'We don't need the Khans'

The chirpy Juhi Chawla may have said it in jest, but she sure raised eyebrows. At a recent outing for her upcoming film 'Gulaab Gang', the actress proclaimed, "We don't need the Khans."

Juhi Chawla

Debutant director Soumik Sen's film has an all woman cast with Juhi and Madhuri headlining it. The absence of a male star in the film made Juhi make the statement to prove that a film can be made -- and perhaps do well -- without the Khans of Bollywood.

Says a source, "Juhi as usual was her effervescent self when she proclaimed that when there is Madhuri and an interesting script, you don't need the Khans."

Sen's film tells the story of a group of women in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh who dress in pink coloured saris to fight against social injustice. Keeping in mind the film's subject, there is a predominantly all-female cast that includes Tannishtha Chatterjee, Divya Jagdale and Priyanka Bose.

Adds the source, "Her remark raised eyebrows and people started reading between the lines. Everyone knows that her rapport with Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan with whom she did several films is not exactly the same as before. She may have just said it as a joke, but surely there was more than meets the eye."

According to unit hands, however, Juhi just said it spur-of-the moment and there was nothing more to it.