Their hug at an iftar party on Sunday night suddenly seems to have become the talk of town.
While industrywallas talk non-stop about the significance and after-effects of such a 'momentous' gesture, perhaps it's a little too early to safely conclude that Shah Rukh and Salman Khan will become the best of friends.
Just a day earlier, both the actors were spotted shooting at Mehboob studios in Bandra and what seemed to be a conscious decision to avoid crossing each other's path was quite apparent.
According to sources, Sallu was shooting portions of his reality show at stage number 3 while SRK filmed his phone advertisement inside stage number 4. Salman apparently sat in a chair that directly overlooked SRK's workspace and his line of vision.
An insider says, `Salman bhai sits outside his vanity van most of the time and on Saturday too he was sitting out and his chair was facing towards SRK's stage. He could see Shah Rukh go in and out. SRK arrived at 5 pm and left within a few hours, while Salman remained there till 1.30am.`
Just 24 hours to go before the two friends-turned-foes would exchange a hug at friend and politician Baba Siddiqui's bash, there were apparently no signs of the two letting the bygones be bygones.
Perhaps the hug was just a simple gesture exchanged between the two largely devout actors who were attending an event in honour of the holy month of Ramzan.
With certain sections of the industry already going gaga speculating about possible films starring the two, looks like much remains to be written about the embrace of the year.
At the party
In fact, so surprised were the remaining guests at Siddiqui's party, that even Salman's brother Sohail Khan stood speechless for several moments. `Sohail looked very amused with what had just happened,` adds the insider.
The politician's friend and real estate developer Shadaab Patel, who was among the guests invited, says, `Initially, they ignored each other's presence. Baba bhai spoke to Salman, post which, he readily agreed to meet Shah Rukh.`
...in the meanwhile
While shooting for his reality show, Salman suffered from a rash after his skin reacted to the make-up used on the sets. According to sources, after the shoot was stalled for a bit the actor's make-up was immediately removed.
`He was shooting for the devil's part and ended up getting an allergy from the make-up. The crew applied a lotion to his face to soothe the skin. After a while, Salman resumed his shoot,` adds the source.
Meet and greet
On Saturday, SRK was apparently in a chatty mood, as he dropped by on the sets of Rajkumar Santoshi's film starring Shahid Kapoor that was being shot at the same venue. The star even obliged fans, posing for photographs.
A unit-hand says, `SRK finished shooting for a commercial around 6.30 pm and went over to Shahid's sets. He looked happy and chirpy.`