Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; May 13, 2015)

It was on Salman Khan’s insistence that Jacqueline Fernandez agreed to do an item number in his upcoming production, Hero, after initially having refused the offer. But now we hear that the makers have decided to skip the song altogether as it apparently seems expendable.

An industry insider says, “Jacky had started rehearsing for the item song with debutant actor Sooraj Pancholi last month. However, it is not happening anymore. The film’s director Nikhil Advani and the producers saw the rough cut and decided to skip the number as the film looks fine without it. Also, it would have unnecessarily made it lengthy.”

The actress, who is currently shooting for an international film in Sri Lanka, remained unavailable for comment while a source close to her confirms the news. “Jacqueline was rehearsing for the song, but the makers eventually decided against shooting the song,” the source adds.