On Tuesday morning, Twitter followers of Karan Johar were surprised to see angry tweets by the filmmaker, calling someone ‘lame and spineless’. Although Johar did not name anyone, it took little time for people to guess that in all likelihood, he was referring to actor Priyanka Chopra. Trouble began

when the tabloid Mumbai Mirror carried a story on Tuesday quoting Priyanka’s unnamed ‘friends’ strongly defending her in the allegations of a rumoured affair with Shah Rukh Khan and hinting that Johar had been bitching about her. Without naming anyone, it also targetted ‘star wives’ (in reference to SRK’s wife, Gauri) and said, “If these women are insecure about their relationships with their husbands, they should sort it out with them, at home.”

In no time, a fuming Karan Johar tweeted, “Using their hired PR machinery and hiding behind so called “friends” to get news into tabloids is nothing but spineless and lame!!” He added: “Some people need to wake up and smell the KOFFEE!!! Get a reality check before it’s too late!!! Grow up!!! and don’t mess with goodness.”

The industry is worried to see this open war being declared between the two, but hope they’ll resolve it. “Washing one’s dirty linen in public is no solution. If there is a problem between two individuals, they should sort it out between themselves rather than going public,” says ad guru Prahlad Kakkar.

“There is nothing that two people can’t sort out by sitting across the table. They are both close to me and I’m sure they’ll resolve it like mature individuals,” says critic Taran Adarsh. “Such matters are best solved in private,” says Suhel Seth. Actor Sahil Shroff speaks out in PC’s favour and says, “I’ve known her for 10 years and she is a good girl. I’m sure she’s being targeted.” Karan Johar did not comment on the matter while Priyanka’s spokesperson strongly denied accusations of planting the said story, saying, “Priyanka never discusses personal matters in media.”