And decided to work together in Karan Johar's next
Ram Kamal Mukherjee
This was one party where everyone was vying for an invite. Firstly because it was a party hosted by none other than Shah Rukh Khan at his palatial sea-facing bungalow on Thursday, Mannat and secondly because the party was thrown in honour of Hollywood actor Will Smith. With a invitee list restricted to just 30 to 40 guests, which included Preity Zinta, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Farah Khan, Arjun Rampal, Fardeen Khan, Salman Khan who dropped in for a short while, and last but not least Karan Johar.
It was a rare occasion because Khan doesn't usually throw open his doors for filmi parties, but Khan lived up to his reputation of being the perfect host. "It was a typical filmi party," says actor Chunkey Pandey who was present at the party. Incidentally, Smith had expressed his desire to see Shah Rukh Khan shoot for Don, but there was no proper arrangement or adequate security for the actor. When this bit of news reached Khan he organised a party on a short notice. The sumptuous food was ordered from Taj Lands End and the party was thrown on the sprawling lawns of his house. The choice of music was trance and Will was extremely happy to interact with Khan.
According to Pandey, "He met Karan Johar and expressed his desire to work with him and Shah Rukh in their next film. They were quite taken aback with the offer because they didn't expect Will to come up with such idea. They had long discussions on Indian cinema and the star system. Shah Rukh explained the difference between the studio system in Hollywood and the style of work we are accustomed in India. Director Farhan Akhtar and producer Ritiesh Sidwani were taking care of Will and had invited him on the sets of Don yesterday. But the busy star was unable to be part of the shoot because of his choc-o-bloc schedule. "Salman had also invited Will to his place. Smith did attend Salman's party and came back again to Mannat later. We partied till 4 in the morning," informs Pandey.
At the party, Smith played snooker with Pandey, where Pandey won three while Will won the last one. "I was surprised when Shah Rukh introduced us and he bowed thinking that I am a superstar," laughs Pandey.
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