/> While most of Sridevi's leading men from Vinod Khanna to Anil Kapoor showed up at the celebratory party thrown at the lounge Alibi in Colaba (Mumbai) by politician Amar Singh and Sridevi's husband Boney Kapoor, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan who were supposed to `most certainly` be there did a no-show.

And the reason was not their mutual hostility (yes, the Iftar hug notwithstanding they still don't talk). Their reason for not turning up for Sridevi's golden hour was quite different.


According to a very reliable source, `Salman and Shah Rukh were both aware of each other's invitation at the party. They didn't mind coming face to face. They didn't show up for entirely different reasons. Salman was all dressed and ready to leave for the party when he heard that the party had been organized by his one-time friend Bunty Walia. He immediately changed his mind. `

For those who came in late, Salman and Bunty used to be the thickest of friends. But then they had a massive fall-out. As everyone knows Salman's former friends are never forgiven. Any sign of the 'B' (for Bunty) word and Salman baulks.

Shah Rukh was apparently all dressed and ready to arrive at the venue at 12 midnight. For reasons best known to him he changed his mind.


These Khan superstars' no-show apart Sridevi's party was a grand success. All her female colleagues like Hema Malini, Juhi Chawla, Sushmita Sen, Shilpa Shetty and her co-stars Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor to Vinod Khanna to Anil Kapoor (with wife Sunita) had turned up. Tennis champ Mahesh Bhupati with wife Lara Dutta rubbed shoulders with media baron Subhash Chandra. The political brigade was represented by such heavyeights as Praful Patel and Salman Khurshid.

It was gratifying for the guests to see Boney Kapoor's daughter Anshula from his first marriage present at the party.


Says a prominent guest, `Boney's son Arjun was also supposed to be at the part. But Arjun's shooting in Chennai for 2 States got delayed because of rains and he couldn't make it. Boney's sister (whose son is being launched by Akshay Kumar) couldn't make it at the last minute because of a medical emergency in the family. However Sanjay Kapoor and his wife Mahip were present. `

The party was a resounding success.

Says a VIP invitee, `It went on until 3. 30 am. I'd say the highlight was the 7-minute show-reel on Sridevi that Amar Singh had gotten made. It traced Sridevi's career from a child artiste to the most recent cover-shoot for Vogue magazine. `