|*SRK-King Khan of Bollywood*| 50th Special FC* - Page 20

It was touted as the clash of the tournament. On Wednesday night, as Wankhede played host to a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, many saw it as the ultimate faceoff between two iconic Mumbaikars- Shah Rukh Khan and Mukesh Ambani.

And while the Ambani clan turned up in their all-blue regalia, cheering for their team, the KKR stand was shorn of its brightest star.

Shah Rukh Khan was not there. In fact he was far away, in the cosy confines of Mannat, watching the match on his giant LCD screen with good friend Karan Johar and other close friends.

And while the world was led to believe Khan was celebrating his best buddy's birthday - K Jo turned 39 last night - we were told by some of his closest friends that SRK's absence had a lot to do with a bruised ego as well.

Speaking exclusively to Mirror, SRK's close friend and Juhi Chawla's husband, Jai Mehta, said, "The last time Shah Rukh turned up for a KKR match in the city, he was booed by a large section of the crowd. It hurt him badly."

The match, which was held at Navi Mumbai's D Y Patil Stadium on May 19, saw KKR give Pune Warriors a sound drubbing.

It was a high-pitched contest, because it saw Sourav Ganguly playing against his former home team for the first time.

While all those who expected fireworks between Ganguly and SRK were disappointed, a section of the crowd did not take SRK's win sportingly.

Mirror has learnt that the Badshah confessed to his closest pals that the booing and the jeering from his "own people" left him bruised. "After doing so much for this city, this is not what I expected," he reportedly told his friends. "And he has vowed never to turn up for any KKR match in any of the city stadiums," Jai Mehta added.

This is not the first time that SRK has exposed his vulnerable side. Some time ago, the star swore off micro-blogging site Twitter, after being hit by a volley of abusive messages.

"Twitter broke my heart," he said, "I need to cut myself off from negative energies."