There are no permanent friends in this industry. Actor Shreyas Talpade has just discovered that in quite a painful manner. Following the success of Dor and Iqbal, one felt that Nagesh Kuknoor and Talpade had formed a strong association. But their third film together, Bombay to Bangkok sank at the box office. And that seemed to have brought an end to the jodi.

Kuknoor's next two films do not feature Taplade. His Aashayein features John Abraham and his film Tasveer stars Akshay Kumar. There is also a quickie that the director is currently shooting for in Rajasthan. But even that does not feature Talpade. It does seem strange that the director has no place for his former protégé and good friend. Just one flop and it seems to have changed the equation between them. Of course, Talpade tries to disguise his disappointment and hurt behind the very reasonable, 'maybe there is no role for me in the film.' However disappointed he may be, he can never forget that Kuknoor gave him Iqbal and then followed it up by offering him Dor. But in the meantime, Talapde seems to have done well enough for himself having just worked with Shyam Benegal in Welcome To Sajjanpur. One remembers how Mani Ratnam also changed favourites when he dumped Madhavan for Abhishek Bachchan. Talpade just has to get used to the manner in which the industry functions.