SRK uninvited for Ash-Abhi wedding

By: Upala KBR, Mid-Day
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
It's official. None of the three ruling Khans, including Salman (no points for guessing why), Shah Rukh Khan (but naturally) and Aamir (not really close), have been invited to Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan's wedding on April 20.

Surprisingly, even though they share close family ties with the other Khans, Saif, Fardeen and Zayed, they too have not been extended the official nimantran patra. And with the wedding only a week away, it's unlikely that even a phone invitation will be extended.

Recently, there was buzz that Shah Rukh had bumped into Ash and Abhi at a post party for the Zee Cine Awards in Malaysia, where the couple extended him an invitation. When we checked with SRK, he denied it. "I did not meet them post the show, neither have they invited me to their wedding. Regardless, I wish them the best," he simply says.

As for the other Khan, Salman, he too has been snubbed for obvious reasons. Recently, a tabloid had written that Amitabh Bachchan had personally called Salim Khan (who co-wrote some of Bachchan's biggest hits with Javed Akhtar in the '70s) to invite him and his family to the wedding. What's more, it was also reported that Salman was gifting an expensive sherwani to Abhishek for the big day. But Salim has a hearty laugh and says, "This is news to me." Even Sohail Khan chose to laugh over the report.

Meanwhile, the usually straightforward Feroz Khan preferred to maintain a stoic silence on his invite's no-show. Ironically, Ash had attended both Fardeen and Zayed's shaadi last year.

The excuse

Interestingly, the last time there was a wedding in the Bachchan parivar (Shweta's marriage to Delhi-based business scion Nikhil Nanda), the Bachchans had sent a letter of regret to all those they couldn't invite to the party.

The reason given was that Bachchan's father Harivansh Rai was extremely unwell. Apparently, Salim Khan had been very upset on receiving the letter, feeling snubbed despite having given Bachchan some of the biggest hits of his career.

This time around, it is matriarch Teji Bachchan who is seriously ill, so it's being assumed that the second letter of regret will contain this excuse for not extending an invitation to significant members of the fraternity.

Leaving town

Choreographer Farah Khan, who has worked with Abhishek in many films, has also been left out. Her brother, director-anchor-comedian Sajid Khan, says with tongue firmly in cheek, "I haven't got the call. I don't think I will get a letter of regret either!"

Meanwhile, Saif can 'safely' say he wasn't able to attend the party (even if he were to be invited) as he has left for Dubai to shoot for Abbas-Mustan's upcoming film, Race. It is learnt that Salman too will shortly be leaving for the USA for 'personal work'.

Says a source from the fraternity, "Karan Johar, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Kajol and Sunil Shetty are the only stars to be invited. They are all close to Abhishek. If they hadn't been invited, it would definitely have been strange."

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