War of the Khans

It was supposed to be a grand birthday party, which would bring the big-wigs of Bollywood together - with the exception of the Unforgettable bunch. It would also see the three Khans partying together after a long time. But Katrina Kaif's party turned out to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. According to eyewitness reports, Salman was already high by the time SRK and Gauri joined the party. Soon after, Salman started to pick on SRK by teasing him about how Dus Ka Dum is faring better than Paanchvi Pass on television.

He started goading SRK by saying "Tu kya superstar, main hoon superstar," again and again. An indulgent Shah Rukh initially let it go by saying, "Haan haan, tu hi superstar." However, things soon became ugly and as Salman became more aggressive, SRK also started replying in kind. On Gauri's continued insistence that they leave, SRK finally left. So what was the turning point? According to a guest at the party, the final straw that broke SRK's back was when Salman tried to hint at SRK having an ‘association' with Aishwarya, at which point SRK started to shout back. However, earlier reports had mentioned that it was SRK who had made the lewd remark. Either which way, poor Ash - who is not even in the country - continues to stay in the news for the wrong reasons!

Malaika absent

Salman's family is known for being close knit, but Katrina's party revealed the cracks in it. On being asked Malaika said, "I was busy shooting and didn't have the time to attend Katrina's birthday party. In any case I wasn't aware about any party till the last minute." Malaika's sister Amrita, who was shooting in LA for Kambakht Ishq, didn't even bother to wish Kat. According to an insider, not only is Kat not popular with fellow stars, but she is also not a favourite with the family, who put up with her only for the sake of Salman's happiness.

Why did they fight?

One of the reasons Salman has been miffed with SRK of late is that SRK turned down Salman's request to do a guest appearance, according to some, in Main Aur Mrs Khanna, and in Dus Ka Dum, according to others. Salman, who had always been there to support SRK, whether it be in the form of a guest appearance in OSO or an appearance in KBC with Katrina Kaif, felt royally snubbed by this and was waiting for a chance to vent his anger.

The history

They last fought during the shooting of Chalte Chalte, when Salman disrupted the shooting as Aishwarya Rai was in the film. SRK was furious with Salman and Ash paid the price for it by being dropped from the film. The Khans, however, did make up at director Farah Khan's sangeet in December 2004, when Salman went up to SRK and hugged him and a truce was called.

Aamir mediates

The only mature Khan at this party seems to be Aamir who tried to make the other two see sense. He had tried to intervene when the fight got ugly but Salman shoved him aside. It is reported that Aamir even calmed Salman down and took him to, Mannat, SRK's residence, and made them shake hands. However, the general buzz is that the damage has been done and this could be the end of the dosti. A source noted that while Salman has been sending out feelers in the last couple of days to patch up, SRK (at the time of writing) is in no mood to forgive and forget.

End of the party

Gauri and SRK had a tough time getting into their car, thanks to the press having gathered.

l Karan Johar caught up with Gauri and convinced her to walk back to the car and get into it. The jostling was so intense that she lost her balance and landed on SRK's lap.

B'wood divided

While we at Masala! feel sad that the two Khans are fighting, no one can be as sad as Bollywood collectively. The fight has divided Tinseltown right along the middle. Sajid Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Karan Johar, Kunal Kohli and Yash Chopra commiserated with SRK. But while the directors seemed to be on hand for SRK, the actor fraternity seemed to sympathise more with Salman. Ranbir Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan and Akshaye Khanna made supportive calls to Salman. Even Kareena Kapoor, who is reported to have been upset with Karisma for attending her rival's birthday party, called up to have a chat with Salman.

So where does that leave the likes of Saif who dates Kareena but is a good buddy of SRK, or Akshay Kumar who is also a Shah Rukh buddy but has a hit jodi with Katrina, or the multitude of other actors and directors who like and need to work with both the Khans. Given that SRK already shares cold vibes with the Bachchans and Salman can never mingle with AB and family for obvious reasons - one can't help but feel that B'wood is resembling a battleground more and more.

Sadly enough, this could also affect the equation Gauri has with her gal pals - she shares a very close bond with Seema (Sohail) Khan, Bhavana (Chunkey) Pandey, Malaika (Arbaaz) Arora-Khan and Maheep (Sanjay) Kapoor. While Maheep Kapoor strongly feels that this fight won't affect their friendship, only time will tell how things work out.

What a mess!

Katrina looks completely unhappy and no wonder! This will absolutely go down in B'wood annals as ‘the' party to forget!

The party

Sadly enough in the hullabaloo surrounding the fight, the basic reason for holding the party was forgotten. Surely not a birthday that Katrina will want to remember. Incidentally, Katrina's mother and sister had flown down for the celebrations and joined the Khan clan, including mother Salma, Helen, father Salim, Sohail and wife Seema, Arbaaz, Alvira and Arpita.