Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; March 26, 2015)

With the critically acclaimed Haider sweeping the 62nd National Awards in five categories, director Vishal Bhardwaj decided to host an impromptu bash at a Juhu hotel on Tuesday evening.

However, the film’s lead actor Shahid Kapoor was nowhere to be seen — until he decided to sneak in through the hotel’s back door post midnight when mediapersons had left the venue.

A source says the party had in attendance several industry folk, including Shraddha Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane, Meghna Gulzar, Madhu Mantena, Hansal Mehta, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Sukhwinder Singh.

“The guests were surprised to find Shahid missing from the party when he was very much in town. Mediapersons were waiting outside the venue, curious to quiz him about his marriage reports with Delhi girl Meera Rajput whom he met at a spiritual function. But he stepped in soon after the media left as he wanted to avoid personal queries,” says an insider.

In fact, a few journos had asked Bhardwaj about Shahid’s “secret wedding” but he dodged them while talking about Shahid losing out on the Best Actor award. “The guests, too, felt that he did not make it to the party on time as he was upset on not winning that honour. Others say he wanted to guard his new look for Udta Punjab,” the source states.

Shahid remained unavailable for comment.