"Shah Rukh is definitely not performing at the opening ceremony. However, I don't know if he is planning to attend the event or if he has received any invite from the organising committee. But he is not performing," Viraf Sarkari, director of Wizcraft International Entertainment, said.
The opening ceremony of the Oct 3-14 mega sports event will be a melange of Indian dances and songs, said Sarkari. Wizcraft is behind the cultural evening at the event.
A R Rahman will be performing a few songs, apart from the latest version of the CWG anthem. But the Bollywood quotient will take a back seat as India's cultural heritage will rule the stage on D-day, added Sarkari.
Meanwhile, Shah Rukh won't be attending another international event where he's the focus. SRK is seen as an icon of religious unity by many the world over and experts will deliberate upon the topic at a three-day conference at Vienna University.
Titled 'Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood', the meet will not be attended by the superstar himself, but he has said he feels humbled by the endeavour. Some 40 speakers from universities around the world will discuss a wide range of topics revolving around Shah Rukh who is seen as a global cultural phenomenon.
The actor is lauded for playing both Hindu and Muslim characters on screen.
Shah Rukh, who is shooting round the clock for 'Ra.One', said in an e-mail forwarded by Karuna Badwal, executive assistant at his company Red Chillies Entertainment, that he has prior commitments but sends his very best wishes.
London-based filmmaker Nasreen Munni Kabir will kick-start the conference with a paper on 'The Worlds of Shah Rukh Khan' at the 19th century building of Vienna's Museum of Ethnology, near the imperial palace. Kabir produced the documentary 'The Inner and the Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan' in 2004.
To the question why Shah Rukh, Professor Elke Mader, Dean Cultural and Social Anthropology Institute of Vienna University, said: "In German-speaking countries his films have developed a cult media and a very active fan culture. Khan's capacity to negotiate and to integrate opposites and extremes and to connect with diverse audiences worldwide as well as his art of expressing emotions make him not only a superstar but a very significant figure in times of global mediascapes and cultural flows."
