Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai are two of Bollywood’s biggest stars, known for delivering many superhit films. They won the audience’s hearts by working together in movies like Josh (2000), Mohabbatein (2000), Devdas (2002), and Shakti: The Power (2002). However, in the early 2000s, their professional and personal relationship deteriorated. To this day, both have avoided discussing the matter directly. In later years, they never worked together again.
Aishwarya once revealed that she was removed from at least five films with Shah Rukh, including Chalte Chalte and Veer Zaara. Shah Rukh later apologized to Aishwarya for this. Despite his apology, tensions between the two escalated before eventually subsiding.
Aishwarya’s mother-in-law, Jaya Bachchan, who shares a close relationship with Shah Rukh, also expressed her displeasure regarding some of his comments about Aishwarya during that time. In a 2008 interview with People magazine, Jaya was asked if she was still upset with Shah Rukh. She candidly replied, “Yes,” and added, “I haven’t had a chance to discuss this with him, but I will. If he was in my house, I would have slapped him, like I would slap my own son. But I have a very close relationship with him, so…”
Although Shah Rukh has a strong bond with the Bachchan family, especially Jaya, he did not attend Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan’s wedding in 2007. This absence was reportedly due to an argument between Shah Rukh and Aishwarya on the sets of Chalte Chalte, which led to a breakdown in communication between them. Commenting on the matter, Jaya had remarked, “Is Aishwarya going to invite him to the wedding? To be honest, if we had invited him to the wedding, we would have changed the wedding date. I want to give my family freedom and space.”
