Athena, the beautiful Goddess of War looked down from Mount Olympus in the sky and smiled. Deep down on planet Earth, in a country called India, at a place called ‘mayanagri’ (magical town), is a glittering place - Bollywood, wherein reside a constellation of stars, often at war with one another. She has partaken in biggest of wars, but battles in Bollywood amuse her no end.
Bollywood is famous for creating larger-than-life magic onscreen and the stars enact stories of love, passion and hatred. Athena loves typical Bollywood masala film – macho aggressive hero with six-packs, demure submissive heroine with long lashes, sacrificing and overworked mother with a ‘potli’, raped and suicidal sister, demonic chest-thumping villain, pelvic-thrusting item numbers, lost and found storyline and the age-old theme - victory of good over evil.
But more than onscreen stories, Athena applauds the changing hues of off-screen happenings, which are far more thrilling than the famous Battle of Troy. Mercuric rise and fall in fortunes, plastic faces, cocktail parties, flamboyant mannerism, incessant bragging, casting couches, clandestine affairs, romantic alliances, face-offs over trivialities – Athena loves it all!
And she is particularly interested in the battle of hot nymphs of Bollywood. They have the capacity to catfight over an
ything and everything. The gorgeous beauties stun not only with their looks but also with their panache for verbal assaults, publicity stunts and cold wars. Over the years, Athena has kept a track record of the famous catfights of heroines and has used their ploy to sharpen her own warring skills. She has created special titles for the famous conflicts. Have a look:
Battle of Bengal tigresses (Sharmila Tagore vs Rakhee): During the making of ‘Daag’, Sharmila Tagore, who was famously known as the Bengal tigress, had a bitter and spicy showdown with Rakhee. Sharmila got an upper hand in the fight as she had the silent support of ‘close co-star’ Rajesh Khanna. Later, Sharmila pinched her rival by striking a close friendship with Rakhee's ex Gulzar!
Battle of southern sirens (Sridevi vs Jaya Prada): The leading actresses of their time were the bitterest of rivals. Every effort to bring them together went in vain. During the shooting of a K Bappaiah’s film called ‘Maqsad’, co-stars Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra locked the two beauties in the same makeup room hoping they'd make up. But all in vain, they remained as frosty as ever towards each other.
Battle of saucy wives (Raveena Tandon vs Natasha Sippy): Raveena Tandon got so worked up by the presence of her husband Anil Thandani’s first wife Natasha (she was sitting close to Anil) that she threw a glass of wine over her at a New Year party. According to Natasha’s father, “Raveena and Anil were present at the party. Raveena started abusing Natasha for no rhyme or reason. She then threw a glass at Natasha.’’ Tch Tch..too bad!
Battle of Miss Khiladis (Shilpa Shetty Vs Twinkle Khanna):
Leggy Shilpa Shetty (soon to be Mrs Raj Kundra) suffered fatal defeat when her hot best friend Twinkle Khanna stole her boyfriend Akshay Kumar from right under her nose. Twinkle won the crown of ‘Mrs Khiladi’ and it took years for Shilpa Shetty to nurse her broken heart.
Battle of one tight-slap (Esha Deol Vs Amrita Rao): The muscular Esha Deol slapped frail co-star Amrita Rao on the sets of ‘Pyaare Mohan’. Admitting to the slapping incident, Esha said, “Yes. One day after pack-up, Amrita abused me in front of my director, Indra Kumar and my cameraman and I thought that was totally out of line. To protect my self-respect and dignity, in the heat of the moment, I slapped her. I have no regrets because she totally deserved it for her behaviour towards me at that point in time. I just stood up for myself and my dignity.” Practice Gandhigiri, lady!
Battle of ‘Chalte-Chalte’ (Aishwarya vs Rani): Aishwarya and Rani were quite cordial initially during the making of SRK’s ‘Chalte Chalte’ but when SRK chucked Ash out of the film due to beau Sallu’s over-interference and signed Rani in, things went sour between the ladies. Rani was believed to be going around with Abhishek Bachchan at the time. So Ash had the last laugh when she got involved with Abhishek and became Mrs Bachchan!
Battle of Bebo and Billo (Kareena Kapoor vs Bipasha Basu):
This was one of the deadliest and longest running catfights. On one side was the saucy Kareena Kapoor and on the other side daring Bipasha and witnesses were the cast and crew of Abbas Mastan’s ‘Ajnabee’. From day one, the two hot babes were clawing at each other, and Bebo is said to have called Bips a ‘Kaali Billi’. The fight is still ongoing and result is awaited!
Battle of ‘Jalwa’ (Priyanka Chopra vs Kangana Ranaut):
Insiders revealed several instances of face-off between Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut during the making of ‘Fashion’. The two girls, who played rivals on-screen turned into foes in real-life also, with each trying to grab more limelight than the other at any cost. It is said that at a party celebrating the success of ‘Fashion’, the actresses timed their entry and exit in such a way that they didn’t cat-cross each other’s paths. Priyanka had an upper-hand in the fight as she managed to get more recognition for the film.
Battle of fragile vanities (Katrina Kaif vs Priyanka Chopra):The two sexy ladies are fighting neck-and-neck to be the No 1 in Bollywood. But their fight is not just at a professional level and is quickly turning personal. The two had a rift during a performance in an award function. Katrina and Priyanka indulged in a major argument on who was to perform the last – as it was the highlight of the event! After the organizers pleaded with the ladies, Priyanka succumbed and agreed on Katrina presenting the final act. About the incident, Kat said in an interview, “Frankly, I don’t care about such things. And don’t be silly. I was always supposed to enter last and that’s what I did.”
The warring babes of the B-Town are still unaware that apart from their admirers and media, up in the sky there is someone noting down their doings with precision. Their career and catfights would end on Earth someday, but in the sky Goddess Athena has a record of every malicious face-off for her reference. And she may leak out every bit of hot-juicy incidents any day, any time. B-Town nymphs, beware!
