Shah Rukh Khan was a special guest at the 87th birthday celebrations of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad on Friday. And guess who accompanied him from Bollywood? Sonal Chauhan! The actress was the only other B-Town name to be invited to the exclusive bash. Both flew into Kuala Lumpur in a private plane only for a few hours for the event.

King Khan was also awarded the BrandLaureate Legendary Award. The superstar’s ties with the Malaysians are well known. Apart from shooting for his films like Don, he has also conferred with the Malaysian title of Datuk in 2008.

But Sonal’s presence at the bash was a surprise! Says a source, “Not many know about Sonal’s association with the Mahathir family who are well versed with Bollywood. Besides Sonal has not only had shooting schedules in Malaysia but was also crowned Miss World Tourism 2005 at a beauty pageant in Malaysia.”

Adds the source, “Sonal was dressed by Ritu Kumar in a saree for the occasion. The ex-PM and his wife were both very warm and discussed Bollywood and its popularity with her. As she is busy with the dubbing of her upcoming film, she had to immediately fly back to Mumbai. She was barely away for 17 hours.”