Farah rocks the Khan boat

She stands up for hubby Shirish, ditches her 'bhai' SRK in favour of Akki

Here is the shocker of the year! The leading actor of director Farah Khan's next film is not Shah Rukh Khan. It is Akshay Kumar. Titled Tees Maar Khan (TMK), the film is a joint production between the actor's Hari Om Productions and her company (owned jointly with husband Shirish Kunder) Three's Company.



This casting is interesting because Farah is Shah Rukh's rakhi sister and Akshay is his arch-rival. Both her previous films had her mooh-bola-bhai in lead roles. Her third film, Happy New Year was to feature him too but he kept sending her back to the writing boards as he wasn't happy with it. When it became clear that in 2010, SRK would finish Ra1 and Don, she dropped the project and approached Akshay for TMK.

And though Farah and Shah Rukh are not working together, she remains very fond of him. Apparently, she met SRK yesterday at Mannat to apprise him of the latest developments of her film and to let him know that Akshay was her lead hero before Shah Rukh heard it from anyone else.



All's not well
Clearly, there is stress between SRK and Farah. The unwritten rule has been broken. Until now it was understood: If Farah Khan (or Karan Johar) made a film, it would star SRK. But by casting Khan's dushman, she has proved what was only being speculated so faru00a0- that all is not well between them. It is believed that the actor was not happy with the script and asked her to rewrite it a few times but she felt these were just delaying tactics and he wanted to start the superhero flick Ra1 and the action-thriller Don 2 before her film.

She felt hurt that he gave her the run-around instead of being direct with her. Things have been brewing beneath the surface for quite some time now. Farah has been missing from most parties at Mannat. She has been slowly distancing herself from the clique.u00a0

Subhead
Also, Farah felt that Shah Rukh had treated Shirish badly by offering him The Zoya Factor to direct for his home production, and then passing the film off to someone else without even informing him. SRK had also given the nod to Tees Maar Khan to be directed by Shirish initially, then later had second thoughts about it. Shirish was also in talks with Shah Rukh Khan for another film (Joker) but that didn't work out as well.

Shirish Kunder says, "Yes, it's true that Akshay and I are co-producing Tees Maar Khan and Farah is directing the film. The production company that Farah and I have formed is called Three's Company Production Pvt Ltd. I had written this film with Akshay in mind and was initially planning to direct it but when Farah and I formed our production company, we mutually thought it best that she direct this film while I take the responsibility of a producer. Akshay and I shared a great rapport while working on Jaan-e-Mann and I have been looking to work with him again. This project gives me that opportunity."

When quizzed as to why Farah didn't take Shah Rukh for her next project, Farah says simply, "I am very fond of Shah Rukh but I have to be there for my husband. Shirish needs my support today and he's family."

The Kumar connection
Farah's brother Sajid Khan's directorial debut starred Akshay Kumar. His second film, which is in the making, also stars Akki.
Akshay was also the lead star (along with Salman Khan) of Farah's husband Shirish Kunder's directorial debut Jaan-E-Mann

SRK: cool with it
We have heard that Shirish Kunder is co-producing a film Tees Maar Khan with Akshay Kumar which Akshay is starring in and Farah Khan is directing. Are you aware of it and if you are, are you okay that Farah's next film won't be with you?
"Yes."

Trivia
SRK is known as King Khan. Until Akshay acted in Singh is Kinng, challenging his rival. Now that Shah Rukh's My Name is Khan releases, Akki will be seen as 'Khan' in Tees Maar Khan.