There was a time when Shah Rukh Khan and Arjun Rampal would be part of every little celebration in each other's lives. But it is increasingly looking like something has gone awry between the two. This was more than evident when Khan decided to stay away from Rampal's party on Wednesday night, to celebrate his business partnership with designer Rohit Bahl.

Some of Arjun and Mehr's closest friends were part of the bash on, but SRK and Gauri were nowhere to be seen. Says a source, "Arjun invited all his close friends from the industry which includes Shah Rukh and Gauri. In fact, Mehr and Gauri have almost been inseparable all these years. But neither of them came."

What went wrong? In fact this was double celebration for Arjun as he brought in his 14th wedding anniversary at the party as well. Rumours about their strained friendship started doing the rounds ever since the release of RA.One and the infamous Eid party at Mannat. Says a source, "SRK and Arjun apparently used to have fights on the sets of RA.One. Also, at the party we heard that Gauri was upset because SRK had invited Priyanka Chopra and Mehr had a huge fight with Khan about the same."

Even at Daboo Ratnani's calendar launch in January, we noticed how Hrithik Roshan and Arjun left the party the minute SRK walked in. The Khan and Rampal families had also been on vacation to Dubai around the same time last year, but apparently did not spend any time together.

Shah Rukh Khan landed from London (where he has been shooting) on Tuesday night and has had a lot on his plate ever since, including visiting drunk-driving victim Charu Khandal at the hospital the very same evening. Adds the source, "Usually If SRK isn't able to come for a party, Gauri makes up for his absence. And here, all her best friends were present including Sussanne Roshan and Adhuna Akhtar. But even she did not bother to come."