Last night Subroto Roy of the Sahara Group hosted a Dawat-e-Dosti for the Indian and the Pakistani team at Sahara City in Lucknow. Actor Shah Rukh Khan was invited as a VIP guest at the do. The Bachchans, however, were conspicuous by their absence as also was Amar Singh.

The Sahara supremo is believed to have sent down his private jet to ferry SRK. Among the other invitees were SRK's close friend Rajiv Shukla and actresses Dia Mirza and Kareena Kapoor. Even though both the actresses were traveling from Mumbai, they took the regular commercial airlines. The jet was reserved for just Shah Rukh. What is more significant about this event is the list of absentees and not so much who was invited. The Bachchan parivaar, all of who are in India at present, were not there and neither was Amar Singh, the one-time confidant of Roy. According sources in Sahara, the Bachchans were busy and it is not always possible for everyone to be present on the ocassion. According to sources, the new equations are due to the fallout that the Sahara family has had with Amar Singh and hence the consequent distancing from the Bachchan, who have until recently been an integral part of most Sahara promotions. The vaccum is gradually being filled by Shukla, who is close to the Gandhi family. And to drive home the point even further, the event was managed by the Morani brothers, who are known for their proximity to Shah Rukh. It was a well-publicized altercation between the Moranis and Amar Singh over the seating arrangements at a film award function which led to the distancing between the Bachchans and SRK. After that, the Moranis were not signed on to organize any Sahara dinner party till last night's dinner party, which incidentally ended with a screening of Om Shanti Om.