Ignoring the word "old," yes there was quite a bit of bad blood between these four and the funny thing is that all of these actresses were interconnected.
The biggest feud was between Rani and Aishwarya. They were best friends in the late 90s/early 2000s and the media made a big deal out of their friendship which was rare between two contemporary actresses back then. I think they said they were as close as sisters. The issue became when Aishwarya was fired from Shahrukh's Chalte Chalte when her boyfriend Salman came drunk onto set accusing Aishwarya of an affair with Shahrukh. Shahrukh fired Aishwarya as a result and hired Rani instead. Aishwarya was hurt because she felt that if Rani was such a close friend, then Rani would have asked Aishwarya for permission and her blessing but she did no such thing. From that day on, the friendship ended and these two were at complete odds with each other.
Contrast this with Preity Zinta. Aishwarya was also fired from Shahrukh's Veer-Zaara. We all know Preity ended up taking Aish's role but the difference was that Preity asked Aishwarya first if this was okay. Aishwarya was very grateful and of course said yes, so their friendship remained. I think they were always friends before but with Rani out, it seems these two became much closer (perhaps in part because of issues with Rani). Since then, Preity and Aishwarya have become besties and Preity was invited to Aishwarya's wedding (can't remember if vice-versa is also true). Both actresses post about each other on social media and are very vocal about their deep friendship and how they are as close as sisters so they have never had an issues. In that group of four, Preity/Aishwarya are the only two to never feud.
Speaking of being invited to weddings, Rani's tiff with Aishwarya continued in more ways than once. Rani used to be in a relationship with Abhishek. During Rani's prime years in the industry, she worked with Abhishek and both of his parents but it was said that Jaya did not like Rani and thought she was a bad fit for her son. I think I've heard rumors that they were constantly sniping at each other on Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. However, Rani had good equations with Abhishek and Amitabh up until Abhishek and Aish got married. Rani was very hurt that she was not invited to the wedding and spoke in public about how that event made her realize that they were not really her friends because friends invite each other to weddings. My guess is that while she had good terms with Abhishek and Amitabh, it was Aishwarya (and possibly also Jaya) who did not want Rani at the wedding so this caused Rani to fall out with the Bachchans as well. And of course, in recent years there have been reports that the Bachchans and the Chopras (Rani's in-laws) do not get along because of issues over the future of the Dhoom franchise. This is probably also why Abhishek did not reprise his role in Bunty Aur Babli 2. I cannot see Rani and Abhishek ever working together again, even though they were a very popular jodi in the 2000s.
In the last few years, I think Rani and Aish reconciled of sorts when Aish's father passed away. In times of great loss like that, it makes sense that they would put aside their differences and Rani would be there for Aish so they have a neutral relationship now but they never really became friends again.
If Chalte Chalte was the movie that soured Rani and Aish's relationship, Kal Ho Naa Ho is the movie that ignited issues between Kareena and Rani with Preity. Basically Rani and Preity were frequently paired together and made similar debuts. Both actresses have spoken about how they worked well together professionally but were never close friends who hung out after work. However, the media portrayed a different picture that these two were besties like they play onscreen when that was never the case. Kal Ho Naa Ho was intended for Kareena but she refused because she felt Karan Johar was not paying her enough and this caused them to have a feud for a while and not speak. Karan called up Preity next and gave her the role. Rani, who had been in his last two movies in a supporting role, was hurt because she felt Karan should have offered her the role but he didn't even tell her about it. Rani spoke about how she cried a lot over this but Karan made it up to her by giving her a cameo in the song Maahi Ve. Even so, I believe Rani probably felt frustrated that Preity got this role over her. I also do find it interesting that Rani was so upset that Karan never told her about casting Preity, but she never thought twice about asking Aishwarya for taking her role. My personal guess is that Rani was afraid if she asked her friend if she could take her spot in Chalte Chalte, Aish would tell her in the name of friendship to not take that role, and I don't think Rani wanted that end result. Her career had been more or less dwindling in the early 2000s and she always wanted to work with Shahrukh as his leading lady, not his supporting lady, so I think she saw this chance to finally got the lead role alongside him and grabbed it. She did not want the risk of Aishwarya telling her not to take it, never realizing that just like what happened with Preity, had Rani asked Aishwarya, Aishwarya would have given her blessing.
One thing to keep in mind is that Rani and Preity were the two top actresses of the early-mid 2000s, especially as Aishwarya started to get blacklisted by all the Khans. Rani and Preity were getting all the major roles from Dharma and Yash Raj films. Because they starred together so often it's easy to think they were close friends but I think there must have been a lot of petty jealousies because they were competing for the same roles and the only viable competitors for each other. It's no coincidence either that both of their careers started and ended at the same time. I do think Rani was also more jealous of Preity than vice-versa. Most of the negative comments came from Rani about Preity. Rani also chummed up to Kareena around this time and became her close friend. We have that Koffee with Karan episode where Rani and Kareena both badmouth Preity and Rani says Preity should talk less, that she has an opinion on everything and it gets annoying. I think Preity getting Kal Ho Naa Ho pissed Rani off, and then Preity replacing Rani as Aishwarya's friend was another insult to her. Rani also seemed to prefer Kareena because Kareena came from an established family of famous actors whereas Preity was new to the industry and had no connections besides being friends with the Deol brothers. I think Rani knew that a close relationship with Kareena would benefit her more so she always used to take Kareena's side over Preity's back then, especially since Kareena and Rani were pretty much never in competition with each other.
As for Kareena, she had issues with just about every actress early on. She hated Bipasha, Priyanka, Ameesha, etc. you name it. I'm not surprised she disliked Preity for taking Kal Ho Naa Ho (which won Preity's Filmfare Award for a leading role) and it's ironic that when Preity dropped out of Jab We Met, Kareena took that role and won her Filmfare Award for a leading role. Preity claimed that Kareena only bothered to talk to her whenever Karan was around since both were favs of Karan, which is something I can believe. Kareena was very entitled then (she still is) and definitely would diss any outsiders who were not part of established families in the industry. That's why she did not mind Rani who also came from a family of actors, but hated all the others. Kareena used to praise Rani and Saif's onscreen chemistry but she never brought up Preity who was just as popular with Saif onscreen. I think Preity and Kareena only ended their feud after Saif and Kareena married because Saif is good friends with Preity. From then, Kareena and Preity got to know each other more and had a more positive relationship.
Finally, Kareena and Aishwarya's issue was more of a Karishma/Aishwarya issue. Karishma was engaged to Abhishek before that marriage broke off. After that, there was a cold war between the Kapoors and the Bachchans so it's logical that Kareena would not care much for Aishwarya. We only recently saw Karishma and Aishwarya together for the first time dancing at the Ambani's wedding so clearly both have moved on especially since Aishwarya did not get married to Abhishek until much later after his engagement with Karishma broke off. I always felt it was more the families not speaking to each other than the individual actresses. However, for Kareena personally I can see why she would dislike Aishwarya for reasons other than her sister's failed engagement with Aishwarya's husband. Kareena was desperate for the role of Paro in Devdas, so much that she came to audition for Bhansali dressed in full costume. Losing that role probably made her dislike Aishwarya. Then there's the fact that after the Aishwarya/Salman drama, the Kapoors sided with Salman Khan since their families have always been close. I also think Kareena was aware that even as Rani and Preity's careers ended, she was one of the few 2000s actresses who was still going strong even with the new crop of actresses like Katrina, Deepika, Anushka, etc. Aishwarya was the only other 2000s actress still relevant even though she was less active in films than Kareena, yet she still rivaled her in terms of popularity and followers. So I'm sure Kareena always saw Aishwarya as a threat.
I've seen one user claim that all the drama in this group came from Aishwarya when that is anything but the truth. Although the biggest feud did involve her with Rani, the only relationship that has always been strong also includes her with Preity. Another thing to keep in mind is that you have to look at how many feuds does each actress generally have. Preity has pretty much always gotten along with everyone, minus initial issues with Rani and Kareena. Aishwarya's big feud, outside of Rani, was with the Three Khans but that's only because of relationship drama with Salman which also soured her relationship with Shahrukh. Shahrukh himself has admitted that Aishwarya was not at fault and he regrets how he turned on her so quickly. While Aamir Khan has blacklisted Aishwarya as well, that's only because she turned down a role in one of Aamir's movies and Mr. Perfectionist never forgave her. I suppose you can say Aishwarya and Sonam had a feud of sorts as well but I personally would never even equate Sonam on equal standing with Aishwarya, especially after she disrespected her and called her an aunty. Rani has had issues with her cousin Kajol from the beginning, or perhaps vice-versa is more accurate. Kajol was the established star and always seemed to look down on Rani which seemed to make Rani insecure and wanting to prove herself. It wasn't until the last few years, after marrying Adi Chopra, that Kajol has felt Rani to be powerful and established enough to consider her an equal peer and they seem on better terms now. Rani of course has had the epic feud with Aishwarya and issues with the Bachchans. Finally there is Kareena who seemed to have issues with any actress who was starting out and in direct competition with her. Like I said earlier, it's not a coincidence that the actresses she targeted to speak out about where all people with no connections in the industry like Bipasha, Priyanka, Ameesha, and of course Preity. She never spoke bad about anyone with an established family like Rani, but she felt she had free reign to criticize anyone else who did not have a family she was afraid of offending in the industry.
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