Khiladi Challenges The King

At the press meet for Singh Is Kinng on Wednesday, Akshay Kumar when asked about the title 'king' made a crack at Shah Rukh Khan, who is better known as King Khan.

The Khiladi said, "I don't know why people call themselves King, because there has only been one King in the industry in the last 30 years, and that is Amitabh Bachchan. There is no other." This is one of the many potshots that Akki has taken at SRK in recent times.

It appears that Akshay, who has always been politically correct, is deliberately taking panga with SRK. Not just in his interviews but in SIK, which releases today, there are nasty comments aimed at Shah Rukh.

Says an insider, "There is a sequence in the movie where Kiron Kher asks Singh, 'Is King the one who has 10 countries' cops behind him?' (the famous dialogue from SRK's Don). To which Akki's character replies, "These dons are nobodies, the King is the one who is made out of 10-12 fake dons put together.'

There are other digs too aimed at Khan. In another scene, a guy is wearing a cardboard mask of SRK's face and gets thrashed by a crowd!

It's interesting to note how in the last few months Akshay has been bonding more with SRK's rival camps Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan. Kumar has become close to Big B in the last few months, and was part of their The Unforgettable tour in Canada. On Wednesday night, Akshay Kumar also shot for Salman Khan's show, 10 Ka Dum.

An industrywalla adds, "Salman and Akki share share cold vibes to say the least. They have tried to outdo each other when it comes to picking up movies and quoting their market price and not to mention their issues over Katrina. Which is why their coming together especially after the SRK-Sallu fight has added significance."

It is believed that Vipul Shah is responsible in getting the two actors together. The producer-director who is close to Akki, is also directing Salman in London Dreams. He was the one who convinced Kat and Akki to be on Salman's show.

The Akki-SRK war will get more interesting in the coming months when Akshay's Chandni Chowk To China releases in the same month as Shah Rukh's home production Billoo Barber.

Watch this space for more.

Amul Sharma, Mid-Day