Force India ropes in SRK, to launch massive campaign

NEW DELHI: With Shah Rukh Khan lending his presence to their multimedia campaign, Force India is all set to announce its arrival in India, part-owner of the Formula One team Vijay Mallya said on Tuesday.
   
Force India, the first ever Formula One outfit owned by an Indian, will soon unleash a massive multimedia campaign in the country and Mallya said Shah Rukh was enthused by the idea of associating himself with the team.
   
"The whole idea was to spread the word that an Indian team has arrived on the Formula One grid and we wanted to evoke a sense of pride among the Indians," Mallya told from Malaysia.
   
"I went to Shah Rukh seeking a goodwill message and he was at once ready for it. He said 'I'm a proud Indian and I would love to do it for an Indian F1 team.'"
   
Thanking the actor for agreeing to lend his name to the campaign, Mallya said, "It was very spontaneous on his part and that shows how much excited he is about it. And he did it for free."
   
Mallya, a motorsport enthusiast for long, became the first Indian owner of an F1 team when he joined hands with the Mol family and bought Spyker for euro 88 million in October.
   
Mallya insisted on rechristening the team with the country's name in it and International Motorsports Association (FIA) approved the changing the name of the outfit to Force India.