Manisha Koirala was angry because her boyfriend was eyeing Laila

They were like two peas in a pod for the longest time. Manisha Koirala and Laila Khan (Fardeen Khan’s sister) have bonded since the days of Feroz Khan’s home-production Yalgaar, way back in 1992.

Manisha had confessed to close friends that she was extremely fond of Laila; and both these Leo women, they are born one day apart - Laila on August 15 and Manisha on August 16 - nurtured a close friendship for 15 years.

But this year, common friends of the two-including a designer and an actress were shocked when Fardeen Khan didn’t invite Manisha to his sister’s birthday party at Bling on August 15.

A source present at the party said, “There were just 15 of us. Fardeen and his wife Natasha were fabulous hosts. And, no we didn’t spot Manisha at the party which is surprising because she is usually there at all Laila’s parties.”’

The same source attended Manisha’s birthday bash at her residence the next evening and found Laila missing this time.

Putting two and two together, the source added, “I guess the Laila-Manisha friendship has gone kaput.” For close friends of the two girls, it is now a hard choice. They have to sometimes choose one over the other.

“What is really sad,” said one of their common friends, “is the fact that these women had an altercation over a man, Akshay. And that man is with neither of them today."

Some months ago, there was a news report on how Manisha and Laila had a pow-wow at a suburban hotel bathroom over one of Manisha’s boyfriends. It was insinuated that Manisha was angry because her boyfriend was eyeing Laila.

A close friend who is common to both the women says, “Actually neither Manisha nor Laila is actually at fault. Manisha was seeing a guy called Akshay. Buzz is that Akshay was a student in Australia and he met Manisha when she was a chief guest at some function there. And at a party in her home last year, Akshay was chatting up Laila more than necessary. So Manisha got upset.”

The fact of the matter is that Laila wasn’t one bit interested in Akshay. But somehow this incident drove a wedge between the two friends. And, a friendship of 15 years has gone phut.

When contacted, Manisha sent us a text message which read, “ I didn’t attend Laila’s party but we have not had a fall-out.”