Shahid out, Varun in

This year’s awards season has opened on the wrong note, with controversies surrounding the Star Screen Awards. The other day it was alleged that Alia Bhatt had walked out of the awards function with the trophy before her name was announced as a winner.

Now another eyebrow-raising report doing the rounds concerns Shahid Kapoor, who was purportedly committed to performing on stage at the event. But when he was told that Ranveer Singh was getting the award for Best Actor (for Gully Boy), Shahid opted out of the performance at the last minute, leaving the organisers in a panic.

A source in the know admitted that this embarrassing rumour was true. “Shahid did opt out at the last minute. His official excuse was ill health, but he took off for the shooting of his new project Jersey a couple of days afterwards. It seems he was not happy about another actor being given the Best Actor award. He expected it for his performance in Kabir Singh,” says the source.

Luckily for the organisers, Varun Dhawan stepped in at last minute to save the day. “They asked him to help out in a state of panic. Varun is a very busy star, and yet he agreed to be a last-minute replacement, even though he wasn’t up for any awards this  year,” the source reveals in conclusion.