The Bollywood super hero's grudge

A source very close to the Dhoom 2 star told us, "It all started with Dil Chahta Hai (2001). Farhan had promised Hrithik, the role of Sid, the most mature amongst the three friends in the film. The time when Farhan was planning his directorial debut, he had assured Hrithik that he will be casting him along with Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan but for that he needed to wait a little more as Farhan was also busy with the production planning of the film."

"An anxious Hrithik kept waiting for months without even asking Farhan once about the development with the film. He was later surprised to hear it from industry insiders that the casting of the film was already announced – Aamir, Saif and Akshaye Khanna in the role of Sid that was promised to him. Roshan Jr. was hurt but kept quiet. Farhan then made up for it by casting Hrithik in a solo lead in his next, Lakshya (2004). Hrithik's act was widely appreciated in the film and the childhood pals decided to follow it up with one more film together." the source continues.

"Farhan had hit upon the idea of re-making one of his dad's (Javed Akhtar) strongest scripts, Don. While devising the film's screenplay, Farhan and Hrithik sat together many times using each other as a bouncing board for their creative inputs for the remake. When the final draft was just about to be completed, Farhan realized the title role (a double role) required an actor who was a little older in age. But since he had already committed this part to the Krrish star he was in a dilemma what to do about it."

"Shah Rukh Khan meanwhile, was aware of Farhan working on the originally Bachchan starrer remake and when he heard through common pals about Farhan's confusion, he immediately volunteered to act in the film. The King Khan actually convinced him how he could do a better job as the new Don. Farhan too realized the market proportions of the film multiplying manifold once the super star was in the project. He yet again ditched his old buddy for another actor. Hrithik was extremely upset and more than that very hurt by Farhan's act. He kept mum and concentrated on his Koi Mil Gaya sequel and Dhoom 2. During this time Farhan went to him for a small cameo in Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd which he was producing. But Hrithik took 4 months to say NO, following which Arjun Rampal was cast for this part. Just then Krrish and Dhoom 2 released and not only went on to become the biggest hits of the year (2006) but also catapulted him into the big league," adds the source.

"Now it was his turn to get back at Farhan for what he had done not once but twice to him. He took it all out on Farhan's sister, Zoya's directorial debut, Luck By Chance which was being produced by Farhan's company Excel Entertainment. He had earlier made sure they were kept hanging in anticipation for a long time and then he delivered the final blow recently by opting out of it after making them go through several changes in the script to accommodate him. The Jodhaa Akbar star doesn't believe in verbal backlash but lets his actions do the talking and he proved it by paying the Akhtars back in the same coin," concludes the source.