I remember asking the great Dev Anand — at the height of Rajesh mania — his views on the newly anointed superstar. Dev Saab allowed himself a wry smile and then, nodding his head in his trademark style, made an unforgettable comment: “Monojeeet, get back to me after ten years on this subject, phir baat karte hain!”
What the evergreen hero suggested was that meteors come and go, but legends endure forever. While there was not the slightest remorse or sarcasm in his voice, it was clear that the ageing star refused to be distracted by the tsunami that Rajesh Khanna unleashed. Jealous? Envious? Who knows? In such a dangerously unpredictable terrain where each Friday coincides with the birth or death of a star, anything goes …
Friendship and bhaichara among stars were, are and will always remain rare in this space, one in which there are no permanent friends or enemies. In the 1970s, superstars Dharamendra and Rajesh Khanna were not known to be the best of friends and close Bollywood watchers will recall the constant punga rising, red-hot villain Shotgun Sinha took with Kaka. Ditto with actresses who could be real catty and mean.
As a leading star once confided: “Friendship of the loving, caring and trusting kind, where one stands by his/her friend through thick and thin come what may, is almost a myth, impossible to find, silly to expect. Why? Somewhere, sometime vested interest will creep in. Remember, this is not your everyday, daal-chawal, bus-train-auto duniya or workplace. This is a fiercely competitive glam biz, where stakes are deadly high, egos, gigantically inflated, chamchagiri and hypocrisy a constant, exaggeration & hype, a given, fear and insecurity a part of the DNA and betrayals, deceptions, lies come with the territory. All is fair in love n’ war and despite all the drama-ridden jhappi-baazi seen at parties, shows and functions — it’s a war with no quarter given or taken!”
The fabled trio that ruled the 1950s and much of the 1960s — Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Devanand — were not exactly known to be buddy-buddy. Rumor has it that after Nargis got into the Raj Kapoor camp, she was forbidden to act with Dilip Kumar, Kapoor’s arch rival! The ladies too — Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Nargis, Nutan — were hardly friends. Same went for the women to come generation later, Asha, Saira Banu, Sadhana, Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz ….
Cut to the cut-throat new-gen in 2013, blitzing the here and now. The fights, feuds and spats are played out publicly, covered extensively in the media for consumption by a hungry, voyeuristic fan-base.
We are told that the five-year-old spat between Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, which originated at Katrina Kaif’s birthday party in 2008 — finally came to an end at a recent Iftar Party in Mumbai. TV channels and magazines went berserk with pictures showing the two hugging, prompting friends to heave a sigh of relief
The olive branch season seems to be in full bloom with others letting bygones be bygones too and patching up in style. The Bebo-Priyanka cold vibes were known to one and all. It is said to have started when Kareena Kapoor mischievously wondered where the Bareilly girl got her phirang accent from? They seemed to have grown up since and recently when both were shooting in the same studio, Priyanka Chopra met Bebo warmly.
Ranbir Kapoor calling Sonam Kapoor “not sexy” on a chat show got the fashionista to return the comment, with force. Things got a lil more messy when Ranbir’s dad Rishi Kapoor joined the party and lashed out at Sonam for not knowing how to behave with people. However, at a recent event hosted by Sonam for cousin Arjun Kapoor, they dumped their differences and rocked the night away.
Director Vishal Bharadwaj and actor Shahid Kapoor were also reportedly katti, post Kaminey because of “creative differences.” Suddenly they’ve realized that it might be a good idea to act as grown-ups and now things are hunky dory and a likely project in the offing.
Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma had turned cold toward each otherover Ranveer Kapoor. Whether Ricky Behl style, they had him sorted out or not is not known, but at Shah Rukh Khan’s party in Macau, they seemed to blow their differences away and had a blast.
Bollywood watchers find these celebrity tiffs amusing and entertaining. It’s usually a silly incident that triggers the spat, which takes on a life of its own. The media fan the conflict with insinuations and innuendos. Egos are fragile and feelings of persecution come easy in this profession.
But there is no smoke without fire. The Deepika Padukone-Katrina Kaif war, Akshay Kumar-Shirish Kunder feud, Karan Johar-Ram Mohan Varma verbal volleys played out in public.
Will the Karan-Arjun jodi actually cosy up do a film together to demonstrate peace, friendship and coming-of-age sensibilities? I can already see the mad glint in the eyes of most producers, directors, distributors and exhibitors.
Salman Khan and king of romance Shah Rukh Khan in one frame … man, that’ll surely wake the dead. But wait … Remember how Sunny Deol was signed to play hero in Darr against Juhi Chawla and how Shah Rukh Khan’s cataclysmic villain wiped him out, leading Sunny to swear off the Yash Chopra camp forever and keep his distance from King Khan? Let’s take one step at a time.