Though she was herself a heroine in the top league about three decades back, yet the dream girl and veteran actress Hema Malini has not masterminded the art of keeping stars known for their big egos, happy.
Recently, she invited many friends and well-wishers from the industry at the music launch of her second directorial venture Tell Me O Khuda which is supposed to be a comeback vehicle for her daughter Esha. Besides Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor, who form part of the cast of Tell Me O Khuda, veterans like Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Shatrughan Sinha and Dimple Kapadia also graced the occasion. Obviously they were here for Hema Malini's special day. Akshay Kumar too joined his ma-in-law Dimple at the event and everybody waited patiently for the star-studded event to begin. And the moment the film's music was about to get released, to everyone's surprise it was Shahrukh Khan who had made a grand entry and had just made it on time, headed straight on the stage and was treated like the guest of honour for the event. Even after the film's music was released, Shahrukh, who had played the lead hero in Hema Malini's directorial debut Dil Ashna Hai(released in 1992) was given a VIP treatment. The mother and daughter duo were overwhelmed with his presence. There were hugs and kisses and Hema was seen having a long conversation with King Khan who had come from the sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati. Esha looked completely elated with Shahrukh by her side.
While all this was going on, Dimple Kapadia and her star son-n-law and Shahrukh's arch rival Khiladi Akshay Kumar made a quiet exit. And so did many others. Obviously Hema, who had got busy attending to Shahrukh, did not realize what had happened. But when she was asked about the possibility of irking SRK's rival, as usual her response was candid, "Actually Shahrukh came a bit late for the event as he was coming from a game show and Akshay had to leave early because he had some other engagement. But I don't think anybody got upset. My programme was going on and I couldn't have called others on the stage in between. I could have called only my cast and crew," she explained.
But nobody could stop the tongues wagging. Also, one wondered what would have been Hema's predicament had Salman Khan, who has done a cameo in a dance song with Esha in Tell Me O Khuda, had been around. More than Akshay, it is Salman who is Shahrukh's fierce rival. But then yes, Shahrukh is definitely special for Hema. She was the first filmmaker to sign Shahrukh when he was new to the industry. Interestingly, Hema will be competing with the actor at the box-office with Ra.One and Tell Me O Khuda releasing simultaneously on Diwali, on October 26. But this experience will certainly make the dream girl more careful in the future.
