Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; December 17, 2014)

Priyanka Chopra was slated to perform at an awards function on Sunday but sources suggest that she excused herself from the show at the eleventh hour. Apparently, she had attended the rehearsals and her unanticipated refusal to turn up on the D-day left the organisers in a tizzy. More bemusing was the fact that PeeCee, who is said to have skipped the show for “some other work”, posted a picture of herself spending time with her mother, Madhu Chopra, that very evening.

A source says the actress never showed any hint of displeasure or discomfort during the rehearsals, and so, her decision came as a shock. “The creative team was putting in special efforts to make her performance a success. However, at the last moment she informed the organisers that she had to attend to some other work,” the source adds.

Another source says the show script and performance sequence of other actors had to be re-arranged when she decided not to come, adding: “It would have been nice to see her perform on stage as she also won an award for her film.” The actress’ post on a microblogging site read, “Spending the evening getting some mommy love tonight. Feel like I need it.”

Her next post suggested that she was unhappy: “Politics I’ve learned, is an art form. Yet it saddens the heart when it finds its way into Art, irrevocably changing its soul! #Lesson4Tonight (sic).”

Priyanka was not available for comment.