by Subhash K Jha

John Abraham is just not bothered with all the talk about his differences with Salman Khan. In fact he refuses to speak about his Baabul co-star's seemingly inexplicable bouts of snideness in print and on television where Salman has made it amply clear that there's no love lost between the two actors.

Shrugs John, "I'm just not bothered. All I can do is brush it off with a smile. I've so much happening to my career...my films, my clothes line, my mo'bike endorsement, my own calendar. I really don't have time for all this. I'd rather focus on something productive than talk about an issue that has no relevance to my life.

Believe me, I'm not being arrogant. I'm just being practical. If God has given me 24 hours a day to do something with my life I better make the best of those hours instead of making unnecessary statements on my colleagues."

John admits he shot with Salman for about five days in Baabul. "Technically we come in mutually exclusive halves...I come after his character dies. But our characters do meet.

So we did shoot together before we went on the World Tour. And then we shot for a day after the World Tour. Everything was exactly the same between us before and after."

So what about rumours of a squabble between them during the Rock Stars tour? "Completely untrue! I had no issues with him any time during the concerts. I didn't know what was happening until I returned to Mumbai and read reports in the papers about our hostility."

Adds John, "As far as I'm concerned I'm very comfortable with everyone around me. I don't like to work under any kind of stress and avoid it as much as possible. I don't give any importance to such things. I am comfortable in my space, and that's what matters to me."

But another member of the Rock Stars team has another story to tell. "The problem was there...and a lot of it in Salman's head. You see, he had appointed himself the unofficial Rock Star of the concerts. But John kept getting as much hysterical ovation on stage as Salman, if not more. This rankled on Salman's ego.

Also the fact that John kept in his own space, hung around with his best friend whom he had taken along on the tour, instead of joining Salman's coterie. That really hurt Salman. He's basically like a child who wants and needs constant attention.

If you don't give it to him he'll extract it out of you. And if you still don't give him attention he'll turn childishly nasty on you. That happened with both John and Shahid Kapoor during the Rock Stars concerts. While John was busy being a rock star on his own, Shahid stayed aloof with Kareena.

Both situations were unacceptable to Salman. He's a people's person, likes to have friends around to faff around and joke with.

If you go to the Khans' residence you'll see Salman surrounded by family and friends cracking jokes at everyone's expense including his own.

During the Rock Stars concerts he felt John and Shahid were deliberately distancing themselves. Salman's ego couldn't take that. Hence the manifestation of resentment."

Another angle to the Salman-John cold-war is the release of Baabul.Though neither actor can be accused of orchestrating the cold war, stories of Salman's vocal disaffection for his Baabul co-star is bound to add to the curiosity for the film, as it did earlier for Jaan-e-Mann when stories about the Salman-Akshay Kumar cold-war came out.

"Salman and John may be at loggerheads. But they are joined in one detail. They're both fond of their Baabul co-star Amitabh Bachchan," laughed a member of the Baabul cast.