MUMBAI: Things have gone from bad to worse between two of Bollywood’s most powerful personalities: Ekta Kapoor and superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

While Ekta and Shah Rukh were previously on seemingly good terms, the release of their respective films has created a rift between them. First, it was SRK who requested Ekta through her father Jeetendra to postpone the release of her multi-starrer ‘Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobara’. Ekta graciously agreed, and ‘Chennai Express’ got the coveted solo release, which bolstered its outstanding performance.

With the release and super success of ‘Chennai Express’ came more problems for Ekta, whose ‘Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobara’ has seen a decent opening, but not as spectacular as that of the SRK-Deepika starrer. What has seemingly added insult to injury, was Shah Rukh Khan’s desire to watch the Balaji film a day before the theatrical release.

SRK is a member of an elite cinema viewing club of Mumbai, much like several other prominent film people and industrialists in the city. This means that Khan has the privilege of watching just-released films in the comfort of his private theatre, before it hits theatres in the country.

The only hitch is, such members of this elite club need to get specific permission from the producer of the said film, who has a right to know who will be viewing the film.

And so, on Wednesday night, Shah Rukh Khan and family expressed a desire to catch ‘Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara’ at their residential preview theatre in Mannat. For this, the broadcaster reached out to a member of producer Ekta Kapoor’s team to secure permission.

However, Ekta refused to grant permission. A source revealed: “Ekta refused point blank to allow the Bollywood superstar to screen ‘OUATIMD’ in his private theatre one night before. She apparently turned around and said, ‘Tomorrow, he can buy a ticket and see my film in a regular theatre like everyone else.”

Elaborating on the escalation of the tiff, the source added, “Ekta didn’t invite Shah Rukh to her iftar party and SRK didn’t invite Ekta, her parents Jeetendra and Shobha or brother Tusshar for his Eid party. Reportedly, even Akshay Kumar and Imran Khan were not on the Mannat guest list for the same event.”