Dost dost na raha…

Karan Johar’s comment on B’wood stars lacking compassion towards each other is a telling sign about the fickle friendships that rule the industry

Gone are the days when actors used to go out of their way to help each other. The stars of yesteryears may not have been the best of friends but there was a certain sense of loyalty towards each other. Today’s scenario is so different with actors displaying zero patience and tolerance. In fact, Karan Johar recently admitted, “Bollywood lacks compassion in its attitude towards fellow stars and colleagues.”

In the last decade, actors have changed camps, befriended their rivals and even played havoc in the love lives of their best friends. John Abraham, who has observed the way equations change due to a lover’s tiff, says that the seemingly callous attitude comes from a need to secure one’s position in the industry. “Normally, I refrain from attending Page 3 parties, but I would pick up the phone and tell another actor if I liked his/her film. I’m not insinuating that actors can’t be friends. But I’d rather be friends with people from outside the industry,” he says.

A friend in need is a friend indeed, as the old saying goes. Sanjay Dutt’s ex-good friend Sanjay Gupta didn’t bother to reach out to his star friend in his time of crisis. In fact, Dutt’s supposed new good friend SRK has also been staying away with the latter’s upcoming imprisonment.

Asin wasn’t just Sridevi’s neighbour; the latter had also groomed Asin for super stardom. Recently, Asin’s conspicuous absence at a party thrown by Subrata Sahara Roy, in honour of Sri’s Padma award had tongues wagging. “The equations in the industry change every hour. Since Sridevi moved out of her old apartment, Asin may have lost touch with her. But they could have reconnected at the party,” says our source.

Relationships in Bollywood today run on incentives. If actors don’t gain anything by being present at an event or photographed with a certain celebrity, they will not bother. Every word, move and feeling in the industry is PR driven. Why else would Priyanka Chopra suddenly become pally with her on-again-off-again alleged boyfriend SRK’s arch rival Salman Khan? Even Katrina Kaif chose to work with John Abraham knowing that her then beau Salman didn’t get along with him. Even Karan Johar and Farah Khan’s fallout with their common best buddy SRK was a shocker to many industry folks.

However, there is a bunch of A-list actors who have managed to stick together. “I’ve very few friends in the industry, Salman and Sanjay are two of them. I’ll go out of my way for them and I know they’ll be there for me too,” says Ajay Devgn.

Who doesn’t want to be seen in power-packed films and be associated with big producers? Upcoming star Prachi Desai moved out of mentor Ekta Kapoor’s camp to accommodate alleged boyfriend Rohit Shetty’s film Bol Bachchan. The cracks in the Ekta-Prachi friendship are obvious as the actor has been missing from Balaji’s films as well as parties.

Yes, film industry friendships are as fickle as they come. Actors have even played havoc in the love lives of their friends