"Shah Rukh Khan prefers being number two," says Aamir Khan

It seems like that the clash of two of the biggest Khans in Bollywood is out in the open with Aamir Khan openly taking a dig at Shah Rukh Khan.

Aamir Khan have always said they're friends. And we've always enjoyed the potshots they take at each other.

Yesterday, the usually restrained Aamir, who endorses Samsung mobile phones, reacted strongly at an event when he was quizzed about the kind of competition he foresees from Shah Rukh, who is promoting Nokia these days. He retorted, "Shah Rukh Khan prefers being number two."

Interestingly, the quick-witted Shah Rukh is known for taking digs at his fellow Khan on various public platforms, including on Koffee With Karan. The last time Shah Rukh appeared on the popular chat show Karan Johar had asked him, "If you wake up one morning and you realise that you've turned into Aamir, you would…." Pat came the reply from SRK: "I would tell the world that Shah Rukh is the better actor."

Industry insiders have been speculating about the professional rivalry the duo have had for the last two decades. For starters, Aamir was offered Darr but the fussy actor begged out of the project paving way for Shah Rukh, who ultimately shot to fame by stuttering K-K-K-Kiran and stalking Juhi Chawla in the film.

However, the Khans have been admirably silent about their differences except for the occasional snide remarks that they have made while flashing smiles.

Aamir Khan has always been disdainful about film awards. His standard line of offence has been: "I don't believe in awards. Let other actors be happy getting awards." Said suitably deliberately, this casts aspersions at the real acting abilities of star award winners. SRK got his own back last year, when he said at an award function, "Aamir Khan only goes for the Oscars."

Aamir couldn't help reacting to this in an interview to a news channel. He said, "I just feel that if I don't value a particular film award, then I won't attend it either. Apart from the National award, I don't see any other award ceremony that I should attend. My personal experience about these award ceremonies is that I don't trust them. I have no faith in them so I prefer to stay away."

But the star war hit a high of sorts when Aamir tried to acquire a nickname a la SRK. He said, "SRK is the Badshah and I'm the King."