Shahrukh Khan: Priyanka Chopra is close to my heart

The Jab Tak Hai Jaan superstar speaks out about how his ‘close’ friend Priyanka was treated unfairly. Is Shahrukh hinting at KJo’s remarks about her?

Looks like Shahrukh Khan wants to put his bitter past behind him. Last year has been traumatic for the King Khan as his name was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Be it his slap-gate episode with frenemy Shirish Kunder or his infamous brawl with a security personnel at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, Shahrukh has remained one of the most notrious and controversial figure of 2012. But the one news that hurt SRK’s wifey, Gauri Khan and the coterie of her friends (including Sussanne Roshan, Twinkle Khanna and Karan Johar) the most was the Baadshah Khan’s alleged affair with Priyanka Chopra.

But now, when SRK looks back at the whole issue, the 47-year-old actor feels that PeeCee was not treated fairly by ‘some’ people. Shahrukh also maintains that his Don 2 co-star will always remain close to his heart. “(I) Feel extremely sorry, for she (Priyanka) wasn’t shown the respect I show her, or other women. Priyanka Chopra is one of the closest friends that I have, she is very close to my heart, and always will be,” said Shahrukh during a recent TV interview.

Clearly, SRK is hurt too and he’s on PeeCee’s side. Does it mean that KJo’s stinging remark and Gauri Khan’s unfriendly attitude towards Priyanka has not gone down well with Shahrukh? Is the superstar Khan referring to a tweet by Karan Johar, in which KJo had taken on Priyanka following an article that quoted an anonymous friend of Priyanka’s saying that if women are insecure about their relationships with their husbands, they should sort it out with them. “Using their hired PR machinery and hiding behind so called “friends” to get news into tabloids is nothing but spineless and lame!!!” Karan had tweeted after the article appeared.

A little birdie chirped to us that KJo and Piggy Chops resolved the issue at the latter’s 40th birthday party, but they have been maintaining safe distance from each other. Now SRK’s generous quote (Priyanka will always be close to my heart) obviously indicates that the superstar still has a soft spot for his dear friend and has been hurt by the way people around him treated the whole issue.

Interestingly, one of PeeCee’s fans sent a copy of the recording of this interview to Priyanka who is currently shooting for Zanjeer in Hyderabad, and we hear she was quite touched by it. Will SRK’s candid confessions bring the two friends closer and shut up their detractors? Guess so!