Mumbai: If sources are to be believed, Salman Khan has fallen out with close buddy Kabir Khan. They won’t be working together again. Not unless there is a patch-up. Not until Salman gets what he wants.
So what’s new about yet another friend turning foe for Salman. This superstar doesn’t believe in hiding his feelings, good or bad. Comments one of his closest buddies, who miraculously , has remained a buddy over the years, “Salman loves his friends with all his heart. When they betray him he turns against them.”Betrayal is, however, a very ambivalent concept in Salman’s range of vision.
When Sanjay Leela Bhansali signed Shah Rukh Khan instead of Salman for Devdas, it was “betrayal”. When Himesh Reshamiyya began giving music for other actors’ films it was betrayal. Sanjay Bhansali stuck to his guns and had to face the fire of Salman’s ire and almost got crushed under the wrath yatra. But Himesh had to swallow his pride and eat back his ego to “apologise” to Bhai. And then Bhai rewarded Himeshbhai with a slew of assignments.
“I really don’t know what Himesh apologised about. But that’s the unwritten code of friendship with Mr Salman Khan. He’s always right. And if you, as his friend, choose to go against his wishes you either get banished from the Khan durbar or you find a way to say sorry,” says an old friend turned adversary who chose to move away rather than grovel and apologise.
Producer and events guru Bunty Walia is yet another friend-turned-foe. At one time Bunty was so close to Salman that the star personally rang asking for media help to put forward Bunty’s case against an actress who had apparently used and dumped him.
This was before Bunty got into Salman’s bad books. I am not sure what really went wrong between them and why Salman turned against Bunty. I am not sure even Bunty knows. I have personally faced the wrath of the Superstar. I was at one time for a very brief period, close to Salman. He would call at any hour for long chats. Then it stopped. His friends told me he would spit venom each time my name came up.
Recently when Salman had a fallout with his business manager Reshma Shetty he expected the entire industry to boycott her.
That’s another Salman trait: If you are his friend, his enemies have to be your enemies. When I was on the ‘wanted’ list, Salman protested violently when I praised Shah Rukh Khan. Their blow-hot-blow-cold relationship could fill up a thesis.
So does Salman hate or love Shah Rukh? It all depends on which side of the bed he wakes up on. Or maybe he tosses a coin.
Does falling out with Salman mean the end of any opportunity for a patch-up? Well, it depends on whether you are Himesh Reshamiyya or Vivek Oberoi. Sangeeta Bijlani or Aishwarya Rai.
It also depends on how much you are willing to bend. Salman is alleged to have misbehaved with David Dhawan and Subhash Ghai. They both swallowed their pride and hugged Salman for being a brat with a golden heart.
“Bhai ka dil bahot bada hai. Woh apne doston ka khayal rakhte hain (Bhai’s heart is big he looks out for his friends),” says an event manager. Sure, superstars who throw their weight around are “bratty”. The rest are known as bullies.
Vivek Oberoi
The high-profile bust up saw Vivek Oberoi accusing Salman of calling him up 41 times at night when drunk. He also alleged that Salman had threatened to kill him. The bone of contention was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who Vivek was reportedly in a relationship back then. Facing a huge backlash, Vivek has apologised to Salman repeatedly since then, but to no avail. Vivek also admitted, on Farah Khan's talk show, that he shouldn't have held a press conference over this issue. He said that his career took a huge hit since then and he became a virtual outcast in the industry overnight.
Arijit Singh
Known for his melodious tunes, Arijit Singh managed to rub Salman the wrong way too. Many years before he was to croon for Sultan, Arijit had reportedly angered Salman at an awards function. Three years after the incident, Arijit's version of Jag Ghoomeya in the movie was re-recorded by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, amidst much controversy.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Salman, who was known to be a constant in SLB's feature films, felt betrayed when Devdas was offered to his then archrival Shah Rukh Khan. Since then he never worked with SLB. But, according to reports, they may have made peace with each other.
