‘PRIYANKA GAVE US A DIFFERENT REASON FOR QUITTING’
Salman Khan says Chopra didn’t give her new Hollywood film with Chris Pratt as a reason to quit Bharat; adds he would have supported her anyway
What made Priyanka Chopra really drop out of director Ali Abbas Zafar’s Bharat? Until a few days ago, it seemed that the question was answered, with Ali’s tweet wishing Priyanka happiness, amid rumours of her autumn wedding with American singer Nick Jonas. But then came the news that she has signed her next Hollywood film, Cowboy Ninja Viking, starring Chris Pratt.
Now Salman Khan, the male lead of Bharat, has finally decided to speak up. “I am really happy for Priyanka. If she had told us that she had signed a Hollywood film, we wouldn’t have stopped her anyway. She had come home and I told her there’s no problem... of course, if you don’t want to do it, don’t do it. But we were given some other reasons at that time (pauses)… aap samajh gaye na (you get me, right?) (laughs),” said Salman, who was attending the trailer launch of his home production Loveratri in Delhi.
Referring to the reports that Priyanka would soon get engaged to Nick, Salman joked, “Reason shayad woh bhi hoga, lekin yeh bhi reason hai (Maybe that’s a reason, but the new film is also a reason). Whether the reason is marriage or a film, or anything else, they’re her reasons.”
Salman even said that maybe right now, Priyanka wants to focus on her international career prospects. “It’s possible that she doesn’t want to work in India right now, or maybe she doesn’t want to work with me, but only wants to work in Hollywood films and international TV shows,” he said. “We’re really happy and supportive about her doing extremely good work. Yahan par nahi kaam karna aur agar unko Salman Khan ke badle wahan kisi bade hero ke saath kaam karna hai toh kya hua, wahan par toh Hindustan ka naam roshan kar rahi hain (So what if she’s not working in India, and wants to work with big stars in Hollywood, she’s still making Indians proud). We’re pretty okay with that,” he added.
The news of Priyanka pulling out of the film came at the eleventh hour. “The thing is, we got to know at the last minute. Meri shooting shuru ho gayi thi, but unke schedule se 10 din pehle pata chala ki woh picture chhodna chah rahi hain (My shoot had started, but we came to know just 10 days before her schedule that she wanted to quit the film).”
Keeping aside the topic of Priyanka’s exit from the film, Salman was all praise for the film’s new leading lady,
Katrina Kaif, for how she readily agreed to do the film. He said, “Priyanka had a lot of available dates, so we could’ve had a long run with her. Katrina is doing Zero with Shah Rukh Khan and Thugs of Hindostan with Aamir Khan, so, between these two big films, for her to [find] dates for another film with me after Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) wasn’t easy. But, we’re grateful to her that she could manage those dates and now she’s a part of Bharat. She is sundar, susheel, hard-working and is doing really well for herself.”
Asked if it’s Priyanka eventually who’s at the losing end for not getting to work with a superstar of his stature, Salman concluded on a lighter note, “This is not true. Aamir and Shah Rukh haven’t worked with me for so long, but they are doing well for themselves. There’s a lot of work for everyone and it’s only a good thing.” We reached out to Priyanka and her team for a reaction to what Salman said, but our efforts were not met with a response.
My shoot for Bharat had started, but we came to know just 10 days before Priyanka’s schedule that she wanted to quit the film. SALMAN KHAN, ACTOR