Bhopal, Sept. 12: The Vishwa Hindi Sammelan ended here today on a tame note - without Amitabh Bachchan reciting his father's poetry in his trademark baritone.

Late last night, Anil Madhav Dave, a member of the organising committee, said the actor would "not be able to attend the event's concluding function".

Dave, also a BJP Rajya Sabha MP, announced that he had received an email that said the 72-year-old had undergone dental surgery and would be unable to speak at the meet.

A message from Bachchan was read out by Dave at the meet today in which he expressed regret that he could not be present because of a toothache. The actor also apologised for his failure to receive telephone calls from Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Dave.

But for almost a full day until his message was read out, there was silence from the actor, who is known to air his views frequently on micro-blogging site Twitter, on his absence from the meet. He did hint at a toothache in one tweet: "Leander Paes and Martina Hingis...congratulations on US Open victory...bit my painful tooth out during the tie break."

At the World Hindi Conference, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 10, there were few takers for the toothache explanation. Bachchan, many old-timers recalled, always honoured commitments.

A source hinted that a possible reason was the delay in release of fees, reportedly sanctioned by the organisers - the ministry of external affairs - late last evening.

The source said an email saying Bachchan would not attend came late on Friday, around the same time that the fees were sanctioned and about to be transferred to him.

Ministry officials denied any dispute over fees or delay as a likely reason for the no-show.

In July this year, there was a controversy on whether Bachchan had agreed to promote a Doordarshan channel for farmers free of charge. After a newspaper report said he was charging over Rs 6 crore, the actor had clarified that he was not taking any money. However, it was not clear whether the decision to work for free was taken before or after the newspaper report appeared.

Bachchan's mother-in-law Indira Bhaduri, who lives in Bhopal, told the local media today she had no information on the visit. "In the past, whenever he (Bachchan) has visited Bhopal, I get intimation in advance," Bhadhuri, mother of Jaya Bachchan, said.

If audiences were denied the experience of listening to Harivansh Rai Bachchan's poems in his son's deep-throated voice, many questioned the invite to the star.

Giriraj Kishore, a Kanpur-based writer, accused the organisers of the 10th Hindi meet of "ignoring" many prominent Hindi writers. "Harivansh Rai Bachchan was an author but why was his son invited to the event?" the Padma Shri recipient had asked.

Kishore and some of his fellow award-winning writers, like Rajesh Joshi and Gyan Chaturvedi, had represented India at earlier Hindi conferences abroad but were not invited to the Bhopal meet. The reason given was the conference was more about promoting the language than literature.

The external affairs ministry (MEA), the main organiser, had billed Bachchan's participation as a high point. "If Hindi songs are being heard in the Middle East today, it is due to Bollywood's influence. Amitabh has been the most popular actor of Bollywood of the 1970s. He is looked upon as an inspirational personality even today. If he comes, it would benefit the Hindi language," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup, himself an author, had said two days ago, defending the invite to the actor.

Swarup's novel Q & A was adapted into the multiple Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.

Vyapam scam whistleblower Paras Saklecha and rights activist Ajay Dubey believe Bachchan backed out in response to their appeal. "We had sent him (Bachchan) documents relating to the Vyapam scam with a request not to come to Bhopal where the joint organiser, the Madhya Pradesh government, is deeply involved in the scam," Dubey, a member of Transparency International, told The Telegraph.

"We are glad that Bachchan... heeded our advice, even if there is no open admission to that effect. It is understandable, but we take it as our victory and thank him."

Dubey and Saklecha had held media conferences in Bhopal and Delhi on August 31 and September 9, saying if Bachchan attended the meet, he would be greeted with black flags.

Bachchan had made a public appearance on September 10 in Mumbai when he, along with industrialist Ratan Tata, supported the Union government's "Call to Action for a TB-Free India".

Richard Verma, US ambassador to India, was one of the main voices behind the initiative.