While most people were reeling with laughter at Katrina Kaif's omnipresence (thanks to an edit glitch!) at the International Indian Film Academy(IIFA) awards this year, some others were unable to wrap their heads around the fact that so many A-List celebs decided to give the prestigious event a miss. Which is surprising, since it is termed more global than any other film award, courtesy their exotic international locations every year!
Popular celebrities in the likes of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and family, Shah Rukh Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, and even global stars like Priyanka Chopra were nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that the awards were held in NYC this year.
PeeCee's absence did stir up some speculations in the Bollywood fraternity, and few days ago at a press conference held to promote her latest Marathi production, a reporter asked her the reason behind her decision.
The speculation did not go down well with the actor at first, and seemingly miffed, she retorted with,"Does every actor attend every award every year? Has every actor gone to this award? Do you also ask them this question?"
A few seconds later, she laughed and claimed that the reason for her no-show at the IIFA awards was nothing but her desire to spend her 35th birthday with her close ones.
She added, "I always do the opposite. I never do normal. Normal is boring. It's my birthday and I am going out with my family and friends. For me, this year doing this was more important, and IIFA just happened to be around that time. I wanted to spend time with my family because we don't get to be with each other much while juggling between Mumbai, Pune and the US. I think I deserve a five-six day break. "
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The global icon was witnessed jetting off to the Maldives to celebrate her birthday with her mother Madhu Chopra, brother Siddharth Chopra and friend Tamannah. The actor has been generously sharing photographs from her lavish vacation on various social media posts, and her fans just couldn't get enough!
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However, here's the twist in the tale! While her birthday vacation seems to be a legit reason, reports have been suggesting that the real reason behind PeeCee's withdrawal from the IIFA celebrations, was about something else altogether. According to a report by Mumbai Mirror, Priyanka Chopra's team was coordinating with the organisers of IIFA since January, but the actor was reportedly unhappy with the sum of money offered to her for hosting the event, which was apparently meagre, juxtaposed to the money offered to her male counterparts for simply showing up for it.