Are Shah Rukh-Salman-Aamir trying to make rival-bonding look cool?

Roughly a month back, Bollywood gifted its lovers a pleasant surprise. When one Khan's fans waited with bated breath for the first look of a much-awaited film to release, another Khan sprang a surprise on all Bolly consumers by revealing it on social media. Last month, when the first look of this Kabir Khan directed Bajrangi Bhaijaan was to be released, Shah Rukh did it before Salman - the hero of the film - could do it. Soon, the other Khan of the triumvirate followed suit.

Aamir's tweet came across as the final declaration of the camaraderie amongst three of the biggest stars in the industry today; a fact that many swallowed with that generous pinch of salt. People who are somewhat aware of the goings-on in the Hindi film industry know the kind of personal and professional relationship Shah Rukh and Salman shared till a few months ago. Presser after presser saw one Khan take digs at the other, and question after question about their equation was shot at the two left, right and centre. So much so, that in a certain interview when Shah Rukh was asked (yet again) if "his relation with Salman was going well" at that point of time, he'd quipped, "Yes, it's going really well. We're planning on having a baby together."

While the country and the fans of these two Khans could never see that materialise, what they did see is nothing short of miraculous. One Khan going out of his way to promote another's film on a social networking site where his fans are, more often than not, at loggerheads with the other's.

Leaving the Khans aside, the new crop of actors in Bollywood has also taken to this colleague-bonding of sorts. Therefore, every Friday, our Twitter timelines are inundated with a barrage of posts on how so-and-so was "mind-blowing" in such-and-such film and so on and so forth. Every single Friday, the same tweets, rehashed and presented with changed names of actors and films. Ad nauseam, ad infinitum. The frequent show of bonding on social media does lead to a few raised eyebrows. After all, didn't an entire industry survive on clashes between actors? A poor soul who had made a living by tracking the Salman-Shah Rukh fight, for example, will think of that dark day at Baba Siddiqui's Iftaar party that year when the two Titans had hugged each other, and will heave a sigh of despair. Several livelihoods, after all, had been robbed that day.

Cut to 2015. Whatever residual illusion anyone might still have had about the not-so-good relation between Salman and Shah Rukh has all been duly shattered. In instance after instance, the two actors have taken to social networking platforms to declare that their "brotherhood" was way more important than being a "hero".

The bonding is not restricted to Bollywood. Across the Atlantic, too, rival films have been toasting each other's success via social media. When Jurassic World earned a whopping sum of money in its opening weekend and took the crown of the "biggest weekend opener ever" away from Avengers: Age of Ultron, the makers of the latter didn't drown their sorrows in gallons of alcohol. Andy Park, Marvel's concept artist, decided to create a brilliant ode to the dinosaur people.

I got to paint this congratulatory illustration to honor Jurassic World's accomplishment! So much fun! :) pic.twitter.com/tboc0gYbZe

— Andy Park (@andyparkart) June 16, 2015

So, we had a graphic with the words "Marvel congratulates Jurassic World for being the new opening weekend King!" out in the open. A move that is reminiscent of the numerous times Hollywood directors have taken out full-page newspaper advertisements congratulating their professional rivals. Like professionals. With a tad more enthusiasm in appreciating success, even when it's not their own.

If this new-age Bollywood bhai-hood happens to last more than the time it needs to convince cynics of its veracity, it will be a pleasant sight indeed. Fingers crossed for that. However, there's that tiny bit of disappointment at the back of the mind, you see... After all, what fun is in being good, plain and boring?!