Hansraj College celebrated its 50th anniversary, it gave away 17 shields to its alumni who had excelled in their lives and professions. Khan was one of them. Though he pursued a Masters Degree in Mass Communications at Jamia Millia Islamia, he later opted out to pursue a career in Bollywood. He also attended the National School of Drama in Delhi.

After the death of his parents, Khan moved to Mumbai in 1991. He married Gauri Chibber, a Hindu, in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on 25 October 1991. They have two children, son Aryan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000). According to Khan, while he strongly believes in Allah, he also values his wife's religion. At home, his children follow both religions, with the Qur'an being situated next to the Hindu deities.

Khan studied acting under celebrated theatre director Barry John at Delhi's "Theatre Action Group" (TAG). In 2007, John commented that on his former pupil, "The credit for the phenomenally successful development and management of Shahrukh's career goes to the superstar himself." Khan started shooting for Lekh Tandon's television series ''Dil Dariya'', but its delay meant that he made his acting debut with the 1988 television series, ''Fauji'', playing the leading role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai. He went on to appear in other television serials, such as Aziz Mirza's ''Circus'' in 1989, which depicted the life of circus performers. The same year, Khan also had a minor role in the made-for-television English-language film, ''In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones'', which was based on life at Delhi University, written by Arundhati Roy. When he appeared in those teleserials, people found in him some resemblance with actor Dilip Kumar and also compared his acting style with the latter's.

Acting career

1990s

Khan received his first break upon moving from New Delhi to Mumbai when Hema Malini offered him a role in her directorial debut ''Dil Aashna Hai''. However, the delay in the release of the film meant that his first release was ''Deewana'' opposite Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti. The movie became a box office hit, and launched his career in Bollywood. His performance won him a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. In a 2001 interview with Rediff, Khan recalled: "Actually, June 26 marks exactly 11 years since I faced the cameras for my first shot for ''Dil Aashna Hai'', in 1990. I knew it would be a tough field, a very demanding profession." He went on to star in ''Maya Memsaab'', which generated some controversy because of his appearance in an "explicit" sex scene in the movie.

In 1993, Khan won acclaim for his performances in villainous roles as an obsessive lover and a murderer, respectively, in the box office hits, ''Darr'' and ''Baazigar''. In Khan's entry in Encyclopædia Britannica's "Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema" it was stated that "he defied the image of the conventional hero in both these films and created his own version of the revisionist hero." ''Darr'' marked his first collaboration with renowned film-maker Yash Chopra and his banner Yash Raj Films, the largest production company in Bollywood. Khan's scene in the film, in which he makes obsessive phone calls to Chawla's character stammering "i love you, kkkiran," attained great popularity. ''Baazigar'', which saw Khan portraying an ambiguous avenger who murders his girlfriend, shocked its Indian audience with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula. His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award. In that same year, Khan played the role of a young musician in Kundan Shah's ''Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa'', a performance that earned him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. In a 2004 retrospective review by Rediff, Sukanya Verma called it Khan's best performance and added:"He was spontaneous, vulnerable, boyish, mischievous and acting straight from the heart." Khan maintains that this is his all-time favourite among the movies he has acted in. In 1994, Khan once again played an obsessive lover/psycho's role in ''Anjaam'', co-starring alongside Madhuri Dixit. Though the movie was not a box office success, Khan's performance earned him the Filmfare Best Villain Award.

In 1995, Khan starred in the two biggest hits of the year in India. His first release was Rakesh Roshan's ''Karan Arjun'', Khan was part of an ensemble cast including Salman Khan, Kajol, Mamta Kulkarni, Raakhee and Amrish Puri. The film, which dealt with reincarnation, became the second-highest grossing film of the year in India. He followed it with Aditya Chopra's directorial debut, the romance ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge''. A major critical and commercial success, the movie became the year's top-grossing production in India and abroad. The film was declared an all time blockbuster and it remains the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema. ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' grossed over 1.2 billion. The film won ten Filmfare Awards, and Khan's performance as a young NRI who falls for Kajol's character while on a college vacation won him much critical acclaim and his second Best Actor Award. In 2005, ''Indiatimes Movies'' ranked the movie amongst the ''25 Must See Bollywood Films'', citing it as a "trendsetter of sorts". In that same year's retrospective review by Rediff, Raja Sen stated, "Khan gives a fabulous performance, redefining the Lover for the 1990s with great panache. He's cool and flippant, but sincere enough to appeal to the junta. The performance itself is, like the best in the business, played well enough to come across as effortless, as non-acting."

1996 proved a disappointing year for Khan, he appeared in two films—''English Babu Desi Mem'' and Mahesh Bhatt' ''Chaahat'' both of which proved critically and commercially unsuccessful in India. This was, however, followed by a comeback in 1997. He saw success with Subhash Ghai's social drama ''Pardes'' opposite newcomer Mahima Chaudhry. The film brought to light the culture shock and difficulties that may be involved in the cases of young Indian women immigrating to foreign countries after their marriage to Non Resident Indian men. It was one of the biggest hits of the year and earned him a nomination for the Best Actor Award at the Filmfare ceremony. He then appeared in Aziz Mirza's comedy ''Yes Boss'' which paired him with Juhi Chawla for the fourth time. The film was a moderately successful feature. His second project with Yash Chopra as a director, ''Dil to Pagal Hai'' became that year's second highest-grossing movie, and he won his third Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role as a stage director who falls in love with one of his new actresses.

In 1998, Khan starred in Karan Johar's directorial debut, ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'', which paired him with Kajol and Rani Mukerji. The movie was declared an all time blockbuster, with a worldwide gross of over 1.03 billion. Khan played the role of Rahul Khanna, a young college student who falls in love with his best friend after the death of his wife, years after breaking contact with her. His performance won him the Best Actor award at the Filmfare Awards for the second consecutive year. He won critical praise for his performance in Mani Ratnam's critically acclaimed ''Dil Se..'', in which he played the part of Amar Varma, an All India Radio correspondent who falls deeply in love with a mysterious woman terrorist, played by Manisha Koirala. Rediff wrote: "Khan delivers a compelling performance. He plays the part with taut restraint, and expresses exasperation superbly." The movie failed financially in India, however, it was a commercial success overseas. becoming the first Indian film to enter the top 10 in the United Kingdom box office charts. Khan's only release in 1999, ''Baadshah'' opposite Twinkle Khanna, was an average grosser, for which he earned a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Performance in a Comic Role.

2000s

Khan's success continued with Aditya Chopra's 2000 film, ''Mohabbatein'', co-starring Amitabh Bachchan. The film was a major financial success, and Khan's performance as a college teacher was acclaimed by critics; Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote that he "is outstanding as Raj Aryan." He was awarded his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for the role. He also starred in Mansoor Khan's action film ''Josh''. The film starred Khan as the tough leader of a Christian gang in Goa and Aishwarya Rai as his twin sister, and was also a box office success. In a positive review, Vinayak Chakravorty of ''Hindustan Times'' wrote that Khan "basks in his tailormade role, donning with panache the garb of a streetsmart tough." He further played the role of an archaeologist Muslim beaten to death by Hindu fanatics during the unrest following the partition of India in ''Hey Ram''. Directed by and co-staring Kamal Hassan, the film was critically acclaimed and was selected as India's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars that year. Khan also dubbed his own voice in Tamil for the film. In that same year, Khan set up his own production house, ''Dreamz Unlimited'' with Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza (see below). The three collaborated on the first film of their production house, ''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''.

In 2001, His collaboration with Karan Johar continued with the family drama ''Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'' in which he featured as part of an ensemble cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Kajol and Hrithik Roshan. the movie was a major financial success and became India's second highest-grossing film of the year and one of the biggest Bollywood success of all time in the overseas market, earning over worldwide. Khan's portrayal of Rahul Raichand, an adopted young man who's disowned by his rich and powerful father, played by Bachchan, for marrying a middle-class girl Anjali, played by Kajol was well received by critics. Taran Adarsh commented, "Khan sparkles yet again", noting that he performed the part "with amazing poise, class, honesty and maturity". It garnered him a nomination for the Filmfare Best Actor Award. This was his last collaboration with Kajol until they would be cast again by Johar as a lead pair in early 2010.

The same year, Khan essayed the role of Emperor Asoka in Santosh Sivan's historical epic, ''Asoka'', a partly fictionalised account of the life of Ashoka the Great. It was widely screened across the United Kingdom and North America, and was also selected for screening at the Venice Film Festival and the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, where it got positive response. While promoting the film in New York City, Khan along with the film director, Sivan were stuck in the city due to the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The film received generally positive reviews and Khan received favourable reactions for his performance, Rediff concluded that "He puts in a strong performance, in this well defined role."

In 2002, Khan played the title role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's award-winning period romance, ''Devdas'' which was the most expensive Bollywood film ever made at the time. This was the third Hindi movie adaptation of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's well-known novel of the same name. Featured opposite Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, Khan's performance as a rebellious alcoholic is often considered one of his best performances, and won him a Filmfare Best Actor Award. The film surfaced as the highest-grossing film of the year in India and overseas, earning a revenue of domestically. ''Devdas'' won numerous awards, including 10 Filmfare Awards and received a special screening at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. It received a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Language Film as well and was India's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. After the release of the film, Khan took a six months break from acting, he explained that during that period he "Just enjoyed the feeling of being sad". In an interview with Rediff, Khan commented: "For an entire year, that is what I did. I was sad. " and added, "We stars live in this bubble where everyone is smiling at you, where everyone loves you. Somehow, you lose touch with real, deep down sadness. Working on this film put us in touch with that emotion." Khan also starred opposite Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan in the family-drama ''Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam''. The film took six years to make, with huge sabbaticals in between shoots due to unending production problems, and was an average grosser at the box office.

In 2003, Khan starred in Aziz Mirza's romantic drama, ''Chalte Chalte'' opposite Rani Mukerji. The film was moderately successful in India but fared much better in the overseas. Khan played the role of Raj Mathur, a middle class man who falls in love and marries Priya Chopra, a successful fashion designer whose family is quite wealthy. But after the marriage, differences arise between the couple, leading to an irreversible separation. Manish Gajjar of BBC mentioned that he is "a sheer natural which explains why he is a great asset to Bollywood." Several critics were not as positive, including Vivek Fernandes from Rediff, who noted: "Shah Rukh hams and haws his way through the film -- biting his lip, crinkling his eyebrows -- it is oh-so-familiar. He is over the top, especially as the inebriated Raj who confronts the estranged wife."

That same year, he starred in ''Kal Ho Naa Ho'' a drama set in New York City, written by Karan Johar and directed by Nikhil Advani co-starring Jaya Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan. Khan's performance as a man with a fatal heart disease was met with positive response from critics. ''The Hindu'' noted, "His enthusiasm unbounded, his energy unbridled, Shah Rukh is in form here. And as a guy with a few days to live and a life to spend in a moment, he looks for your sympathy. He reduces many to tears. And with each tear he rises a rank higher in the echelons of actors". while rediff concluded, "Shah Rukh excels as the supercool Aman (...) He steals the show with a designer-made role." The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming the second top-grossing movie domestically and the top-grossing Bollywood film in the overseas market that year.When adjusted for inflation its total gross worldwide is 1.3 billion. The film earned him an other Filmfare Best Actor Award nomination.

2004 was a particularly good year for Khan, both commercially and critically. He produced and starred in Farah Khan's directorial debut, the action comedy ''Main Hoon Na''. The movie did well at the box office. He then played the role of an Indian officer, Veer Pratap Singh in Yash Chopra's love saga ''Veer-Zaara'', which was the biggest hit of 2004 in both India and overseas, with a worldwide gross of over 960 million. It was also screened at the Berlin Film Festival. The film relates the love story of Veer and a Pakistani woman Zaara Haayat Khan, played by Preity Zinta. Khan's performance in the film was praised by critics and won him awards at several award ceremonies. Rama Sharma from The Tribune wrote:"Shah Rukh Khan here scales the heights of sensitivity, rising above the mundane. His expressions are mature and reach out to touch the heart of the common man. As a prisoner lodged in a Pakistani jail, he breathes life into the story. His trauma becomes a saga and speaks about the untold sufferings of innocent prisoners."

In that same year, he received critical acclaim for his performance in Ashutosh Gowariker's drama ''Swades'' which most of the critics deemed as one of his best performance till date. Jitesh Pillai said of his role, "Ultimately your heart leaps out to the magical Shah Rukh Khan, who unarguably gives his career's finest performance. Shorn of any artifice or nervous energy, his anguish is tangible. He inhabits Mohan Bharghava with consummate ease, you can feel the earnestness of his intentions, the wetness of his tears". His performance was later included in the 2010 issue of the "Top 80 Iconic Performances" by Filmfare. He was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for all three of his releases in 2004, winning it for ''Swades''. The film itself was featured on Rediff's list of the 10 Best Bollywood Movies of the Decade.

His only release in 2005, ''Paheli'' opposite Rani Mukerji, was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars for the 79th Academy Awards. The film was critically acclaimed, as was Khan's performance, which Raja Sen called " A top-notch performance, [That] justifies his supremacy in the film world". In 2006, Khan collaborated with Karan Johar for the third time with the melodrama ''Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna'', with an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Kirron Kher. The film told the story of two unhappily married couples in New York, which later results in an extramarital affair. Khan played the role of Dev Saran, a bitter and cynical former football player who is jealous of his wife Rhea's successful career as a fashion magazine editor, played by Zinta. The film opened to mixed reviews but emerged as a major commercial success; becoming the biggest Bollywood hit in the overseas market of all-time. It grossed over 1.13 billion worldwide

His second release that year saw him playing the title role in the action film ''Don: The Chase Begins Again'', a remake of the 1978 hit ''Don''. He played the character of Don, a role which was played by Amitabh Bachchan in the original movie. While the film was generally well received, Khan's performance received mixed critical reactions. His performance was extensively compared to that of Bachchan. Tarab Adarsh noted that Khan "carries a massive responsibility on his shoulders since direct comparisons with Bachchan are foreseeable" adding that "He does very well as Don. He enacts the evil character with flourish. But he fails to carry off the other role [Vijay] with conviction. It looks made up, it doesn't come natural to him at all." While Derek Elley of ''Variety'' argued that "it's hard to accept him (Khan) as the title character" and that "Khan is far more convincing as Vijay, playing up to his rom-com fanbase with plenty of boyish humor." The film became the fifth-highest grossing film of the year in India. and the highest grossing film of the year in the overseas market. It grossed a total of 1.04 billion worldwide. Both the films earned him Filmfare Best Actor Award nominations while his role as Don earned him a nomination for the Asian Film Awards.

Khan's success continued with a few more highly popular films. One of his most successful works was the multiple award-winning 2007 film, ''Chak De! India'', about the Indian women's national hockey team. The film was a major critical and commercial success in India and abroad. Earning over 1.03 billion worldwide. ''Chak De! India'' became the third-highest grossing movie of 2007 in India and won yet another Filmfare Award for Best Actor for Khan. Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN wrote about his performance, "For the first time since ''Swades'', Shah Rukh plays a role without any of his typical trappings, without any of his trademark quirks. He sinks his teeth into the part of the determined coach and comes up with such a terrific performance. He's hopeful at times and despondent at others, he's humorous at times, and stern at others. He plays Kabir Khan like a real flesh-and-blood human being." Filmfare also included his performance in the 2010 issue of the "Top 80 Iconic Performances" and commented: }}In the same year Khan also starred in Farah Khan's 2007 film, ''Om Shanti Om''. A re-incarnation melodrama. Khan essayed the role of Om Prakash Makhija, a junior artiste from the 70s who is reborn thirty years later as a superstar named Om Kapoor, he then attempts to discover the mystery of his demise and avenge the death of his lost love. His performance was generally well received by critics; Khalid Mohammed from ''Hindustan Times'' wrote, "Above all the enterprise belongs to Shah Rukh Khan, who tackles comedy, high drama and action with his signature style – spontaneous and intuitively intelligent." The film emerged as the year's highest grossing film in India and the overseas market, and became India's highest grossing production ever up to that point with a worldwide gross of over 1.48 billion. It earned him another nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare ceremony.

In 2008, Khan collaborated with Aditya Chopra for the third time with the romantic drama ''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' opposite newcomer Anushka Sharma where he played a double role, one of Surinder Sahni, a shy self-described geek who works for Punjab Power in Amritsar whose love for beautiful, vivacious Taani, played by Sharma, causes him to transform himself into the loud and fun-loving Raj to win her love. The film received positive reviews and was declared a blockbuster, and had been concluded as the second-highest grossing film of all-time to that point by the end of the year. His performance was appreciated by critics. Rachel Saltz of ''New York Times'' stated: "The Surinder/Raj dual role seems tailor-made (probably was) for Mr. Khan, who gets to show off his twin talents: he suffers nobly and entertains with panache." It earned him yet again another nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare ceremony. In December of the same year, Khan suffered a serious shoulder injury while filming a special appearance in Mudassar Aziz's ''Dulha Mil Gaya''. He went through extensive physiotherapy sessions while shooting for ''My Name Is Khan'' at the time, but due to immense pain that left him almost immobile, he had to undergo an arthroscopic surgery in February 2009 after the shooting schedule for the film in the United States was over.

2010s

Khan's next film was ''My Name Is Khan'', his fourth collaboration with director Karan Johar and the sixth movie in which he is paired with Kajol. Filming commenced in December 2008 in Los Angeles and ended in October 2009. While shooting for the film, Khan suffered from severe headaches and neck pain which were caused by the unique posture and expressions he had to use in his portrayal of a Asperger syndrome patient. While in Los Angeles, along with his wife Gauri and director Karan Johar, he took a break from filming to attend the 66th Golden Globe Awards, held in Los Angeles, on 11 January 2009, where he was introduced as the ''King of Bollywood''. Khan introduced ''Slumdog Millionaire'', a movie he had previously turned down, along with a star from the film, Freida Pinto.

''My Name Is Khan'' was released on 12 February 2010. Based on a true story, and set against the backdrop of perceptions on Islam post 11 September attacks, ''My Name Is Khan'' stars Khan as Rizwan Khan, a Muslim man suffering from Asperger syndrome who sets out on a journey across America on a mission to meet the country's President and clear his name. Khan admitted that it was a very difficult role to play and that he had to spent several months of research including reading books, watching videos and talking to people affected with the disorder in an effort to get into the skin of the character. In an interview with ''Hindustan Times'' he said, "Whenever you're dealing with a disorder or a near atypical situation, the first thought is that the sort of parameters you have to set that in no which way you are derogatory or deriding the disorder. The second part is you have to come as close to reality in depicting that characterization and so one had to study a lot and one does get worried" During a promotional visit to the United States, Khan was detained at Newark Airport, New Jersey because of the similarity of his last name to known terrorists. Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time in the overseas market up until then. Khan's performance in the film was appreciated by most critics and earned him his eighth Filmfare Award for Best Actor, thereby joining Dilip Kumar as the record holder in this category. Jay Wesissberg from ''Variety'' wrote, "Khan uses the mannerisms associated with Asperger's -- averted eyes, springy steps, stuttered repetitions of memorized texts -- yet captures the personality beneath the condition in a standout performance sure to receive the Autism Society's gold seal of approval." Pratim D. Gupta of ''The Telegraph'' said: "It is the Khan who makes the movie. A perfect balance between laughter and tears, emphatic at times, empathetic at others, this is a star act by an actor born out of a star. Studied, consistent and honest, Shah Rukh can and he does. Yes, this is his best."

His first release in 2011 was Anubhav Sinha's science fiction superhero film ''Ra.One'' opposite Kareena Kapoor. The film, which follows the story of a London-based videogame designer who creates the strongest villain—only to later realize that it has escaped from the game was billed as Bollywood's most expensive film. With an estimated budget of , it witnessed a level of publicity campaigning previously unseen in Indian films and the use of several new technology equipment never seen before in the cinematic history of Bollywood. The film was a box office success, grossing 2.4 billion worldwide. To make his character of a superhero more believable, Khan decided that he would perform his own stunts in the film. While filming, he admitted he found difficulties with the rubber-made costume that was specially designed for his character; he also could not eat or drink anything between shoots, resulting in a weight loss of ten kilos. Khan also injured his left knee during filming, causing him considerable pain. Despite this, he postponed his knee surgery till after the release of the film. He was also involved in other aspects of the making of ''Ra.One''; he volunteered to write the film's console game script, dubbed for it, and oversaw its technical development. He was also credited as the writer of the digital comics based on the film's characters. Upon release, the film which saw Khan playing a double role, received mixed reactions from critics in India and Khan himself received mixed reviews. While most critics praised his performance as the robotic superhero G.one, they panned the one of Shekhar, the videogame designer. Rajeev Masand concluded: "The only real standout performance is by Shah Rukh Khan. His Aiyyo-speaking Shekhar Subramaniam is caricaturish but charming, while as G.One, he gives even his robotic video-game character a charismatic edge." while ''DNA India'' added: "Another half attempt comes from the lead actor: Khan is in his element and endearing as superhero G.One, but annoyingly over the top as video game creator Shekhar".

His second release of the year was ''Don 2'', a sequel to his 2006 film ''Don: The Chase Begins Again''. The film marked Khan's return to playing villainous characters since his earlier films like ''Darr'' and ''Baazigar.'' Khan experimented with a variety of looks, including long unkempt hair and stubble. He also bulked up for the film by developing a six pack and decided to perform all of his own stunts. While in Berlin, Khan performed a dangerous 300-feet jump for a scene. He became the first celebrity to register a tattoo in his name, when the 'D' tattoo ported on his arm in the film was registered for copyright protection. His performance fetched him critical praise, Nikhat Kazmi of ''The Times of India'' noted, "Shah Rukh remains in command and never loses his foothold, neither through the dramatic sequences nor through the action cuts." The film was a major success in India and it went on to become the year's highest-grossing Bollywood production abroad with a worldwide gross of more than 2.1 billion. It earned him another nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare ceremony .

In January 2012, he has started filming for ''Yash Chopra's Untitled project'', opposite Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma.

Producer

Khan turned producer when he set up a production company called ''Dreamz Unlimited'' with Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza in 1999. The first film he produced and starred in, ''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'' (2000), co-starring Chawla herself and directed by Mirza was a critical and commercial failure. The following year, he produced ''Asoka'' which was a box office failure. However, it was well received by critics, and was nominated for the Filmfare Best Movie Award. The film was also selected for screening at the Venice Film Festival and the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. His third film as a producer and star, ''Chalte Chalte'', proved a box office hit. In 2004, Khan took over his old production company Dreamz Unlimited and transformed it into Red Chillies Entertainment with his wife Gauri also serving as a producer. In the same year he produced and starred in ''Main Hoon Na'', another hit, which was directed by his friend and well-known choreographer Farah Khan. The film earned a nomination for the Filmfare Best Actor Award. The following year, he produced and starred in the fantasy film ''Paheli'', which did poorly. It was, however, critically acclaimed and was selected as India's official entry to the Academy Awards for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not pass the final selection. Also in 2005, Khan co-produced the supernatural horror film ''Kaal'' with Karan Johar, and performed an item number for the film with Malaika Arora Khan. ''Kaal'' was moderately successful at the box office.

In 2007, Khan produced ''Om Shanti Om'' also directed by Farah Khan. The film was a major commercial success, and was declared India's highest grossing production ever up to that point. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and went on to win several awards for special effects and Art Direction. It was also nominated for for the Filmfare Best Movie Award. His company has further gone on to produce ''Billu'' (2009), and ''Always Kabhi Kabhi'' (2011). During the filming of ''My Name Is Khan'', Karan Johar producer of the film and head of Dharma Productions, asked Khan to co-produce the film under his production company. The both will further collaborate in Johar's next directorial venture ''Student Of The Year''.

Since the creation of his company, Khan was keen on making a VFX-loaded film. The company continued working on other projects and seeking for the right film until they finally decided on ''Ra.One'' (2011). The pre-production work began in 2007 after the release of ''Om Shanti Om''. The film's crew consisted of more than 5,000 members from India, Italy and the US, and was pieced together by more than 1,000 people, working in shifts, in around 15 studios across the world. It saw the inclusion of several visual effects techniques being incorporated in the production which were carried out by Red Chillies VFX. With an estimated budget of 125 crore (US$23.75 million), ''Ra.One'' was the second-most expensive film ever produced in Indian cinema, and the most expensive Bollywood film The film witnessed a level of publicity campaigning previously unseen in India films, with marketing taking place over a period of nine months and involving major brand tie-ups of a 52 crore (US$9.88 million) which set the record for the largest marketing budget in India. Khan is also one of the producers of ''Don 2'' (2011), but not through his production company. The movie was a major success in India and abroad.

Apart from film production, the company also has a visual effects studio known as Red Chillies VFX which had been involved with many major movies like ''Chak De India'', ''Om Shanti Om'', ''Dostana'', and ''Kurbaan''. As well as studios for TV commercials known as ''Red Chillies TVC'' and TV shows/serials known as ''Red Chillies Idiot Box'', which conceived popular shows like ''Up Close & Personal with PZ'' and ''Ishaan''. The company also has a little over 50% stake in the Cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders often abbreviated as KKR, in the BCCI-backed IPL cricket competition.

Non-film work

Television presenting

In 2007, Khan replaced Amitabh Bachchan as the host of the third season of the game show ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' popularly known as ''KBC'', the Indian version of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''. The previous had hosted the show for two previous seasons in 2000 and 2005. On 22 January 2007, ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' aired with Khan as the new host. The grand prize amount of 2 crore rupees (approx. $430,000 USD) was still used in KBC3. and later ended on 19 April 2007 with a special finale. In an interview with ''The Times Of India'', Khan explained that he was offered to host the second season of the show as well but he turned it down because Bachchan wanted to do it then. For his work at KBC 3, Khan won the best anchor at various awards ceremonies including The Global Indian Film and Television Honours and Indian Telly Awards.

A year later, Khan began hosting the game show ''Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?'', the Indian version of ''Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'', The show premiered on April 25, 2008 and the last episode was telecast on July 27, 2008 with Lalu Prasad Yadav as the special guest. On 1 February 2011, he began hosting Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout, the Indian version of the American game show Wipeout, on Imagine TV. The show ended on February 25, 2011 with Kushal Punjabi as the winner.

Stage performances

Khan is a stage performer and has participated in several world tours and concerts. In 1997, he preformed in the ''Asha Bhosle's: Moments In Time'' in Malaysia. He returned to another concert there the following year with ''Shahrukh—Karisma: Live in Malaysia'' concert. In 1999, he was part of ''The Awesome Foursome'', which included Salman Khan, Juhi Chawla and Twinkle Khanna. In November 2002, Khan took part in the ''Fire & Flames'' concert in Malaysia, alongside Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan and BPL-Oye VJ Raageshwari with a 40-member troupe of singers and dancers. In the same year, he participated in the show ''From India With Love'' in the UK, along with Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Preity Zinta and Aishwarya Rai. It took place at two outdoor venues, Manchester's Old Trafford and London's Hyde Park, with over 100,000 spectators.

Khan participated in a concert tour titled ''Temptations 2004'' which was the most successful Bollywood concert at the time. Khan performed alongside Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra in nineteen stage shows across the globe. He sang, danced and performed in skits. In 2008, Khan set up ''Temptation Reloaded 2008'', a series of concerts showcased across several different countries. The show, which also featured Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif, Ganesh Hegde, Javed Ali and Anusha Dandekar, took place at the Ahoy Rotterdam venue in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Several months later, he again joined Kapoor, Rampal and Kaif to perform for 15,000 spectators at Dubai's Festival City Arena. In 2010, Khan performed alongside Rani Mukerji, Arjun Rampal, Neeraj Shridhar and Ishaa Koppikar for a concert at the Army Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh to a packed audience. And in 2011, he joined Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in the ''Friendship Concert'', celebrating 150 years of India-South Africa friendship in Durban, South Africa.

Humanitarian work

Khan is known for keeping a low profile and secrecy on his social commitments and Humanitarian work. Apart from regular donations to organizations and individuals, especially in the case of AIDS and cancer patients, he is behind the creation of a children's ward at the Nanavati hospital in Mumbai, in memory of his late mother. Khan is also active with relief funds when the Indian nation faces a natural calamity. He also lent his name to various government campaigns through out the years, notably those of Pulse Polio immunisation campaign which was established in 1995 to eradicate poliomyelitis in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against the polio virus, the National AIDS Control Organisation and the National Rural Health Mission of India which aims to provide accessible, affordable, effective and reliable health care service to the people of India residing in villages. Khan is a member of the board of directors of Make-A-Wish Foundation in India.

In March 2004, Khan visited the border post at the Attari-Wagah section of the Indo-Pak border, near Amritsar (the only one where people can cross over to the other side) to boost the morale of the jawans. It was for a TV show called ''Jai Jawan'' where entertainers and stars visit Indian troops in far-flung regions to encourage them along with the NDTV team. In February 2005, Khan performed at the ''HELP! Telethon Concert'' to help raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in company with other Bollywood stars and also donated 2.5 million for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Tsunami Relief Fund for the tsunami-affected areas in India. He organized and participated in ''the Temptations 2005'' show in New Delhi which helped to raise funds for the ''National Centre For Promotional of Employment for Disabled People'' (NCPEDP), a leading disabled rights group. In 2007, he collaborated with veteran artist M.F. Husain to create a canvas in celebration of 60 years of Indian independence at a charity auction in Bonhams, London. The painting was sold for over 12 million.

During his 2009 appearance at the NDTV Greenathon, Khan adopted five villages in Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara, to provide them with electricity under the solar energy harnessing project in its title initiative 'Light A Billion Lives'. The following year, he adopted eight more villages, and again adopted eleven during his appearance in in the third edition of the event. In 2009, Khan committed to bear all the expenses for the treatment of two Kashmiri orphan children who suffered severe burns during a terrorist grenade attack in Srinagar. He also visited the two orphans at the hospital. In 2011, Khan teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan and English actress Judi Dench to promote Resul Pookutty's foundation that works to better the living conditions of the underprivileged in India. The complain aims to spread awareness on the cause of education among the impoverished, in India and also discourages child labour in the low income bracket of society and focus on providing opportunities to let children have a proper childhood. the same year, he was honored with the UNESCO's ''Pyramide con Marni'' award for his charity engagements and social commitment towards providing education for kids thus becoming the first Indian to win the accolade. Later that year, Khan was appointed by The UNOPS to be the first global ambassador of The ''Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council'' that works to improve the lives of poor people by enhancing collaboration among sector agencies and professionals around sanitation and water supply. During ''Ra.One'''s premiere in Dubai in October 2011, Khan along with co-stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal held a high-profile dinner and charity auction, which raised AED 30,000 for building a workshop for children with special needs.

Ownership of IPL cricket team

In 2008, Khan in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband Jay Mehta acquired ownership rights for the franchise representing Kolkata in the a Twenty20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League, for a price of USD 75.09 million (Rs 357 crores), and have since named the team Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR is the richest team in the IPL and it has been ranked as the most valued with a brand value of $42.1 million. Financially, the KKR are the most profitable and successful franchise in the IPL as well.

In the media

Khan was given the birth name "Shahrukh" (meaning "Face of the King"), but prefers his name to be written as "Shah Rukh Khan", and is also commonly referred to as SRK. Khan has various homes in India and abroad. His house in Mumbai called ''Mannat'' is a well-known tourist spot and is considered a heritage building, deemed important to the townscape and hence exempt from demolition. In addition, he also had a house in New Delhi. Khan also owns a £20 million apartment in London and a villa on the Palm Jumeirah. Khan said in a television interview that "I bought the house, because one can see the island from the moon." Khan's net worth is estimated at over 25 billion ($540 million)

Khan has been noted for having several trademark mannerisms, gestures and ways of delivering dialogues. As it has been cited by CNN-IBN: "The mannerisms that have earned him both brickbats and endeared him to his fans over the years – that half nod, raised brow gesture, a deep dimpled smile and a deliberate stammer – were absent when he debuted. If he picked them up later to addapt to the big screen, they stayed for the rest of his acting career." Due to his appearance in numerous romantic films, Khan has developed a "romantic lover boy" image and is referred to as the "King of Romance" by media outlets. He has been accused of repeating himself through the type of characters that he played, referred to as the "Rajs and Rahuls", or him not being able to shed the superstar persona on screen and often playing himself. In 2011, Rediff listed him in the top 10 "Readers Choice: The Greatest Actors of all time".

Globally, Khan is considered to be one of the biggest movie stars, with a fan following claimed to number in the billions. He is also of one the most watched movie stars in the world, and one of the most recognizable faces of Indian cinema. In 2004, ''Time'' featured him in their list of "Asian Heroes" under the age of 40 and was later selected as one of the candidates for its list of the world's 100 most influential people. Khan was the only Indian actor nominated for the poll and eventually did not make it to the final list, ranked at 101. In 2008, ''Newsweek'' named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world. In 2009, he was declared amongst the 500 most influential Muslims worldwide by Georgetown University. He was later recognized in 2010 as an icon of religious unity, by experts from around the world, at a conference at Vienna University. In 2011, ''The Los Angeles Times'' noted: "He is the biggest movie star you’ve never heard of. And perhaps the world’s biggest movie star, period." His success and popularity has been attributed as the result of his emergence in the era of liberalization and changing economic scenario in the 1990s. He was often described as the face and catalyst of a new consumerist urban society, and that he has managed to personify "the restless spirit of post-liberalization, ambitious, assertive and yet feel-good India."

In 2004, Khan was awarded the Filmfare Power Award (shared with Amitabh Bachachan) for topping the ''Filmfare'' list of the "Ten Most Powerful Names of Bollywood", and again in 2005. In 2006 he was ranked as second overall behind Yash Chopra and his son Aditya and the most powerful actor, an achievement he would go on to repeat till 2009. He occupied the top slot of ''Box Office India'''s Top Actors list for the first time in 1994 for two consecutive years, then again in 1998 and for the majority of the 2000s (from 2002 till 2008). He was voted the sexiest Asian man in the world by Eastern Eye in 2007, and was ranked third in 2008 and 2011. In 2010, OK! Magazine named him India's sexiest dad. In a 2009 poll conducted by the newspaper DNA, he was voted as India's second most popular icon behind Sachin Tendulkar. In a 2012 Hindustan Times Youth Survey, Khan was declared as the biggest role model for youth in India.

Khan is often labeled by the Media as "Brand SRK" due to his various brand endorsement and entrepreneurship ventures. ''The Times Of India'' noted “Khan has established himself as a brand on the map of the film industry. Hailing from a non-filmi background with no pedigree to boast of and no godfather to pull strings, the St. Columba's alumnus has become a muse. ” In 2005, he launched his own perfume, labeled "Tiger Eyes by SRK" by the French perfume brand Jeanne Arthes. In 2009, Khan was crowned as the "Brand Ambassador of the Year" at the CNBC Awaaz consumer awards and in 2010 won the ‘Brand Ambassador of the Year’ award at NDTV Profit Car & Bike Awards. He is also is one of the top paid Bollywood actors in this respect. While in 2003, he endorsed eight brands, his endorsement rose up to a total of thirteen brands in 2004 and in 2005, he endorsed twenty one brands, thirty four brands in 2009 and twenty five in 2011. Some of the brands that he has endorsed over the years are Pepsi, Nokia, Hyundai, Sunfeast, Videocon, Airtel, Himani, Nerolac Paints, Dish TV, D'decor and Tag Heuer. In 2011, Khan was appointed the brand ambassador of the Champions League Twenty20.

In 2005, Nasreen Munni Kabir produced a two-part documentary on Khan, titled ''The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan''. Featuring his 2004 Temptations concert tour, the film contrasted Khan's inner world of family and daily life with the outer world of his work. The book ''Still Reading Khan'' by Mushtaq Sheikh, which details his family life, was released in 2006. Another book by Anupama Chopra, ''King of Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema'', was released in 2007. It describes the world of Bollywood through Khan's life. In 2010, Discovery Travel & Living channel produced a ten-part series titled ''Living with a Superstar-Shah Rukh Khan'' . The series was the biggest Indian show on television, with a budget of nearly 20 million, highlighting Khan’s daily living, film-making, IPL venture and global lifestyle. In 2006, Khan was one of four Bollywood actors including Priyanka Chopra, Kajol and Hrithik Roshan whose miniature dolls were launched by Spin Master Toys UK under the name of "Bollywood Legends". Khan was invited along with Kajol by NASDAQ to ring their opening bell in New York and thus became the first Indian actors to open the stock market. Khan is also the first actor and the second Indian to have an official Opus dedicated to him.

Awards and honors

Filmography

+ Actor
Year	! Film	! Role	Notes
1992		Raja Sahai	Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut
1992		Pawan Raghujan
1992	''Chamatkar''	Sunder Srivastava
1992	''Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman''	Raju (Raj Mathur)
1992	''Dil Aashna Hai''	Karan
1993	''Maya Memsaab''	Lalit Kumar
1993	''King Uncle''	Anil Bhansal
1993	''Baazigar''	Ajay Sharma / Vicky Malhotra	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1993	''Darr''	Rahul Mehra	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role
1993	''Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa''	Sunil	Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1993	''Pehla Nasha''	Himself	Cameo
1994	''Anjaam''	Vijay Agnihotri	Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role
1995	''Karan Arjun''	Arjun Singh / Vijay
1995	''Zamana Deewana''	Rahul Malhotra
1995	''Guddu''	Guddu Bahadur
1995	''Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!''	Hero
1995	''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge''	Raj Malhotra	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1995	''Ram Jaane''	Ram Jaane
1995		Romi Singh
1996	''English Babu Desi Mem''	Vikram / Hari / Gopal Mayur
1996		Roop Rathore
1996		Arjun	Cameo
1996	''Dushman Duniya Ka''	Badru	Special appearance
1997	''Gudgudee''		Special appearance
1997	''Koyla''	Shankar
1997	''Yes Boss''	Rahul Joshi	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1997		Arjun Saagar
1997	''Dil To Pagal Hai''	Rahul	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1998		Bablu Chaudhry / Manu Dada	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role
1998		Himself	Special appearance
1998	''Dil Se..''	Amarkant Varma
1998	''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai''	Rahul Khanna	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1999	''Baadshah''	Raj Heera / Baadshah	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role
2000	''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''	Ajay Bakshi
2000	''Hey Ram''	Amjad Ali Khan
2000		Max
2000	''Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega''	Rahul	Cameo
2000	''Mohabbatein''	Raj Aryan Malhotra	Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2000	''Gaja Gamini''	Himself	Special appearance
2001	''One 2 Ka 4''	Arun Verma
2001		Asoka
2001	''Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...''	Rahul Raichand	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2002	''Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam''	Gopal
2002		Devdas Mukherjee	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2002		Jaisingh	Special appearance
2002		Yeshwant Rao	Cameo
2003		Raj Mathur
2003	''Kal Ho Naa Ho''	Aman Mathur	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2004	''Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke ''	Dushant
2004	''Main Hoon Na''	Maj. Ram Prasad Sharma	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2004	''Veer-Zaara''	Veer Pratap Singh	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2004	''Swades''	Mohan Bhargava	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2005	''Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye''	Himself	Special appearance
2005			Special appearance in song "Kaal Dhamaal"
2005	''Silsilay''	Sutradhar	Cameo
2005	''Paheli''	Kishenlal / The Ghost
2005		Himself (Biopic)	Documentary directed by British-based author and director Nasreen Munni Kabir
2006	''Alag''		Special appearance in song "Sabse Alag"
2006	''Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna''	Dev Saran	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2006	''Don: The Chase Begins Again''		Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2006			Special appearance in song "Subah Subah"
2007	''Chak De! India''	Kabir Khan	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2007	''Heyy Babyy''	Raj Malhotra	Special appearance in song "Mast Kalandar"
2007	''Om Shanti Om''	Om Prakash Makhija / Om Kapoor	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2008	''Krazzy 4''		Special appearance in song "Break Free"
2008	''Bhoothnath''	Aditya Sharma	Cameo
2008	''Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi''	Surinder Sahni / Raj	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2008	''Kismat Konnection''	Narrator
2009	''Luck by Chance''	Himself	Guest appearance
2009	''Billu''	Sahir Khan	Extended special appearance
2010	''Dulha Mil Gaya''	Pawan Raj Gandhi (PRG)	Extended appearance
2010	''My Name Is Khan''	Rizwan Khan	Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2010	''Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu''	Himself	Cameo
2011	''Always Kabhi Kabhi''		Special appearance in song "Antenna"
2011	''Love Breakups Zindagi''	Himself	Cameo
2011	''Ra.One''
2011	''Don 2''		Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
2012	''Koochie Koochie Hota Hain''	Rocky	Post-production
2012	''Yash Chopra's Untitled Project''		Filming
2013			Pre-Production

+ Producer
! Year	! Film	Notes
2000	''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''
2001		Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Movie
2003
2004	''Main Hoon Na''	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Movie
2005		co-producer
2005	''Paheli''
2007	''Om Shanti Om''	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Movie
2009	''Billu''
2010	''My Name Is Khan''	co-producer Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Movie
2011	''Always Kabhi Kabhi''
2011	''Ra.One''
2011	''Don 2''	co-producer Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Movie
2012	''Student Of The Year''	co-producer

; Television appearances

''Dil Dariya'' (1988)

''Fauji'' (1988) as Abhimanyu Rai

''Doosra Keval'' (1989) as Keval

''Ummeed'' (1989)

''Circus'' (1989) as Raghavan

''In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones'' (1989) as Senior

''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' (2007) — Host

''Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?'' (2008) — Host

''Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout'' (2011) — Host

See also

List of Indian Actors

Newark Airport Incident

Notes

Bibliography

Nasreen Munni Kabir. ''The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan'' (Documentary, 2005).

''Shahrukh Khan — Still Reading Khan''. A1Books Distributor 2007. ISBN 978-81-87107-79-8.

Gahlot, Deepa; Agarwal, Amit. ''King Khan SRK''. Augsburg Weltbild 2007. ISBN 978-3-8289-8869-9.

Ghosh, Biswadeep. ''Hall of fame: Shahrukh Khan'' (in English). Mumbai: Magna Books, 2004. ISBN 81-7809-237-9.

Chopra, Anupama. ''King of Bollywood : Shah Rukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema'' (English). New York: Warner Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-446-57858-5.

External links

Category:1965 births Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian actors Category:Indian film actors Category:Indian film producers Category:Indian Muslims Category:Indian Premier League franchise owners Category:Indian singers Category:Indian television actors Category:Indian voice actors Category:Indian television presenters Category:Indian people of Afghan descent Category:Jamia Millia Islamia alumni Category:Living people Category:Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Category:Pashtun people Category:People from Delhi Category:People from Peshawar Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:University of Delhi alumni Category:Indian game show hosts

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name	Juhi Chawla
birth date	November 13, 1967
birth place	Ludhiana, Punjab, India
yearsactive	1986–present
spouse	Jai Mehta (1997–present)
occupation	Film actress, Producer, Television presenter
birth name	Juhi S Chawla }}

Juhi Chawla (, born 13 November 1967) is an Indian actress, film producer and television presenter.

After being crowned as the winner of the Miss India beauty contest in 1984, Chawla pursued an acting career. She went on to become one of the top leading actresses of Bollywood and starred in films ranging from the romances ''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'' and ''Darr'' to ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke'', which earned her the Filmfare Best Actress Award, to ''Yes Boss'' and ''Ishq''. Chawla has been mostly recognised for her comic timing in films as well as her vivacious screen persona.

An important fact is that she knows Tamil very well as she studied in chennai during her childhood days.

During the 2000s, after having starred in over 70 mainstream Hindi films, Chawla started acting in art and independent films. She appeared in films in her native tongue of Punjabi, and has been mostly working in parallel cinema. She gained critical recognition for her performances in films like ''Jhankaar Beats'', ''3 Deewarein'', ''My Brother Nikhil'' and ''Bas Ek Pal''. Since 2000, Chawla branched out into film production and television presenting as well.

Early life and background

Juhi Chawla was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. She is the first child born to Dr. S. Chawla and Mona Chawla.

She completed her schooling from Ludhiana before the family moved over to Mumbai. She graduated from Sydenham College, Mumbai with a specialisation in HR. She was the winner of Miss India title in 1984; later she won Best Costume Award for the Miss Universe contest in 1984. She is also a very good dancer. In a Baaje Payal (a film based on a collection of interviews for dancers/actresses) interview, she mentioned having learnt Kathak for three (3) years and regretted giving it up as it could have helped her in her career as an actress. She is also an accomplished classical singer and has been training for the last 6 years.

Career

Film

Chawla ventured into films with the 1986 ''Sultanat''. She also acted in Kannada classic Premaloka directed by Ravichandran in 1987. Her first major role in Bollywood was in ''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'' in 1988, in which she starred with Aamir Khan. The film, a modern-day adaption of Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'', became both a major critical and commercial success. It won the Filmfare Best Movie Award, and Chawla won the Filmfare Lux New Face Award and received her first nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. The film subsequently received classic status.

In 1990, she starred in such films as ''Pratibandh'', which was a box office success and for which she was nominated the ''Filmfare Best Actress Award'', and ''Swarg''. In 1992, she was nominated for a Filmfare for ''Bol Radha Bol'' which performed well commercially.

In 1993 she starred in the moderately successful project ''Aaina'', and hits like Lootere opposite Sunny Deol and Mahesh Bhatt's hit ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke''. She followed it with a leading role in Yash Chopra's thriller ''Darr'', which went on to become the third top-grossing film of the year in India. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke''. Most of Chawla's films of 1994–6 were unsuccessful, though she received a Filmfare nomination for her performance as a battered wife in ''Daraar''. She had a revival in 1997 with such romantic comedies as ''Yes Boss'', ''Deewana Mastana'' and ''Ishq''. ''Ishq'' became one of the top-earners of the year, and Chawla received her sixth Filmfare nomination for her portrayal of a model in ''Yes Boss''.

Chawla's pairing with Aamir Khan and their on-screen chemistry was often cited by the media as successful. She has also teamed up with Shahrukh Khan in several movies, including ''Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman'', ''Darr'', ''Duuplicate'' and ''Yes Boss''.

Through the 2000s, Chawla started appearing in independent and art films, and her work in the genre included the critically acclaimed films ''3 Deewarein'', ''7½ Phere'' and ''My Brother Nikhil'', which Taran Adarsh termed as "amongst the finest in her career". She won a Star Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''3 Deewarein''.

She was seen in Nikhil Advani's ''Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love'' for which she received good reviews. She starred with Urmila Matondkar in ''Bas Ek Pal'' (2006) and with Manoj Bajpai in ''Swami''. Juhi's latest releases include Ravi Chopra's ''Bhoothnath'' with Amitabh Bachchan, in which she made her singing debut with the song "Chalo Jaane Do". Another film called ''Krazzy 4'' with Irfan Khan and Arshad Warsi was released in 2008. Both ''Bhootnath'' and ''Krazzy 4'' were critical and commercial successes in India. In 2009, she appeared in a supporting role in ''Luck By Chance'' for which she dyed her hair blonde. The film got extremely positive reviews and has got a good opening at the box office.

Chawla has appeared in several non-Hindi language films. She has appeared in various Punjabi films: ''Shaheed Uddham Singh'' (2000), ''Des Hoyaa Pardes'' (2004), ''Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waris'' (2006) and "Sukhmani:hope for life" (2010). Her first Malayalam film was ''Harikrishnans'', which also starred actors Mohanlal and Mammootty. In the beginning of her career she acted in Kannada films, which include the successful ''Premaloka'' and unsuccessful films like ''Shanthi Kranthi'' and ''Kindara Jogi''. She acted with popular Kannada actor Ravichandran in all these three films.

Her last release was Onir's critically acclaimed feature ''I Am Megha''(2011) alongside her one-time rival Manisha Koirala playing Juhi Chawla's childhood friend. The feature consists of a few movies with different storylines with ''I Am Megha'' being one of them.

Television

During the 2000s, Chawla has also been presenter and host of numerous television shows, particularly award ceremonies, including the Filmfare Awards and the Zee Cine Awards. Chawla has been a judge for the entertainment show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa alongside Saroj Khan and Vaibhavi Merchant during the show's third season.

Producer

Juhi later turned producer and became the co-owner of a production company called ''Dreamz Unlimited'' with Shahrukh Khan and director Aziz Mirza. The first two films produced by the production company were ''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'' and ''Asoka''. Their third film, ''Chalte Chalte'' was the first success for the company.

Personal life

Juhi Chawla is married to industrialist Jai Mehta. The couple have two children; a daughter Jhanvi born in 2001, and a son Arjun born in 2003. Her mother died in a car accident in Prague during the shooting of the movie ''Duplicate'' in 1998.

Jai Mehta and Juhi Chawla are the co-owners of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders in partnership with Shahrukh Khan under their company Red Chillies Entertainment.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

As actress

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Other notes
1986	''Sultanat''	Zarina
1987	''Premaloka''	Shashikala	Kannada Film
	''Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak''	Rashmi	Winner, Filmfare Lux New Face AwardNominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
''Paruva Ragam''	Shashikala
	''Chandni''	Devika	Cameo
''Kindari Jogi''	Ganga	Kannada Film
''Vicky Dada''	Shyamalee
	Reema Goswami
''Goonj''	Sangeeta Kalekar
	''Kaafila''	Kalpana Awasti
''Swarg''	Jyoti
''Prathibandh''	Shanti	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
''Tum Mere Ho''	Paro / Nagin
''Zahreelay''
''Shandaar''	Tulsi
	Inspector Raksha Sharma
	''Shanti Kranti''	Jyothi
''Shanthi Kranti''	Jyothi	Kannada Film
''Nattukku Oru Nallavan''
''Benaam Badshah''	Jyoti
''Karz Chukana Hai''	Radha
''Bhabhi''
	''Bol Radha Bol''	Radha	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
''Radha Ka Sangam''
''Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman''	Renu
''Mere Sajana Saath Nibhana''
''Bewafa Se Wafa''	Ruksaar
''Daulat Ki Jung''	Asha Agrawal
	''Lootere''
''Shatranj''
''Izzat Ki Roti''
''Pehla Nasha''
''Tadipar''		Cameo
	Reema Mathur
''Darr''	Kiran Awasti
''Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke''	Vyaijanti Iyer	Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
''Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na''		Guest appearance
	''Eena Meena Deeka''	Meena
''The Gentleman''
''Andaz''	Saraswati
''Andaz Apna Apna''	Herself	Guest appearance
''Ghar Ki Izzat''	Geeta
''Bhagyavan''	Geeta
''Pramaatma''
''Saajan Ka Ghar''	Laxmi
	''Ram Jaane''	Bela
''Kartavya''	Kajal Sahay
''Naajayaz''	Inspector Sandhya
''Aatank Hi Aatank''	Neha
	''Talaashi''
''Loafer''	Kiran Mathur
''Bandish''	Kanta
''Daraar''	Priya Bhatia	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
	''Yes Boss''	Seema Kapoor	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award''
	Madhu
''Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi''	Shalu
''Deewana Mastana''	Dr Neha Sharma
	''Saat Rang Ke Sapne''	Jalima
''Harikrishnans''	Mira Varma	Malyalam Film
	Sonia Kapoor
''Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate''	Urmila Abhyankar
	''Safari''	Anjali Agarwal
''Arjun Pandit''	Nisha Chopra
''Shaheed Uddham Singh''	Noor Jehan
		Sanam
''Karoobar: The Business Of Love''	Seema Saxena
''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''	Ria Banerjee
	''One 2 Ka 4''	Geeta Chowdhary
''Ek Rishtaa''	Priti Kapoor
''Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa''	Jhoomri
	''3 Deewarein''	Chandrika
''Jhankaar Beats''	Shanti
2004	''Des Hoya Pardes''	Jassi
	''My Brother Nikhil''	Anamika
''Paheli''	Gajrobai
''Khamosh: Khauf Ki Khaufnak Raat''	Dr Sakshi Saagar
''Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak''	Parvati Kakkar
''7½ Phere''	Asmi Ganatra
''Dosti: Friends Forever''	Aditi
	''Bas Ek Pal''	Ira Malhotra
''Waris Shah-Ishq Da Waaris''	Bhaagbhari
	''Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love''	Seema
	Radha
''Om Shanti Om''	Herself	Cameo
	''Bhootnath''	Anjali Sharma
''Krazzy 4''	Dr Sonali
''Kismat Konnection''	Haseena Bano Jaan
	''Luck By Chance''	Minty
''Kal Kissne Dekha''		Special appearance
		Megha

As producer

2000 – ''Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani''

2001 – ''Asoka''

2003 – ''Chalte Chalte''

See also

List of Indian film actresses

References

External links

|- ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" | Filmfare Award |- |-

Category:1967 births Category:Femina Miss India winners Chawla,Juhi Category:Living people Category:Miss Universe 1984 contestants Category:People from Punjab (India) Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:People from Ludhiana Category:Indian film actors Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian Hindus Category:Indian Premier League franchise owners Category:Indian film producers Category:Indian television presenters Category:Punjabi people Category:People from Mumbai

ar:جوهي تشاولا az:Cuhi Çavla bn:জুহি চাওলা bg:Джухи Чаула da:Juhi Chawla de:Juhi Chawla es:Juhi Chawla fr:Juhi Chawla hi:जूही चावला id:Juhi Chawla it:Juhi Chawla he:ג'והי צ'אולה jv:Juhi Chawla kn:ಜೂಹಿ ಚಾವ್ಲಾ ml:ജൂഹി ചാവ്‌ല mr:जुही चावला ms:Juhi Chawla nl:Juhi Chawla ja:ジューヒー・チャーウラー pl:Juhi Chawla rmy:जूही चावला ru:Чавла, Джухи si:ජුහි චව්ලා fi:Juhi Chawla sv:Juhi Chawla ta:ஜூஹி சாவ்லா zh:菊希·曹拉

playername	Gautam Gambhir
country	India
nickname	Gauti
living	true
dayofbirth	14
monthofbirth	10
yearofbirth	1981
placeofbirth	New Delhi
countryofbirth	India
batting	Left-handed
bowling	Right arm leg break
role	Opening- and Top order Batsman
international	true
testdebutdate	3 November
testdebutyear	2004
testdebutagainst	Australia
testcap	249
lasttestdate	22 August
lasttestyear	2011
lasttestagainst	England
odidebutdate	11 April
odidebutyear	2003
odidebutagainst	Bangladesh
odicap	149
lastodidate	2 April
lastodiyear	2011
lastodiagainst	Sri Lanka
club1	Delhi
year1	1999/00–present
club2	Delhi Daredevils
year2	2008–2010
club3	Kolkata Knight Riders
year3	2011–present
deliveries	balls
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	41
runs1	3,336
bat avg1	48.34
100s/50s1	9/16
top score1	206
deliveries1	0
wickets1	–
bowl avg1	–
fivefor1	–
tenfor1	–
best bowling1	–
catches/stumpings1	30/–
column2	ODI
matches2	114
runs2	4,073
bat avg2	40.73
100s/50s2	9/25
top score2	150*
deliveries2	6
wickets2	0
bowl avg2	–
fivefor2	0
tenfor2	0
best bowling2	0/13
catches/stumpings2	32/–
column3	FC
matches3	126
runs3	10,398
bat avg3	53.59
100s/50s3	32/45
top score3	233*
deliveries3	385
wickets3	7
bowl avg3	39.57
fivefor3	0
tenfor3	0
best bowling3	3/12
catches/stumpings3	79/–
column4	LA
matches4	216
runs4	7,412
bat avg4	38.20
100s/50s4	17/43
top score4	150*
deliveries4	37
wickets4	1
bowl avg4	36.00
fivefor4	0
tenfor4	0
best bowling4	1/7
catches/stumpings4	62/–
date	30 August
year	2011
source	http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/content/player/28763.html ESPNCricinfo }}

Gautam Gambhir , (born 14 October 1981, in Delhi) is an Indian cricketer, a batsman. He has been a member of the Indian national cricket team since 2003 (ODIs) and 2004 (Tests). Gambhir had been a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket with an average of over 50 but his two successive double-hundreds in 2002 (one of them against the visiting Zimbabweans) made him a strong contender for India's opening slot. He became only the fourth Indian batsman to score a double century in a tour game at home; the previous three being Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar. He is the only Indian batsman to score more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series. He is also the only Indian, and one of only four international cricketers, to have scored five hundreds in five consecutive test matches. On July 2009, for a period of ten days he was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings.

Early life

Gambhir attended Modern School, New Delhi. Gambhir was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

International career

Gambhir made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in the TVS Cup in 2003. In his third match, he scored 71 and was named Man of the Match. His maiden century (103 off 97 balls) came against Sri Lanka in 2005. In 2004, he made his Test debut against Australia in the fourth and last Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but did himself no favours by getting out for 3 and 1. He made amends in his second Test, however, scoring 96 against the South Africans. His maiden Test century came against Bangladesh in December 2004. Gambhir then made a number of starts in the home series against Pakistan in 2005, but was able to make only one half-century in six innings. He made 97 in Zimbabwe later that year, but failed to reach 30 against Sri Lanka at home, repeatedly struggling against Chaminda Vaas, and was subsequently dropped from the Test team. He was replaced in Tests by Wasim Jaffer, who made a double hundred and a hundred in seven Tests.

While Gambhir was out of the Test team, he played a number of One Day Internationals for India between 2005 and 2007. However, he was not selected for the 2007 Cricket World Cup as the selectors opted for a top-order of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar. After India's first-round exit from the tournament, Gambhir was selected for the One Day International on India's 2007 tour of Bangladesh. Gambhir scored his second century on that tour and was subsequently selected for the One Day International on India's tour to Ireland in 2007. He scored an unbeaten 80 against Ireland in the first game of that tour and was awarded the man of the match award for that effort. In the post-match interview, he indicated that performing more consistently was a top priority for his career as he had done so in the past.

Gambhir was selected in India's squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, which India went on to win in South Africa, beating Pakistan in the final. Gambhir performed well in the shortest form of the game, ending the tournament as India's top run scorer, with 227 at an average of 37.83, including three half-centuries which included a crucial 75 runs off 54 balls against Pakistan in the final.

2008 started well for Gambhir. At home, he scored an unbeaten 130 in the Ranji Trophy final to help Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh by nine wickets just two days before the team for the ODI tournament in Australia was to be announced.

Gambhir was forced to miss the Test series in Australia due to a shoulder injury. In the 2007–08 CB Series, he scored an unbeaten 102 at The Gabba against Sri Lanka in a match washed out due to rain. Three weeks later at Sydney, he scored a career-best 113 off 119 balls against Australia, in a high scoring match which India lost by 18 runs. He finished the CB series as the leading run-scorer with 440 runs.

In 2008 Gambhir finally solidified his place in the Indian Test team with a string of high scores. Opening the batting with Delhi teammate Virender Sehwag, he scored 858 runs at over 61 in seven matches as of December including a double century against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However in the same match he was involved in controversy when he was found to have thrown an elbow at Australia all-rounder Shane Watson while taking a run. Gambhir denied the charges in a media conference on the day of the incident, claiming the elbowing was unintentional, but pleaded guilty in the disciplinary hearing and served a one-Test ban for the incident, replaced by Murali Vijay. Despite missing the last match, Gambhir still topped the run-scorers list for both teams.

He was the leading run-scorer in the Test series against England in December 2008 and against New Zealand in early-2009, meaning that he had achieved this feat in three consecutive series.

Gambhir played his first major Test series outside the sub-continent, having toured New Zealand in 2009. In the second Test match he scored a match saving 137 in the second innings. He stood more than five sessions in the middle and faced over 430 balls. This innings led Virender Sehwag, Gambhir's opening partner, close friend and captain for the match, to call him 'The Second Wall' in reference to Rahul Dravid. He then scored 167 in the second innings of the Third Test to give India an unassailable lead, but rain helped the New Zealand batsmen to hang on for a draw. Gambhir, with 445 runs in six innings at an average of 89, helped India win 1–0 to script a series win in that country after 41 years.

He was named as the ICC Test Player of the Year for 2009, and was briefly ranked the No. 1 batsman in the ICC rankings in July; at the time India were not playing Tests and his points rating did not change, but other batsmen who were ranked higher lost points before regaining them.

He continued his run in the late-2009 Test series against Sri Lanka at home. He scored a century in the second innings of the First Test in Ahmedabad to force a draw after the visitors had taken a first innings lead of more than 300, and then combined in a double century opening partnership with Sehwag on the first day of the Second Test in Kanpur, scoring 167 himself and helping India to score more than 400 runs on the opening day. This set up their score of 642 and an innings victory. Following the match, Gambhir returned to the top of the ICC rankings.

Gambhir withdrew from the Third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in order to attend his sister's wedding. Vijay against stood in and scored 87 to help India win again by an innings.

He returned for the ODIs and scored an unbeaten 150 in the fourth match in Calcutta to help seal the series 3–1, guiding the hosts to victory in the run-chase.

In the First Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong in January 2009, Gambhir hid a rapid 116 from 129 balls. It was his fifth century in as many Tests and made him the fourth player to achieve this feat. Only Don Bradman has managed six centuries in as many matches.

In the 29th Test match against Bangladesh at Dhaka he rewrite the history of IVA Richards by scoring most fifties plus runs in 11 consecutive matches. In this match he scored 66 runs.

In the final of the Cricket World Cup 2011, Gambhir scored a solid knock of 97 from 122 balls. Coming in to bat in the first over after the dismissal of Sehwag, he anchored the Indian inning through the dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, and put up a match-winning partnershipof 109 runs with Dhoni to ensure India lifted the Cup.

Indian Premier League

Gambhir was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils franchise in the first player auction of the Indian Premier League for a price of US$725,000 a year. He became the second highest run-scorer of the inaugural season with 534 runs from 14 matches.

He was promoted to the post of Captain of the Delhi Daredevils for IPL Season 2010.At the end of the tournament he became the only player from Delhi Daredevils to score more than 1000 runs in all the three editions.

In the 2011 IPL Players Auction,Gautam was the most sought player fetching a bid of $2.4 million from Kolkata Knight Riders making him the highest paid cricketer in the history of the game. He is also the captain of the Knight Riders in the upcoming season.

List of Test centuries

1. 104 206 179 137 167 114 167 116

No. !! Score !! Minutes !! Balls !! 4s !! 6s !! S/R !! Opposition !! Venue !! Date
	|	139	286	196	19	0	70.91		Chittagong (MAA)	17 Dec 2004
	2.	|	219	138	7	1	75.36		Mohali	17 Oct 2008
	3.	|	550	380	26	1	54.21		Delhi	29 Oct 2008
	4.	|	466	348	25	1	51.43		Mohali	19 Dec 2008
	5.	|	643	436	18	0	31.42		Napier	26 Mar 2009
	6.	|	352	257	16	2	64.98		Wellington	3 Apr 2009
	7.	|	337	230	13	0	49.56		Ahmedabad	20 Nov 2009
	8.	|	298	215	15	0	77.67		Kanpur	24 Nov 2009
	9.	|	200	129	10	1	89.92		Chittagong	20 Jan 2010

References

External links

Cricinfo Profile: Gautam Gambhir

England tour is my main focus: Gambhir

Category:1981 births Category:People from Delhi Category:Living people Category:India One Day International cricketers Category:India Test cricketers Category:India Twenty20 International cricketers Category:North Zone cricketers Category:Delhi cricketers Category:Delhi (Indian Premier League) cricketers Category:Punjabi people Category:Indian cricket captains Category:Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup

gu:ગૌતમ ગંભીર hi:गौतम गंभीर ml:ഗൗതം ഗംഭീർ mr:गौतम गंभीर ta:கவுதம் கம்பீர் te:గౌతమ్ గంభీర్