MID-DAY (August 9, 2016)

Notwithstanding intermittent buzz of trouble in Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra’s relationship, they are still a hot pair — onlookers at the US Consulate last week can vouch for that. The lovebirds were spotted indulging in PDA as they completed formalities of their visa application for an upcoming Bollywood show in the US and Canada.

Says a source, “Alia and Sidharth walked into the Consulate holding hands and couldn’t keep their eyes off each other. They had, in fact, requested that their visa interview be scheduled for the same day. After Sid got done with his interview, he patiently waited for Alia to complete hers.”

The two actors, who debuted with Student of The Year (2012), have always maintained a “just good friends” stance, but Alia has often talked about Sidharth being an “important part” of her life. However, over the last few months, Bollywood’s tattle factories had been buzzing about a serious tiff between them with some reports pointing to the presence of a mystery girl in the actor’s life. However, Alia recently quashed the rumours. Sidharth had also been linked to co-stars Jacqueline Fernandez (Not Bang Bang 2) and Katrina Kaif (Baar Baar Dekho).

It was only towards June-end that the break-up speculations started waning with snaps of their secret vacay in London surfacing on social media. Then a surprise picture of them getting cosy at a recent star-studded bash also sprung up. At the overseas gala, Alia and Sidharth will be joined by their colleagues, Parineeti Chopra, Aditya Roy Kapur, Varun Dhawan and Katrina Kaif among others.