Kaun banega No 1

The cold war between the Big B and King Khan is hotting up. Amitabh Bachchan was piqued that Shah Rukh Khan had reprised his Don role in a new movie of that name.

The cold war between the Big B and King Khan is hotting up. Amitabh Bachchan was piqued that Shah Rukh Khan had reprised his Don role in a new movie of that name. But what really put the fat into the fire is Shah Rukh stepping into Bachchan8217;s shoes for the Kaun Banega Crorepati show.

Bachchan withdrew from the show he made famous when he suddenly fell ill last year. After he recovered, Star TV re-negotiated with him for another 150 episodes in a fresh contract. The snag was that the channel insisted Bachchan first complete the pending 26 episodes, for which it had paid in advance. When negotiations broke down, an annoyed Bachchan dispatched a cheque as refund for the unfinished episodes.

Star then turned to SRK, who after initial reluctance, agreed to step in, particularly when the price per episode has more than doubled. At this point Bachchan reportedly had second thoughts. But by then it was too late. Star had finalized the deal with SRK in Australia.

Mind your language

Such strong language was used in heated exchanges in Hindi between chairperson of the Congress media committee Janardhan Dwivedi and party spokesperson Satyavrath Chaturvedi at the AICC that some fainthearted members of the media cell fled the room in embarrassment.

Dwivedi who tends to speak like a headmaster was remonstrating with Chaturvedi, who took offence. Chaturvedi pointed out that Dwivedi might be chairperson of the committee but he was a senior Congress member and former general secretary. He had agreed to the job only because of his deep respect for Soniaji.

Party hopping

The Samajwadi Party, Jan Morcha and Congress are waiting for Ajit Singh8217;s next move, but the RLD leader is in no hurry to decide since he believes that the UP Assembly polls will not be held before May, as the Election Commission has yet to finalise the electoral rolls. Ajit does not want to change horses until he is sure that Central rule is first imposed.

The Congress is also exploring the possibility of joining the alliance floated by V P Singh, which includes the JDU, and Apana Dal, since it is aware that it stands very little chance on its own. Raj Babbar thinks that Ajit could be the potential chief ministerial candidate of the new combine, but the RLD leader has not bitten the bait so far.

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Ajit8217;s close lieutenant Anuradha Chaudhary and his son Jayant Choudhary are pulling in opposite directions over the alliance with Mulayam.

Wedding dance

Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer was the perfect host at his daughter Yamani8217;s wedding celebrations in Delhi. He insisted on dragging his successor as oil minister Murli Deora to the dance floor to demonstrate that there were no ill feelings on his side. Deora was taken aback . Unlike the nimble-footed Aiyer, who is a natural on the dance floor, he is more inhibited. It was not just the Who8217;s Who of India who showed up for the wedding: many foreign dignitaries took time off from their busy schedules. Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, an old college mate from Cambridge University, was there, as was former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who hardly left the dance floor, and her successor President Mahindra Rajapakse . Even the crown prince of Bhutan flew down for the festivities.

Polo apart

Perhaps the Army should be a wee bit more circumspect about whom it allows to sponsor its prestigious Cavalry Gold Cup for polo. The sponsor, cigar baron Chetan Seth, has business interests in defence purchases. Significantly Seth was seated next to the chief guest, Minister of State for Defence Purchases Rao Inderjit Singh.