Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan swaps the set for cricket

LONDON, England (CNN) -- It takes a savvy film star to invest in the only business that's keeping audiences away from cinemas. In the case of India's biggest Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan that's cricket.

Over 45 days from April to June, India's newest big money cricket competition -- the DLF Indian Premier League -- infected the country with the kind of excitement usually reserved for the item number in the latest Bollywood blockbuster.

Off the pitch, among the cheerleaders and dancing girls, was actor Shah Rukh Khan, the proud new co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, a cricket team whose name was said to be inspired by David Hasselhoff's 1980s television hit.

The team, captained by Indian cricketing hero Sourav Ganguly, took to the field in black and gold uniforms created by Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra; black for the color of goddess Kali and gold, because as Khan said, "We aim for gold."

In fact, the Knight Riders were knocked out of the competition before the semi-finals, with Khan announcing to fans via SMS:"Al of us have become part of a failed script, a bad IPL script. Let's try and keep our chin up."

Shah Rukh Khan, one of the few people in the world also known by his initials, has every reason to keep his own chin up. Twenty years after his first onscreen role in the Indian television series "Fauji," SRK -- the man and the brand -- is more popular than ever.

On Sunday night, he won the Best Actor award in Bollywood's version of the Oscars -- the International Indian Film Academy Awards -- for his role as coach of the Indian national women's field hockey team in "Chak De! India." The film took nine awards in all, including Best Film and Best Director.

Shah Rukh Khan's previous box-office outing, "Om Shanti Om," scooped five awards, adding icing to its title of Bollywood's highest-ever grossing film.

In India, you don't have to go to the cinema to see Shah Rukh Khan. He has returned to the small screen, this time as a television quizmaster.

After fronting the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," he's back with a new series, the local take on the U.S. hit "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader."

If there's any proof of Shah Rukh Khan's global appeal, it comes in the form of 15 year old Shabana Shaheen who lives in Virginia in the U.S.

The high school student created her own Shah Rukh Khan Fansite last year -- www.freewebs.com/srkplace. All that and she's never been to India.

"The thing he's like a normal person. He's down to earth and humble," she says. "He values his family -- his parents who have passed away, his wife and children. He's so normal; he just behaves like a normal human being."

Shabana inherited her love of Shah Rukh Khan from her mother who moved to the U.S. from Pakistan. In Virginia, it's not hard to keep up with the latest Bollywood action. A cinema close to Shabana's home shows the most popular productions.

And then there's the internet. Shabana's website gets as many as 1000 hits a day, mainly from fans in the United Kingdom and India.

"It's amazing -- so many people are crazy about him, even in Germany," she says. "A lot of people in Mexico are also apparently very big fans of his films."

In part, Shah Rukh Khan's fame can be put down to expert merchandising. He's the consummate salesman, charming and keenly aware there's a huge market for his product.

The Kolkata Knight Riders may be one of the newest sporting teams in the world, but within months, Khan and Co. has turned them into a lucrative brand. While they didn't win the IPL on-pitch title, they took away the prize as the team who made the most money.

Jerseys, t-shirts, sneakers, caps, key chains, coasters, mugs, bandanas, sippers and posters all came with KKR branding through a merchandising deal with Reebok and Indian music group Planet M. Fans could even buy the CD, featuring the KKR theme song, 'Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo,' which means "We will do it, fight it and win it."

Shah Rukh Khan made the most of his iconic status by writing a blog on the team website under the title of "12th man". Fans were encouraged to become a 12th man as well. So far there are more than 46,000.

Another wave of SRK mania is set to sweep through cinemas in December 2008 with the release of "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi," translated as "A Couple Made by God." It's a love story directed by Aditya Chopra, the man behind Shah Rukh Khan's enduring hit, "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge."

DDLJ, as it's known, has been playing to packed cinemas for the past 13 years. With Shah Rukh Khan topping the bill, it's likely to be there a lot longer.

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