Farah Khan opted out of a CPAA event

Ahead of the World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) invited Farah Khan as guest of honour at an event on Saturday at a Bandra hotel. The choreographer-director, however, did not turn up on the said day.

B-Town buzz is that when Farah realised that the event was to be attended by B-Town folks like Sohail Khan, Bappi Lahiri, Aftab Shivdasani, Milind Soman, Anuj Saxena, Neetu Chandra, Raima Sen, Arjan Bajwa among others, she gave it a skip.

Says a source, "At the event, everyone was wondering why Farah was missing as the invite had her name as the chief guest. Later, it was realised that she had preferred to stay away when she heard that she'd be sharing the stage with several other celebrities."

Farah maintains, "I was approached by the CPAA to be the chief guest. I was told that I would be distributing gifts to the cancer-affected. In fact, I have been associated with several of their events in the past.

But two days prior to the event, I was told that it was to be a press conference to announce a celeb cricket match. As I would definitely not be playing cricket, I told them to excuse me. I told them that I could be part of some other event. Moreover, I have been very busy shooting for my TV show, Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega."

About the buzz surrounding her no- show she says, "Why would I not go? Last year, I attended a CPAA event with Vivek Oberoi. In fact, Sohail Khan's wife Seema is a dear friend. In fact, I went out of my way to do choreography for his film, Main Aur Mrs Khanna. Aftab and Sohail are guests at my Eid parties. As the CPAA wanted to announce a cricket match, and there was no way I could fit in, I told them to count me out for the event."

According to Anita Peter, director, Cancer Patients Aid Association, "We had approached Farah as she has always been extremely supportive of our causes. I had invited her as chief guest. But as there were several celebs coming, she told me that if you really need me I will come. And as she was busy with her other commitments, we told her it was okay."