Shah Rukh Khan may be asked to liven up Commonwealth Games

With Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman’s Commonwealth Games (CWG) theme song failing to create fervour like Shakira’s Fifa World Cup Waka Waka, a worried government is exploring if Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan can liven up the opening ceremony on October 3.

The internationally-acclaimed Rahman was expected to weave magic with the theme song, but it failed to take off and the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) is struggling to find ways and means to revive the Games spirit.

Khan has not yet been formally approached. But if he agrees to perform, dropping his shooting commitments abroad for Don-2, it will be a repeat of the Delhi Asian Games, 1982, when actor Amitabh Bachchan took the stage to sing Swagatam Shubha Swagatam.

Another name in the reckoning for the CWG opening ceremony is of actor Akshay Kumar.

Shyam Benegal, chairman of the three-member cultural committee which cleared the song, rejected criticism, saying: “Some Delhi MPs aged above 80 are not liking it. But this song is for young people.”

But he did not answer why committee co-member Javed Akhtar did not attend the meeting which cleared the theme song. The third member, Prasun Joshi, too, refused to answer the question.

It is learnt that the three differed on the quality and content of the theme song. Eyebrows were raised when the cost of the song came to Rs5.55 crore.