What happened to Soha Ali Khan who was supposed to fly off to Locarno to attend the screening of her Bengali film Antar Mahal?

The well-mannered, habitually professional young actress was expected to turn up at Locarno on Thursday when her film was to have its first public international screening.

Soha was naturally very excited about her foray into the international arena, and had excitedly announced her plans to fly to Locarno via London.

So what happened? Sources say the Antar Mahal team at Locarno comprising director Rituparno Ghosh and producer Jaya Bachchan were left in the lurch at the eleventh hour when the film's leading lady failed to show up.

The leading man Abhishek Bachchan was tied up with his shooting, so he could not make it, even though he wanted to attend.

With no member of the cast present to address the international press at Locarno, the director and producer made a last-minute rushed effort to get Bengali actress Rupa Ganguly, who plays Soha's sister-in-law in Antar Mahal, to fly down. Within hours her visa, air ticket and relevant papers were arranged.

And Ms Ganguly saved the show.

But why did Soha shy away from Locarno so suddenly? We hear that the actress dropped her plans to go when she was not provided airfare to Locarno.

But according to the organizers of the Indian delegation in Locarno, "Locarno is a festival where everyone pays his own or her own way. That's the way things work over here. We've all paid for own tickets."

To be fair to the young actress. Her high level of professionalism must have seemed compromised when a basic requirement (free air passage) was denied to her. But she did miss out on her first brush with international glory.