'There can be no love between Salman and Shah Rukh Khan'

“There can be no love between Salman and Shah Rukh Khan,” declared Salman's father, noted writer Salim Khan, at the trailer launch of Sholay 3D at PVR theatre in Juhu, in suburban Mumbai.

The event was supposed to be about Sholay, and it's re-release in the 3D format, but it was almost hijacked by the rivalry between the two Khans, Salman and Shah Rukh.

“Shah Rukh and Salman are two grown up individuals. I think there cannot be love between rivals. There can only be courtesy between the two. One should not expect that if Shah Rukh's film is a success then Salman will dance and celebrate, or if Salman's film is a hit, then Shah Rukh will throw a party,” Salim Khan said.

Interestingly, Salim Khan himself recently patched up with his old rival and one-time collaborator, Javed Akhtar, who was also present at the event.

The 77-year-old veteran writer pointed out that even stars like yesteryear stars Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar were just courteous to each other.

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The key players of 1975's Sholay -- director Ramesh Sippy and cast Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan -- were not present. The trailer was launched in the presence of its writers (Salim-Javed) and Sasha Sippy, grandson of producer G P Sippy, who had produced the original movie.

"It's great that Sholay is releasing in 3D. If we have a new technology, it's good if we make use of it. Even black and white films are getting converted into colour, so why not have a 3D version," said Salim Khan.

Akhar was ecstatic about the 3D version of the film. “I don’t watch my films, as I become too critical. I saw this film after more than 30 years and wish we could understand the magic that was created,” he said.

“Sholay is a masterpiece. It's a moment of nostalgia and sweetness to revisit things. Every character in Sholay is immortal,” he added.

The scriptwriting pair of Salim-Javed gave some of the biggest blockbusters in their time: Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), Sholay (1975), Deewar (1975), Don (1978), and Trishul (1978).

They have buried their professional differences and may work together again. Akhtar said, "You never know... there are possibilities. Have some patience, you might hear some announcements."

The two men last collaborated on the script of Mr India in 1987. 

Both had nothing but praise for Sholay. Khan said the film needed no promotion. “The name itself is enough to pull the audience to the theatre.”

Akhtar said, “This kind of film happens only once in a century. Sholay doesn't belong to us, we belong to Sholay.”

The idea of converting the film in the 3D format was headed by Sasha Sippy.

"We wanted to create a new experience and give value to audience. We thought of making it in 3D and present to the new generation," Sasha said, hoping that the 3D version would be well received by today's viewers.

The conversion to 3D cost Rs 25 crore.

Sholay 3D will release in the new format on January 3, 2014.