When Kareena Kapoor and Karan Johar clashed because she wanted Shah Rukh-level salary, didn't speak for 9 months

Kareena Kapoor and Karan Johar are close pals but did you know they once fought and did not speak to each other for nine months?

Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan and filmmaker Karan Johar have often worked together in Bollywood. Both belong to prominent industry families, and were all set to work once again in Takht, which had to be indefinitely postponed because of the coronovirus pandemic. But did you know that many years ago, the two friends fought and were not on talking terms for more than nine months?

Kareena Kapoor and Karan Johar have worked in a number of films together.

Karan spoke about the incident in his autobiography, The Unsuitable Boy. He wrote: “My first problem was with Kareena. She asked for too much money and we had some kind of a fallout at that time. Mujhse Dosti Karoge! had just released, directed by Kunal Kohli. She said, ‘Aditya Chopra’s assistant Kunal Kohli has made this flop, so Karan Johar’s assistant, Nikhil Advani is not to be trusted either'.”

Karan went on to say how Kareena demanded the same amount of money as Shah Rukh Khan. “The weekend of Mujhse Dosti Karoge’s release, I offered her Kal Ho Naa Ho, and she asked for the same money that Shah Rukh Khan was getting. I said, ‘Sorry’.”

The filmmaker further revealed how he went on to sign Preity Zinta instead. “I was very hurt. I told my father, ‘Leave that negotiation room’ and I called her. She didn’t take my call, and I said, ‘We’re not taking her.’ And signed Preity Zinta instead. Kareena and I didn’t speak to each other for almost a year. For a year, we looked through each other at parties. It was very idiotic. She was a kid; she’s a decade younger than me.”

He had continued: “We were releasing Kal Ho Naa Ho in November. We had shot the film in June, July, August and in September I had to shoot the songs, make the promos and so on. So, I had to head back, while my father continued the treatment in New York. That was the time Kareena Kapoor called me. It was August. We had not spoken for nine months. She called and said, ‘I heard about Yash uncle.’ She got really emotional on the phone, and she said, ‘I love you and I am so sorry I haven’t been in touch. Don’t worry’.”

Kareena has since worked in a number of films produced by Dharma Productions, including Good Newwz, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, We Are Family, Kurbaan and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.