Shah Rukh after receiving the Datuk title

Mumbai, Aug. 13: “Datuk” Shah Rukh is planning to set up a studio in Malaysia, a close aide of the actor said.

The studio is expected to come up in the Malaysian province of Melaka, or Malacca, which had last year conferred on Shah Rukh the honorary title of Datuk, the equivalent of British knighthood.

The studio, the source said, will have two floors and a film lab and is expected to get financial aid from the Malaysian government.

“Shah Rukh is good friends with Melaka chief minister Mohammed Ali Rustom and had him over for dinner on Monday at his residence Mannat. They discussed the plan in detail. Malaysia wants more and more Bollywood ventures to be shot in the country and this studio will provide all necessary infrastructure for such film units. It will also be used by the local Malaysian film industry,” said the source.

The association between the Malaysian film industry and Indian moviemakers goes back a long way.

Many Indian directors, including Bengal’s Phani Majumdar, made films in Malaysia.

Majumdar is still famous in Malaysia for the cult movie Hang Tuah, based on the life of a Melaka warrior with Malaysia’s top actor P. Ramlee playing the title role.

“The Malaysians are now very keen for a long-term association with Shah Rukh,” said the actor’s aide.

The film-studio project was first discussed during the actor’s trip to Malaysia in December 2008 to receive his “Datuk” title.

Bollywood has played an important role in popularising Malaysia as a tourist destination and the country’s government has been wooing the Indian film industry relentlessly over the past decade.

Shah Rukh himself is extremely popular among the local ethnic Indians and Malay-Muslims. Two of his films — the forgettable One 2 ka 4 as well as the successful Don, directed by Farhan Akhtar, were largely shot in Malaysia.

Melaka, a historic port town and a relic of Malaysia’s colonial past, relies heavily on tourism for income. It offers location subsidies for shoots.

“Shah Rukh also promised Rustom, his Malaysian guest, that he would shoot his next film with Farah Khan, Happy New Year, in Malaysia. Besides an emotional bond that he shares with country, it makes a lot of financial sense to shoot there,” said the source.

Along with the Bollywood fare on offer for Rustom, Shah Rukh and wife Gauri tried to make their Malaysian dignitary feel at home. On the menu were kebabs, biryani and thosai, a Malaysian version of paper dosa with non-vegetarian fillings.