| | | | SWIFT RETALIATION: Shah Rukh Khan, offended by Rangita Nandy's treatment of wife Gauri and pal Karan Johar during the Shabd preview, has boycotted the PNC-promoted Sansui Awards this year | If you upset Shah Rukh's wife or his good friend Karan Johar, you upset Shah Rukh Khan.
The buzz from the Khan camp is that he has sent word to the Sansui team that he will not associate himself with the awards this year, if Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) is involved with it.
This comes as a shocker because Shah Rukh Khan is a brand ambassador for Sansui, and a no-show from the actor will mean a loss of face for the brand, besides robbing the function of some of its brilliance.
This action from Shah Rukh comes in retaliation to the incident that took place at the preview show of PNC's Shabd.
The version from PNC goes like this — Gauri and Karan showed up at the private screening along with invitee Sharmila Khanna (a friend of Sanjay Dutt, who is the hero of the film).
PNC had decided that the film would not be shown to the media or anyone from the film fraternity before the release of the film. When Rangita saw Gauri and Karan at the screening, she was taken aback and decided to take this up with her leading man.
Someone overheard this conversation and repeated it to Gauri. Karan and Gauri felt insulted at the thought that they might not be welcome, and walked out of the screening.
Meanwhile, Johar's group maintains that Rangita curtly asked them to leave and said she wouldn't start the screening till they did. Johar and Khan are not likely to forget or forgive this easily.
Rangita claimed to be ignorant about Shah Rukh's ire and the warning of being absent from the awards if PNC's name was attached to it.
"I have no idea if Shah Rukh has said he will not attend the awards if PNC is involved." But she did confirm that, "PNC founded the Sansui awards. We are very much a part of it."
The buzz now is that anybody close to the Bachchans, Khans and Johar will not be part of this awards night.
The Bachchans are reportedly upset with PNC because when an upcoming filmmaker approached Pritish Nandy with a script idea with the Big B, Pritish is supposed to have said, 'Why do you want to make a film with a has-been?' Word reached the Bachchan home and needless to say, they are not happy with the Nandys.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Sansui who did not wish to be named said, "Shah Rukh Khan is far too professional to behave like this. If he is in town, he will definitely come for the awards." He claimed ignorance about any problem between PNC and the Bachchans as well.
When contacted, Johar said, "I will not be attending the Sansui Awards because I will be travelling abroad for the next two months."
A source close to Karan revealed, "Rangita had smsed Johar after showing him the door and even went over to his house to apologise, but KJ isn't likely to get over the humiliation anytime soon."
Johar refused to comment on Shah Rukh's stance on the awards, but people close to the clique are aware of the tension, and want to show solidarity by not attending the function. According to the insider, "Johar favourites Rani and Preity have also decided to ban the Sansui awards."
So where does that leave the popular awards? If half the nominees are missing from the function, who will collect the awards? |
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