Goodwill hunting

With the tepid offerings this weekend,it was back to the dependable Koffee With Karan on Star World. Imran Khan and Ranbir Kapoor were a riot. It was refreshing to see GenNext being uninhibited and good-humoured. It was also nice to see that the professional rivalry reported in the papers had not destroyed the camaraderie. In an industry that thrives on friendship,bitter rivalry is bad news. Friends and directors are forced to take sides and professional commitments suffer endlessly when rivals share screen space.

The film fraternity,since the Salman Khan-Shah Rukh Khan fight was vertically split with common friends walking on eggshells around the two. Recent reports suggest that the icy relations between the duo are thawing,obviously sending a wave of cheer among producers keen to rope them in for projects. In an industry that still functions largely through family references,friendships are important. In fact,they are crucial. It is the reason why Bollywood friendships or break-ups take up so much news space. And in adversity,goodwill can make all the difference. Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan are classic examples of people who,despite their chequered past,have always been welcomed with open arms by the industry after every legal crisis. Vivek Oberoi and Shiney Ahuja meanwhile represent the flipside,talented actors who got on the wrong side of the film fraternity and in turn,were abandoned in their hour of crises.

Fortunately,Bollywood seems to be on a make-up spree. Aamir Khan and Salman are now friends,putting in a good word about each other every now and then. Shah Rukh and Aamir after a period of discomfort,are uttering niceties about each others work. Salman even lent his support to Shah Rukh during the My Name Is Khan crisis when most remained mum. The Akshay Kumar-SRK equation has also been set right and Salman has even patched up with John Abraham. Among those still in the penalty box are Vivek and Shiney.

The industry women too have made their peace with each other as was evident when they walked the ramp for Salmans Being Human charity show. Kareena Kapoor,Bipasha Basu,Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif cheerily walked together minus any cat-fights. In fact,despite the long-held belief that women hold grudges,our heroines have done well in extending the olive branch to their colleagues. Kareena made peace with Bipasha when she invited her to a birthday bash for beau Saif Ali Khan. And now Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone will appear together on Karans show!

Clearly,friendship,besides other considerations,certainly makes for good TRPs.