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Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla’s IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders, has become one of the most successful franchises in the league’s history, winning the IPL title three times and holding the record for the longest winning streak by any team. In an old conversation available on SoundCloud, Juhi Chawla opened up about how the idea of owning an IPL team first came into their lives, and how Shah Rukh Khan got involved.
“Lalit (Modi) has been a friend of Jai’s (Juhi’s husband). I mean, they’ve known each other since they were young. And this was Lalit’s creation. He had worked on this idea, apparently for 10 years, of building an IP, a Premier League. And then he was offering it to people for ownership. He came to Jai saying that, you know, he’d like Shah Rukh to own it. He’d like Jai and myself to be owners with Shah Rukh. And, you know, shall we do this? And Jai was quite thrilled about the idea. And that’s how he went to Shah Rukh. Because Shah Rukh and I have worked together for many years, so we’ve known each other a long time. So, you know, this was the connection. And it was quite an exciting idea.”
Juhi recalled how, once they decided to go ahead, the team had to be built from scratch in very little time, with the league set to begin soon. “These people were suddenly in a frenzy, you know, Shah Rukh, Jai, the people they were hiring, they were thinking of everything apart from their regular work. They were suddenly working on this new idea. That’s when the meetings started to happen, and they would usually be held at Shah Rukh’s house because, you know, Shah Rukh’s place is in the middle of town. So everybody would congregate there around 10 o’clock at night: his secretary, Jai’s team, people they were seeking advice from, friends, everyone was pitching in. The meeting would actually begin around 11 or 11:30, then the discussions would start, and by the time they’d arrive at some decisions, it would be four in the morning.”
She went on to describe how the creative process behind the team’s identity came together, crediting Shah Rukh’s enthusiasm and her own small but meaningful contributions. “I remember Shah Rukh, he’s just so creative, overnight, he already had this song ready. But I made some contributions. See, the team was Kolkata, so you needed somebody who knew Bengali. We were making the theme song. I had worked with this director called Sujoy Ghosh, so I introduced Sujoy to Shah Rukh. And you know, he gave us our motto for the song ‘Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re,’ which means we will do, we will fight, we will win. These lines were written by Sujoy.”
Juhi also revealed how top designer Manish Malhotra came on board to design the team’s first jersey. “And Shah Rukh was really instrumental every which way. Being a filmy mind, where would he go? He said, ‘Okay, who’s the best designer in the Hindi film industry? Manish Malhotra. Okay, call him in.’ And suddenly Manish was doing all the clothes. So we had these flashy gold-and-black uniforms for the boys for the first season. They were received very well. everybody said, ‘Oh, that’s really cool, that’s really smart.’”
However, Juhi admitted that despite the stylish beginning, KKR’s early years in the IPL were rough. She even believed the team’s colours might have played a role in their poor form. “You know, the first few seasons were not good — they didn’t go well at all for us. It just seemed to be getting from bad to worse. And somehow, I have this thing about colours. I believe in symbols, in good energy and not-so-good energy. I had something against that black — I just felt the colour wasn’t contributing to the team’s energy. When things were really bad, I came down hard on it. I said, ‘No, we have to change the colour. Something’s not right.’ I told Jai, and I pushed him. And among other things that they changed, I was really glad they changed the colour. Whatever they changed it to, I said, ‘Do what you want — but not black. It’s not going to stay black.’ And somehow, even that worked.”
Looking back, Juhi reflected on those difficult early years as an important part of KKR’s eventual success story. “All those moments made us stronger, I think. They made us cherish the win, when it finally happened, that much more. I’m actually very glad the win didn’t happen in the first year or the second year, because if it had, you’re already a celebrity, and then your team also shines. I think you’d go mad; you’d lose your balance. You wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of success. So I’m glad it came after some struggle. When it did come, it was great. It was wonderful.”
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