How Baba Siddique ended Shah Rukh Khan-Salman Khan’s infamous fight

Political leader Baba Siddique was shot by three assailants at his son Zeeshan’s office in Bandra on Saturday night. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital where doctors tried to treat him for his two bullet wounds. But he succumbed to his injuries. He was 66. (Also read: NCP leader Baba Siddique shot dead in Mumbai’s Bandra)
For the political world, Baba Siddique was a leader, former MLA, and a messiah of sorts. But for the film industry, he was a patron and often a mediator, as he proved most effectively a decade ago. The year was 2013. The two biggest superstars of Hindi cinema – Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan – were in the middle of a cold war. The once good friends had a huge fallout at Salman’s then-girlfriend Katrina Kaif’s birthday and were reportedly not on talking terms. Bollywood was divided into factions and producers were worried about this power struggle between the two biggest stars. Enter Baba Siddique, a man with very little connection to cinema. This politician not just ended the fight but did it in such a fashion that the two Khans became industry BFFs again.
Baba Siddique was a Mumbai-based politician who was then the serving MLA from Bandra West constituency. His iftaar parties every Eid were the highlight of south Mumbai’s social circle and were attended by anyone who was someone in the city. Bollywood was, of course, present. It is said that Siddique had been requested to mediate between Salman and Shah Rukh by industry insiders and the political leader found a subtle way to do that. He seated Shah Rukh next to Salman’s father, veteran screenwriter Salim Khan at the party.
In a video that has since gone viral and seen over a million times, Shah Rukh can be seen talking to Salim Khan for a while before Salman approaches the table. Shah Rukh gets up and the two stars nod at each othern in acknowledgement before greeting each other with a hug. Baba Siddique then joins them and requests the photographers to click. And just like that, Bollywood’s biggest feud was ended by Siddique using just the goodwill of Eid and some good old family bonding.
Baba Siddique was a career politician who was with the Congress Party for 48 years till he moved to the Nationalist Congress Party earlier this year. He served as an MLA for three terms till 2013 and was a minister in the Maharashtra government as well.