Farhan Plays Mediator Gets PC Invited to KJO' Bash

Bitching about cupcakes, is no longer on Karan Johar's priority. After all turning 40 is all about being cool and mature. So it was that he cast aside his recent animosity towards Priyanka Chopra and graciously invited her to his party on Friday night.

Such was the cache attached to the must-attend do that Priyanka flew in from Europe, rushed home to change and landed at the party just after 1 am and minutes after Shah Rukh Khan arrived with the missus who looked resplendent in red (read all about the finery on display on pages 8 and 10).

This newspaper can also reveal how the rapprochement between KJO and PeeCee came about. The man responsible for it is common friend, Farhan Akhtar.

A source close to the actress told us, "Farhan had hosted a party last Sunday on May 20 at his place. He had just wrapped up the shoot of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and decided to celebrate his homecoming. Karan, SRK and Priyanka were all invited. At the party, Priyanka and Karan spoke for almost an hour and resolved their misunderstandings and differences."

It was after this that Karan who had very pointedly left her out from the guest-list, invited PeeCee for his fortieth birthday party.

In Bollywood, where playing happy families is as important as looking good, she managed to excel at both and spent the better part of the evening talking almost exclusively with Karan and rather conspicuously staying away from a certain hot-headed Khan. And no, we don't mean Salman - he stayed away from the party itself as he and Katrina were out of the country, shooting for Ek Tha Tiger.

"Priyanka made it a point to fly down for Karan's bash. She went home just to change and landed directly at the hotel at around one in the night," added the source. PeeCee received a rather warm welcome at the party and chatted with Karan and her other friends for the rest of night. Shah Rukh was especially solicitious to his old buddy Juhi Chawla and personally escorted her to her car when she left the party past 3.30 am.

The black and red themed party saw almost everybody from the industry come in to wish KJo. Though good friend Aditya Chopra chose to give the night a miss (maintaining his 'never get clicked' stance), Yash Chopra, wife Pamela and son Uday did make an appearance. Uday in fact walked in with the latest YRF sweetheart and Priyanka's cousin Parineeti.

Amidst the heavy diamond studded velvet curtains, Mirror spotted yet another set of blossoming BFFs in Bollywood - Sonakshi Sinha and Bipasha Basu. The two gorgeous ladies stuck to each other almost throughout the party. Deepika too arrived pretty late. To avoid the media, the actress chose to enter the five-star from the lobby and not the red carpet that was laid out. However, a few star-struck fans surrounded her. But since the party was already in full swing, she hurried in.

Past one am is when the fun really started with the stars taking to the dance floor. Riteish Deshmukh even tweeted in the morning about how his legs were still aching from all that dancing. Aamir Khan, Imran Khan, Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta who arrived with Hrithik and Suzanne, Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani were the other notables at the party.

John Abraham's absence helped Bipasha party worry-free. Shahid Kapoor's presence sparked no controversy either considering all his exes, Priyanka, Bebo and Vidya Balan (in tow with an exceptionally attentive boyfriend Siddharth Roy Kapoor) were present at the do.

The Bachchans were represented by Jaya. The others missing in action included Saif Ali Khan and Ranbir Kapoor who is shooting for a Dharma film with Ayan Mukherji.