Salman came from behind and put his hand on Shah Rukh's Shoulder - an eyewitness account of the 'hug' episode

Everyone is talking about the so-called patch-up between the two Khan superstars Shah Rukh and Salman at the Iftaar party hosted by Congress politician Baba Siddiqui. A senior actor who is a close friend of Salman was at the bash. The actor says it all happened very spontaneously. “Shah Rukh was sitting at a table with several political bigwigs including the CM of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chauhan and Narayan Rane. Salman’s father Salim Khan Saab was also at the same table as Shah Rukh.” At this point, Salman entered the party. Says the Actor, “Baba Siddiqui Saab took Salman to the table where Shah Rukh sat with the dignitaries. One by one the host introduced Salman to each person on the table. As Siddiqui Saab and Salman approached Shah Rukh we all held our breaths. When Salman came to Shah Rukh from behind he tapped Shah Rukh’s shoulder. Shah Rukh was eating something. He looked up, got up from his chair and the two of them hugged. The entire gathering cheered, whistled and applauded.” This actor sees this thawing of the ice as a very encouraging sign. “The ice has been broken. How Salman and Shah Rukh choose to take this gesture of reconciliation forward is entirely up to them. They can be such a force to reckon with if they decide to come together.” However, this actor agrees it is too early yet to see the two Khan superstars as friends. “The spontaneous hug was just the beginning. There is too much bad blood between the two. It goes back to long before Katrina’s birthday-bash brawl in 2008. When Salman was dating Aishwarya he barged into Shah Rukh’s shooting of Chalte Chalte. Aishwarya had to be replaced by Rani Mukherjee. Shah Rukh never forgave Salman. And Aishwarya never forgave Rani. So it’s a lot of baggage. Let’s see if anything happens after this.”