May 5, 2010

What led to Shah Rukh - Farah Khan split

The friendship between Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan was an enviable one. A dynamic director had teamed up with a man whose sheer star power gave credence to her vision of cinema. Together, they delivered hits and the partnership seemed rock solid. And then, as they say, good things never last. One fine day the friendship went sour, shocking the entire industry. Was it a temporary phase or did the fissures run too deep? What no one knew was what transpired between the two.

Here's the real story of what went on behind the scenes between two powerful, s trong headed people. The news was already out that Farah Khan was doing Tees Maar Khan with Akshay Kumar. Shah Rukh had kept her waiting too long, and naturally one can't wait forever. However, the repercussions were probably more far reaching than Farah bargained for as this took a toll on her next project.

One day, Farah told Shah Rukh that she had decided to remake the 1982 blockbuster Satte Pe Satta . The star, who was already a bit upset that Farah hadn't waited to do Tees Maar Khan with him, heard her out patiently. But the verdict was a firm no.

Shah Rukh told Farah that he doesn't want to do the Satte Pe Satta remake. But Farah had already spoken to Raj Sippy's son Mintoo about buying the rights. Minto was more than happy to sell them to Farah, who was naturally very disappointed with Shah Rukh's decision.

What stung Farah was that Shah Rukh told her that he didn't want to do a remake of a film starring Amitabh Bachchan. Fair point, but she pointed out that he had done Don with Ritesh Siddhwani and Farhan Akhtar. Shah Rukh retaliated by saying that she had come to him on the rebound.

Farah left the meeting calmly. "But," the source added, "How long could Farah wait for him? He even refused Shirish Kunder's film and didn't show interest in the film based on Anuj Chauhan's novel The Zoya Factor which Shirish was supposed to direct for his production house. It was because of Farah's love and respect for Shah Rukh that she went to him for the Satte Pe Satta remake. "A source close to Raj Sippy says, "Yes, Farah is very keen to remake Satte Pe Satta ."