SRK v/s Salman: Kisme hai dum?

The cover of Mushtaq Shiekh's Still Reading Khan

October 11 is always a big day in Bollywood. After all, it is Amitabh Bachchan's birthday. But this year, that day is going to get even bigger. There will be two mega parties on Bachchan's big day. And no, neither of them has anything to do with the Big B.

Deliberate plans

High-profile film producer Sajid Nadiadwala will be hosting a party to celebrate UFO films' 500th digital film (Jaan-E-Mann), the invites for which went out two months ago. The second bash will be for the release of a book on Shah Rukh Khan, called SRK — Still Reading Khan, penned by Mushtaq Sheikh, which was planned only last week.

It's being said that Nadiadwala and his stars Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are miffed about SRK's party. They feel that the book event has deliberately been planned by Shah Rukh to clash with their do.

Salman Khan in Jaan-E-Maan

Interestingly, the book release was initially planned for early evening, but was later pushed to 9 pm (the same time as the Jaan-E-Mann party). So now, both high-profile events will take place are on the same day and at the same time.

Farah Khan, who's husband Shirish Kunder makes his directorial debut with Jaan-E-Mann won't divide her loyalties between him and good friend SRK. She says, "I will attend both events."

Ironically, her brother and funny man Sajid Khan will be compering both shows! How he plans to do that is still a mystery. Says Sajid, "We are trying to work this out. But if it comes to the worst, I'll have to attend both events as they're all my friends."

Loyalty test

The Jaan-E-Mann party will be held at the JW Marriott (Juhu) while the book release will be at the Grand Maratha (Andheri). Come Wednesday, the loyalties of several B-town citizens will be put to the test.

It even seems to have become a prestige issue for both sides to have the bigger and better party. Says Nadiadwala, "UFO Movies had planned this event two months ago. I usually never throw parties, but yes, we have a huge guest list."

Sajid's party has been planned by Wizcraft, and will be a televised event attended by the who's who of the industry, including the Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and other high-profile politicians from Delhi.

Meanwhile, names like Bipasha Basu, Bobby Deol, Sunil Shetty, Kareena and Karisma Kapoor, Pehlaj Nihalani, Ashutosh Gowariker and Sanjay Leela Bhansali are only some of the guests on SRK's list.

No ulterior motives

When quizzed about why his book release has been planned on the same day, Mushtaq Sheikh reasons, "We couldn't find a five-star hotel on any other day. It's absolute rubbish that Shah Rukh is deliberately hosting the event on the same day. People are forgetting that I am the author and I chose the date."

Sheikh says that he approached seven big hotels and spent three months trying for a booking and the only date he could get was October 11. "Else, I would have to wait till February. That was too late for me. Once the hotel gave me the two dates, I reverted back to Shah Rukh. After he confirmed, I okayed it with the hotel."

Now it remains to be seen who will attend which party. Of course, we'll keep you posted on all the juicy details!