Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; October 9, 2017)

Golmaal Again stars have been on a promotional overdrive. Their itinerary included an appearance on Bigg Boss 11 over the weekend. While director Rohit Shetty and cast members Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Parineeti Chopra and others put their best foot forward on Salman Khan’s show, Arshad Warsi was conspicuous by his absence.

Whispers doing the rounds suggest he bowed out of the show owing to his troubled past with Khan. During the promotions of The Legend Of Michael Mishra last year, Warsi had taken potshots at him. At an event, when the actor was asked whether his character of a Bihari villager owned a buffalo in the film, he had quipped, “No, that’s for Salman Khan. Since Baby ko bhains pasand hai”, punning on Khan’s popular track, Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai. Sources close to the superstar say he wasn’t amused with Warsi’s joke. Word about his displeasure reached the actor, who has been maintaining a safe distance from Khan since.

A source revealed, “Bigg Boss is special to Arshad since he had hosted the first season. However, he skipped it because he was unsure of rubbing shoulders with Salman.”

The film’s spokesperson said, “Arshad didn’t attend due to a prior commitment.”