Has Shah Rukh Khan upset Vidya Balan?

B-Town’s increasingly buzzing with talks of actor Shah Rukh Khan rubbing many of his friends and co-actors the wrong way in recent times.

One of them seems to be actress Vidya Balan, who of late seems to be choosing to talk about SRK’s arch rival Salman Khan over him. The actress, who was until recently quite open about being an SRK fan, often professing that she would love to be paired opposite him, now seems to have found a new favourite in actor Salman Khan. In fact, in a recent interview, she was even heard saying that ‘Salman is the biggest star and my dad’s favourite too’.

Insiders reveal that the actor was genuinely very fond of Shah Rukh and still is, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed how apparently in a bid to push his good friend Priyanka Chopra, he’s looking to have been side-lining Vidya at awards events.

“It’s clearly a Vidya vs PC face-off as far as awards this year for the Best Actress go. But while Priyanka’s Saat Khoon Maaf flopped, Vidya’s The Dirty Picture is a superhit. Not only that, even the industry is unanimous in their choice of who’s proven to be a better actress this year. But apparently this hasn’t gone down too well with Shah Rukh, who’s been trying to pitch PC over her at every occasion possible,” says an insider. That Vidya and his other friends have been graciously taking it in their stride is what’s keeping everyone from turning against him, the insider adds.

But sources insist that while Vidya’s not taking any offence, it doesn’t mean that she hasn’t noticed. “Vidya has always held Shah Rukh in high regard, so she’s naturally upset about the way he’s not acknowledging her achievements, instead choosing PC over her. She may never admit it in public, but the fact is that she is hurt, like anyone would be,” says the source.

What hasn’t helped is the actress finding out that though a filmmaker had approached him for a project with Vidya, he had apparently refused to work with the actor, recommending Priyanka’s name instead.

According to sources, many feel that SRK has been acting out of his new friendship with PC. “Seeing SRK trying to pitch Priyanka over Vidya is very surprising as till recent times, he was said to be quite fond of Vidya, but ever since he has become a good friend with PC, he’s been side-lining every other actress,” says a source.

Interestingly, Priyanka herself couldn’t resist taking a dig at Vidya’s portrayal of Silk Smita in her latest release Agneepath, where she shrugs off the South siren’s name.

“Even the theatre-goers have noticed that and been talking about it. Clubbed with the fact that many feel that SRK’s act at awards shows with PC aimed at Vidya was done in bad taste, it’s not hard to understand why equations may soon be changing rapidly here,” says a veteran filmmaker.