Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston

Both household names ever since their portrayals of Monica and Rachel achieved international fame on the NBC sitcom FRIENDS, Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston have been best friends in both reel and real life. Jennifer Aniston was named godmother to Cox’s daughter Coco, and was even proposed marriage to by Justin Theroux at a dinner party in Courteney’s house. Cox was bridesmaid to Aniston at the wedding that followed. In 2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of Cox’s series Dirt, playing rival Tina Harrod to Cox’s character, Lucy Spiller.

Sonam Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez

Amongst all celebrity rivalries that we hear of everyday, it is refreshing to hear of a friendship like theirs. Even though this duo has been friends for years, they have never worked together. They first met on the sets of Race 2 (2013) where Jackie was shooting with Sonam’s father Anil Kapoor. In an interview with BollywoodLife, Jacqueline had this to say about her best friend: “There’s this mutual respect we have for each other and there’s no sense of competition between the both of us. We help each other a lot. She has really seen me through a lot of struggles, and has always been there for me.”

Jacks and Sones, as they call each other, have been virtually inseparable ever since they met, standing up and constantly cheering for the other, and taking care of the other one in their toughest moments.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

One of the oldest female celebrity friendships, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were introduced to each other by Charna Halpern, the co-founder of Chicago’s ImprovOlympic, way back in 1993. Eventually, they both joined Saturday Night Live, introduced the iconic Weekend Update and parodied Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, made a couple of films together (including the classic teen comedy, Mean Girls), appeared on magazine covers such as Vanity Fair, and co-hosted the Emmys, the Golden Globes, and other award shows multiple times. Not only that, when Fey and Poehler both departed from SNL and made their own TV shows, the cult classics, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation respectively. They even based their fictional best friends (Jenna Maroney in 30 Rock, and Ann Perkins in Parks and Recreation) on each other in both shows!

Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji

Orthodox Bollywood wisdom generally dictates that casting two rival actresses in a film is asking for trouble. However, that has not been the case with Preity and Rani, who have done countless films together, although mostly as rivals onscreen. Both casting favourites of the Yash Raj Films camp, the two have maintained their iconic friendship for years, with Preity spending hours on end with Rani and her daughter, even having sleepovers together.

The cast of Orange is the New Black

Possibly the largest female ensemble cast for any modern-day show, the actresses of Orange is the New Black have bonded really well both on the screen and off ever since the show was created and aired in 2013. They talk regularly of their utmost professionalism and respect for each other in interviews, travel the world together for press conferences and for group vacations, host dinner parties at each others’ homes, and stand up for their friends not only within the walls of Litchfield Penitentiary, but also at important events in real life, such as Lea DeLaria’s jazz performances, or Samira Wiley’s marriage, or even Ruby Rose’s DJ concerts. The duos of Flaritza, and Poussey and Taystee are both best friends when it comes to their actresses as well.

Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone

Possibly the newest pair of friendships in Bollywood’s tinsel town of celebrities, Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone have been highly supportive of the breakthrough projects that they have recently been doing. Alia calls herself Deepika’s biggest fan, and has taken to social media and beyond to show her appreciation for her recent role as the titular character in the upcoming film Padmavati (2017). Deepika too has showered the younger actress with heaps of praise for her critically acclaimed role in Highway (2014).

Katy Perry and Rihanna

Katy Perry and Rihanna’s friendship began in a style very similar to that portrayed in Sex and The City — over their mutual love of a bag. Katy told Elle magazine that back in 2009, she complimented Rihanna’s studded Valentino bag and the singer offered to send her one as well. Katy thought that was just an empty promise, but then Rihanna stayed true to her word and sent over the bag as a gift on Valentine’s Day. In 2015, Katy felt Rihanna was snubbed by MTV for her lack of nomination for an MTV Video Music Award for her song “Bitch Better Have My Money”. This, according to Katy, was a ‘travesty’ as she declared on Twitter soon afterwards. And way back when Katy Perry and Russell Brand got engaged, Rihanna planned her best friend’s bachelorette party. The friends had a falling-out when Rihanna reportedly got back together with her abusive ex-boyfriend Chris Brown of whom Perry is not a fan, but got back together after the MTV VMAs event.

Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma

From appearing onscreen together on talk shows such as Koffee with Karan to acting together in films like Jab Tak Hai Jaan and in other upcoming projects, Anushka and Katrina have had sizzling chemistry together everywhere. Both are very respectful of each other’s work, with Katrina going on record to say, “She (Anushka) is a very simple, chilled out person to work with and that’s great.”

Taraji P Henson and Viola Davis

Both formidable stars in their own right, Taraji P Henson and Viola Davis have been nominated for multiple awards for their iconic portrayals of Cookie Lyon in Empire and Annalise Keating in How To Get Away With Murder respectively. And even though at the 2015 Emmys, Davis won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Henson was the one who got up first to embrace her and give her a standing ovation. Davis, in her acceptance speech, thanked and applauded Henson for her work along with that of other actresses such as Kerry Washington and Tracee Ellis Ross. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Henson spoke about her friend’s win: “I think the universe is happy. Viola deserved that reward, and, honestly, I would have felt weird if I had gotten it over her. She’s been doing it longer and you just have to give respect and know when your time is.”

Both actresses recognize that the representation of black and queer women in the media is of paramount importance, and that competition can wait, a truly heartening thing to see in this day and age.

Gauri Khan and Sussanne Khan

Mostly known for being celebrity wives (although Sussanne recently divorced her actor husband, Hrithik Roshan), both Gauri and Sussanne are passionate about interior design and home decor, which has also become their professional interest. The two ladies have even started a collaborative venture called ‘The Charcoal Factory’. They have consistently denied reports of rifts in their friendship, saying that there is no competition between them,