Mumbai: Not a knight in shining armour for Bengalis, Shah Rukh Khan drops Kolkata from Kolkata Knight Riders. 'Will he call it Khan's Knight Riders next,' asks fanTheir IPL campaign has not yet kicked off, but the Kolkata Knight Riders have managed to kick up a storm with team owner Shah Rukh Khan's decision to take off Kolkata from the team's merchandise as well as company name.
Add to that the decision to remove Sourav Ganguly as captain of the team, and you have all the necessary ingredients to make the Bengali blood boil. Speaking to Sunday MiD DAY on Saturday, Joy Bhattacharya, the team director explained, "The only reason why Kolkata was removed from the T-shirt is because it was small and looked dirty.
"All our press releases say Kolkata Knight Riders. As a team we are known as Kolkata Knight Riders. Knight Riders is the company's name." Bhattacharya also stressed that it is an IPL rule to have the city name in the team.
When asked whether it was not a rule to have the full name on the T-shirts, he said, "No, there is no such rule."
Such explanations have not gone down well with angry Kolkatans. SRK had already invited the wrath of the city after Sourav's removal as captain.
Says Ivy Roy, head, Business Development, Maharashtra: "When every region or city has its identity clearly etched, why is Kolkata losing out? This team is representing Kolkata; the name is not Shah Rukh Khan's personal property. This is a regional contest, like the European League, where the regional name should have priority. If he has been influenced by some numerologist, let him change the latter part of the name."
On the matter of the numerologist, it's a story floated by Sanjay B Jumaani. Jumaani claims that Shah Rukh has taken heed of his quotes to the Kolkata-based publication, Anandabazar Patrika. In that, Jumaani had asked SRK to drop Kolkata and change Sourav's jersey number from 8 to 24.
Shah Rukh Khan explains his reasoning: "My team is still called Kolkata Knight Riders. My company which owns the team is called Knight Riders Private Ltd, because the company is not just about the team but will play a much bigger role. I am very proud of Kolkata and had decided to move to Kolkata for the entire duration of the IPL and travel everywhere with the team, before the venue was shifted to South Africa."
Others across the country are fuming nevertheless. Says merchant navy Captain Sanjoy Sen, who lives in Kolkata: "My friends and I are planning to boycott all SRK's films. After all, his talk of his dear Kolkata Knight Riders and all his public bonhomie with Dada, is this any way to behave? I am not a Sourav fan but I am a proud Bengali who hates the fact that India's most successful test captain is demoted and then the name of the city is wiped out."
Bangalorean Arundhati Ghosh however, is more amused than angry. The Deputy Director of Indian Foundation for Arts says, "I can understand owners trying to improve a team's performance by working on issues like fitness. But how will changing the name help the team? Shah Rukh Khan has destroyed the identity of the team.
The other teams (except Bangalore) have kept their names intact, though some of them also fared poorly last season. SRK should think about that."
Agrees Sanchali Chakraborty, senior manager of a market research firm in New Delhi: "SRK is messing about with the concept of IPL. After all the love he declared for Kolkata, is this is the best he can do?"
Restaurateur Anjan Chatterjee has another take on the matter. He says, "Shah Rukh Khan is a suave marketing guy who knows what he is doing. All this makes me wonder — is this all a publicity gimmick? His decision will result in protests in Kolkata, then maybe he will go there and apologise. The drama and controversy will draw more attention to his team. And then, who knows? Perhaps he will retract his decision and all will be well again? At least I fervently hope so."
Well, Kolkatans will certainly hope this is the case. But if Jumaani is to be believed, numerology is the key to everything, and the name will stay without Kolkata. For Sumanto Chattopadhyay, executive creative director, Ogilvy South Asia, this reasoning is all wrong. "IPL is all about city-based rivalry in a format unique to Indian sports. For Shah Rukh Khan to break that chain is really surprising. I want to know what made him do such a thing? If it has anything to do with numerology, then it is ridiculous," he says.
Kolkata-based homemaker Aloka Guha sums up the sentiment of Kolkatans and Bengalis around the country when she says, "Oh bad, SRK, very bad. Whatever will he do next call it Khan's Knight Riders?"
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