NEW DELHI: Shahrukh Khan appears to be making Kolkata and West Bengal his second home. After investing in the popular Indian premier league (IPL) cricketing team franchise ‘Kolkata Knight Riders', the king of Bolly wood is now batting for West Bengal's film industry. The New Delhi-born Khan, who inaugurated the Prayag Film Centre in West Bengal's West Midnapore district, was thronged and followed with the same zest and rush-of-blood by his fans in the Eastern Indian state, as in Mumbai, or perhaps anywhere in India. “Because our country is progressing so fast, a lot of people like me, who perhaps don`t even deserve it, get a lot more opportunities than what actors and stars got in years past,” said Khan, who has been appointed as the brand ambassador for West Bengal. Khan said that India, which churns out the most number of films in the world annually still lacked in international class infrastructure for film making. “The biggest dream of my life has always been to try and make an international class studio for this country, not for profit, but for the fact that India makes the maximum number of films that are seen around the world,” Khan said, promising to shoot one of his forthcoming films at the fledgling film studio, which he has just inaugurated. Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders popularly known as KKR, is a part of the immensely popular IPL and Khan's increasing presence in promotional activities in West Bengal could imply that the star has set his sights on branding himself as an icon for the region.
