There’s nothing official about this war. The stars in question, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan have always gone all out to deny it.

However with Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna nearing release, the war seems to have hotted up a little more.  According to our source, Bachchan expressed reservations after seeing the rushes of KANK. Apparently the film belongs to Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek appears as mere second lead in the film. Considering the growing popularity of Abhishek Bachchan, Bachchan Senior was a little peeved with the screen time which Karan gave to Junior. Consequently, just to please the Bachchans, Karan recorded a special rock and roll song, ‘Where’s the party tonight’, which doesn’t feature SRK.

“It was obvious that Karan would give more footage to Shah Rukh, but Amitji didn’t expect the film to have SRK in each and every frame. It upset him because Abhishek is a very big star now and he has an image to protect. Abhishek is not doing any double hero projects, he agreed to do this film only because of his equation with Karan and SRK,” says our source.

The differences between the two stars first emerged from the closet when SRK decided to walk out of Ram Gopal Varma’s Time Machine, because Ramu had started working with Amitabh in Nishabd, thus neglecting SRK’s film.

Although both Amitabh and Shah Rukh they have never maligned each other in public and have always spoken highly about each other, their action say otherwise.

Incidentally, when Karan decided to launch the music of KANK at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards function, he approached SRK to be present at the IIFA, but SRK politely declined the offer stating that he had planned his holiday in London. (Amitabh is the brand ambassador of IFFA) So Karan had to organise a music launch in London, which was exclusively attended by SRK. Immediately after that he had to fly to Dubai for IIFA to launch the music again, this time at a function attended by the Bachchans.

Karan was also planning to have a grand premiere of KANK on August 10.  He later cancelled it, saying that he didn’t feel like celebrating so soon after the Mumbai blasts (see interview). However, our source reveals, “Karan tried to get Amitabh and SRK to attend the premiere together, but both politely declined, both giving valid reason to justify their absence.

Karan was aware of the differences between the two stars, but he was helpless. He is very close to SRK, but he is not in a position to upset the Bachchans either. “Incidentally, both SRK and the Bachchans have decided to promote the film individually, and are not doing any promotional activity together.

In an earlier interview to Mumbai Mirror, Shah Rukh categorically said, “Amitji is too big and I don’t want to talk about the issue and give undue importance to this baseless story. My kids are extremely fond of Abhishek and I think we all love Amitji for what he is. His contribution has been immense and I would never ever think of having rivalry with him.”

When contacted for his version, Karan Johar denied the story as ‘baseless rumours which are doing the rounds!’ But our source stands by the story.