Mumbai: Vishal Bharadwaj has proved with Haider, why he remains in the top league of Indian filmmakers.

However, while almost everyone of note in B-town has expressed their congratulatory wishes to the filmmaker, there is one star who has stayed oddly silent.

Saif Ali Khan, who worked with Vishal in Omkara, is yet to share his feedback on Haider with the filmmaker, reliable B-town sources said.

Last week, the actor skipped the launch event for books inspired by Vishal’s films — despite receiving a personal invitation from the filmmaker.

“One of the books was on Omkara and Vishal had invited Saif and Kareena to the event. Saif had confirmed that he’d attend, but failed to show up,” our source said.

We hear that his no-show may have something to do with wanting to avoid a meeting with Shahid Kapoor, Vishal’s current blue-eyed boy and Kareena’s former beau.

A few months ago Kareena and Shahid exchanged greetings in Saif’s presence when they met at an awards ceremony, and industry sources feel he wanted to avoid a similar situation.

“At the same time that day, Saif did attend the opening of another bookstore,” our source adds.  

Saif’s absence was definitely noticed at the launch, but Vishal chose to say simply, “Yes, it would’ve been nice if he could’ve made it.”

To reach out to the filmmaker who gave him Omkara, considered one of Saif’s finest performances to date, would have been a wonderful gesture on the actor’s part.