Varun Dhawan let go of what could have been his big night for an unexpected act.

Moments after his high-octane stage performance at an awards gala on Friday, Varun Dhawan apparently walked out of the event, his face drained of colour. Reason? The actor had just been told about his make-up artist's son meeting with a fatal accident, say sources.

The youngster, who was nominated in the Best Actor (Male) category for 'Badlapur', did an aerial act with a human pyramid - a tribute to martyrs of the recent Pathankot terror attacks. But after receiving the sad news, he didn't wait for the Best Actor awards to be announced, although he had a good chance at winning it (the trophy was jointly given to Ranveer Singh for 'Bajirao Mastani' and Amitabh Bachchan for 'Piku').

Instead, he decided to be with the make-up artist in his hour of grief. "Varun treats his staff members like his own family. As soon as he heard about the death, he rushed to be by his make-up dada's side," says a source.

Varun Dhawan was not available for comment, but a source close to the actor confirmed the story.