Bad‘show’ Khan!

Sources in the industry affirm that the cold war between Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan has intensified after Khan snatched Kaun Banega Crorepati 3 right from under the Big B’s nose. The battle lines have been quietly but irrevocably drawn. Even their cliques are now clearly defined.
Icy vibes
If Amitabh Bachchan has firmly aligned himself with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and Anil Ambani, Shah Rukh makes his political and social affiliations equally evident by hobnobbing with Sonia Gandhi and her family and attending Nita Mukesh Ambani’s birthday party.
The tension between the two sides has been cleverly concealed until now, but the cracks were obvious at Sikander Kher’s (Anupam and Kirron Kher’s son) birthday party last month. The vibes between the Bachchan clan (represented by Jaya, Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai) and Shah Rukh Khan were I-C-Y.
Reveals a source present at the do, “The party was in full swing until SRK walked in at 2 am. He went up to Mr Bachchan and greeted him. Mr Bachchan is always polite, so he greeted SRK cordially. But the rest of the Bachchan parivar looked through him. Even though Jayaji is very fond of Shah Rukh, none of them can overlook what he’s been doing to Mr Bachchan.”
‘Ash’es to dust
The source adds that the Bachchans, along with Ash and a few friends, were seated at one table and Shah Rukh took the table directly opposite them. “After greeting each other and exchanging formal hellos, it was evident that Bachchan and Khan wanted to their own space. Throughout the night, not a single word was exchanged between the camps. In fact, SRK wanted to strike up a conversation with Ash but since she was stuck to Abhishek’s side, it became impossible.”
It may be recalled that Aishwarya still has to forgive Shah Rukh for unceremoniously ousting her from his home production, Chalte Chalte, replacing her with Rani Mukerji. SRK reportedly showed her the door after her then boyfriend Salman Khan wreaked havoc on the sets.
And now with SRK’s doing KBC3 — which was AB’s property until now — Khan has made matters worse. It is learnt that Amitabh is quite miffed with Star and their attitude during his illness. A source says, “Mr Bachchan was literally told to come back to work after his illness and shoot some episodes. He put his foot down and refused. Things started going downhill from that point onwards.”
SRK’s announcement hasn’t come as a surprise to anyone. An insider reveals, “Samir Nair has been wanting to get Shah Rukh onboard for quite some time. This reached Amitabh’s ears even before a formal announcement was made.”
Putting up an act
Says a source known to the Bachchans, “All this talk about Mr Bachchan not being interested in doing KBC3 is hogwash. He had almost committed to doing it when SRK lobbied hard and pipped him to the post. He’s deeply hurt at the way SRK has gone about the whole thing but prefers not to talk about it.”
As has always been the case, the hostilities will remain shrouded behind a wall of fake civility from both sides. The warring factions continue to deny problems and address each other respectfully in public.
A filmmaker on the condition of anonymity says, “There is definitely a war brewing between SRK and the Bachchans, but no star, producer or director likes to wash their dirty linen in public. When there is a problem, they will sort it out between themselves.”
Neither Amitabh Bachchan nor Sameer Nair of Star returned our SMSes to comment on the story.