Shah Rukh Khan vs. Salman Khan: the cold war
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The fall-out
Condensed from i) Soumyadipta Banerjee, June 14, 2013 Salman Khan versus Shah Rukh Khan: The real story and ii) Daliya Ghose 13th March 2013 The full History behind Shahrukh-Salman enmity For the full, original stories, click the hyperlinks.
The spark
The souring of relations began with a verbal duel between Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan on 16th July, 2008 at a restaurant in Bandra West, Mumbai. It was later reported that Salman Khan and Shah Rukh came to blows because of an unsavoury remark made by the latter about his ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai. Daliya Ghose adds: The day was the 17th of July 2008, and also Katrina Kaif’s birthday. At that point Katrina happened to be Salman’s girlfriend. The two got into a very serious and heated verbal conversation when Shahrukh Khan happened to remark about Salman’s ex, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. When the fight between the two was at its peak, the ladies, Gauri and Katrina came between them to calm things down. However, although they calmed down, the deed was down. The friendship that existed between the two was broken, and probably would never be mended.
Soumyadipta Banerjee believe that other causes could be because Shah Rukh upset because Salman had made an uncomplimentary comment about the reality show he was hosting? [Salman’s remark was that SRK’s reality show Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain not doing well. ] Or was it some deep-rooted, sub-conscious hate against each other coming to the fore because both were drunk?
Daliya Ghose gives additional reasons: Salman had asked Shahrukh to do a guest role in his film Main aur Mrs. Khanna, which had been declined by Shahrukh. This too had offended Salman to a great extent. Salman started bugging Shahrukh by saying that his show, Dus Ka Dum, was more popular than Shahrukh’s show, Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?
Shahrukh has publicly apologized to Salman in a show, Koffee with Karan, the entire act was seen as a TRP rising act by Salman.
The reasons behind their fight are far too deep and their anger was simmering for years before it reached the tipping point.
Friends in the past
Salman treated Shah Rukh as member of his family When Shah Rukh was struggling to make his niche in the film industry, Salman had already reached stardom. There was a time when Shah Rukh used to address Salman as ‘Sir’
When Shah Rukh became famous, Salman had acknowledged him as a star and did a film with him called Karan Arjun (1995). Salman was a bigger star than Shah Rukh at that point of time.
A South producer managed to get them together again. Tamil producer K S Adhiyaman managed the feat and got the stars for a remake of his own Tamil film; the film was called Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. The film went to the floors in 1997, but couldn’t cash in on the two Khans because it took more than six years in the making due to production delays and financial hassles. It was released in 2002 and managed to recover its money even though the look of both the heroes kept changing in different shots of the film. It was very funny!
The last film that saw the two Khans together in one frame was Om Shanti Om in 2007. It did not just feature Salman, but also his brother Arbaaz, his wife Malaika and his best friend Sanjay Dutt.
SRK befriends Salman's enemies
Salman Khan ka dushman = Shah Rukh Khan ka dost
The rivalry between Shah Rukh and Salman Khan has given way to patch-ups between many old foes in Bollywood. There is a popular adage in Hindi which says “dushman ka dushman dost hota hai” (your enemy’s enemy is your friend). The line used million times in Hindi films also applies aptly to the Hindi film industry. The major case in point being the rivalry between Bollywood biggies Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan!
At one point of time, these two best buddies together were a force to reckon with giving blockbuster hits like Karan Arjun and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. But today since they both have gone their own ways, other big stars who were their rivals have crossed paths to get friendly with the opposite Khan. Even the two Khans have gone out of their way to approach their otherwise contenders socially.
Aamir Khan–Salman Khan: Though Salman and Aamir are great pals now, they did not share a good rapport during the shoot of Andaaz Apna Apna. Salman had taken the surprising initiative to make-up with Aamir when he gifted the latter two paintings of Ghajini before the release of the film. This broke the ice, which was good news for the two stars, but not-so-good news for Shah Rukh.
After reports suggested that Shah Rukh and Gauri would walk the ramp for Karan Johar, Salman’s immediate reaction was to launch a contest of one-upmanship. Not content with just using Katrina Kaif as a counter-attack for Gauri, he convinced perfectionist Aamir Khan and host of other top Bollywood actors to walk the ramp for his charity, Being Human.
It was a rare treat though to watch Aamir walk the ramp. Aamir Khan doesn’t usually walk the ramp but Salman had apparently personally requested him and so he agreed to do so. Also because it was for a good cause and charity.
However, there was a greater cause than charity though: it was two Khans versus one. The war intensified. Shah Rukh, increasingly isolated, was now pitted against two formidable adversaries: Aamir, a shrewd strategist, and Salman, who will never make it as a diplomat to any country.
Salman Khan-Ajay Devgn: We all know that Ajay Devgn's wife creates magic on screen whenever she is paired opposite Shah Rukh Khan and the actress is also best friends with SRK in real life. However, when it comes to Ajay Devgn's equation with SRK he prefers staying away from him. Several instances of his open rivalry with SRK has made headlines in the past. Remember the Son of Sardaar and Jab Tak Jaan release clash. On the other hand, Ajay Devgn shares a great rapport with Salman Khan. From doing films together to making friendly appearances in each other's films, both the actors are really close.
Shah Rukh Khan-Priyanka Chopra: This hot bombshell of Bollywood was once best pals of SRK and wife Gauri Khan but soon the alleged growing proximity between PC and SRK become the talk of the town and wife Gauri had to interfere. It was reported in many sections of the media that the actress was banned from Gauri's social club and apparently Gauri also told Shah Rukh not to work with Priyanka. However, soon after the fall out, Priyanka grew close to once rival Dabangg Salman Khan.
Aishwarya Rai–Shah Rukh Khan: Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan made a great pair in films like Mohabbatien and Devdas. But Aishwarya could never forgive or forget Shah Rukh when he unceremoniously dropped her from the cast of his production Chalte Chalte after Salman Khan created problems at a shooting schedule. Shah Rukh and Gauri weren’t invited at the Abhi-Ash wedding either.
But the duo decided to put their old differences aside at Karan Johar’s birthday party. Karan brought them together after which Shah Rukh apologized to Aishwarya and she gracefully accepted letting bygones be bygones.
Vivek Oberoi–Shah Rukh Khan: Salman Khan’s dislike for Vivek Oberoi is known to all. Their rivalry has been on since ages. Vivek had even turned down the negative lead in Shah Rukh Khan’s production Om Shanti Om. But he has always been close to Shah Rukh Khan and his circle of friends. Whether it is Hrithik Roshan or Saif-Kareena, Vivek has always tried his best to maintain a healthy relation with Shah Rukh.
While he couldn’t succeed in appeasing Salman Khan despite his public apology, Vivek Oberoi has surely warmed up to Shah Rukh Khan. The two have been seen getting together at various events.
Akshay Kumar–Shah Rukh Khan: Superstars Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan have forgotten all their differences about who is the No 1 star in Bollywood. During the shooting of a special promotional song for his film Blue at Film City, Akshay and SRK were seen together as SRK was also shooting for an ad film at the same location.
Interestingly, it was SRK who took the initiative to meet Akshay by suddenly landing up on the sets of 'Blue'. Akshay, of course, was pleasantly surprised by this unexpected visit from SRK.
