Shahrukh Khan welcomes Amitabh to his home

The growing proximity between the Bachchans and Shahrukh Khan just got thicker. On Thursday, Shahrukh called up the Bachchans and requested for a print of Rann to kick-start his newly-constructed home theatre at his residence.

Says a source, "Shahrukh specifically wanted to inaugurate his home theatre with a Bachchan starrer. Luckily, Rann was on release this week. So he asked Karan Johar to quickly dial Mr. Bachchan, who put him through the producers of Rann. The producers gladly arranged for a print of Rann to be delivered to Shahrukh's place on Thursday evening."

After watching the film till very late on Thursday night, Shahrukh Khan sent an appreciative sms to the film's producer which read, "Very kind of you to send the film across. Very intense, very topical...good performances all round. The viewpoint is very current."

Apparently, Shahrukh wanted to invite Mr Bachchan to view Rann in his home theatre. Alas! Amitabh Bachchan was in Delhi on Thursday night attending the premiere of Rann.

You would think with his sworn lack of empathy with politics, Big B would run as far away from politicians as possible. Surprisingly, politicians rather than stars dominated the Delhi premiere of Rann on Thursday night.

Those VIPs (very important politicians) who attended the premiere on Thursday night included Yashwant Sinha, L. K. Advani, Sheila Dixit, Sachin Pilot and the current Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi - Tajendra Khanna. Plus, of course, Amar Singh. This was Mr. Bachchan's first politician-dominated premiere in years.

The entire Bachchan parivar was in full attendance, though Jaya arrived separately from the rest of the family. An ever-enthusiastic Vivek Oberoi also saw the film though in a different screening from the Bachchans.

A perception that Rann indulges in serious bashing of the electronic media had the film's leading man Amitabh Bachchan stationed in the Capital for most of Thursday inviting the city's most influential journalists for the premiere.

Most of the who's who of Delhi's press corps melted under the great Bachchan charm. The man himself was baffled by the widespread belief that the film was against the electronic media.

Said Mr. Bachchan on Thursday afternoon, "I'm in Delhi meeting various members of the press trying to understand why Rann is being perceived as being against them. Or why I'm being seen to have issues with the press. Not at all! I've always respected the press."

Tell him the perception of Mr. Bachchan being anti-press goes back to those years in the 1980s when he had banned the press.

Says Mr. Bachchan, "I banned them because they had banned me. But now that's in the past. Writing my blog has made me understand the duties and exigencies of the media much better than before."