Priyanka Chopra dropped out of Ali Abbas Zafar’s Bharat opposite Salman Khan just days before the film's shoot was scheduled to begin. Her decision to exit the film owing to her engagement with beau Nick Jonas not only left the film in doldrums but also led to the rumours that all is not well between Priyanka and Salman. Now in an interview with a leading daily, Salman finally opened up about how they tried to make adjustments for PeeCee but the actress was keen to not be a part of Bharat.
Confessing that he holds no grudge against Priyanka, Salman revealed, “She (Priyanka) had a reason to do that. It’s just that the project got stuck. Had we known earlier, we could have worked it out better. She was getting engaged and I told her, ‘If you are getting engaged, what’s the need (of exiting the project)?’ Then she said, 'Shaadi karni hai' to which I said 'Toh shaadi kar lo.'"
When asked about what could be the possible reason for Priyanka's exit, Salman guessed, "Not doing this had to be because of the wedding or because she doesn’t want to work with me anymore. It could also be because she doesn’t want to work in humari industry (Bollywood) or wants to work only in Hollywood. Whatever she wants to do, I wish her all the best in life. We are glad that she is engaged and happy." Looks like Salman was hinting at Priyanka's next Hollywood project, Cowboy Ninja Viking opposite Chris Patt.
While Salman seemed to be quite cool about Priyanka’s exit from Bharat, he did recently take a dig at her. "It was sweet of her to tell us five days before the shoot that she couldn't do Bharat,” Salman told a daily. Well, Salman's contrasting statements have left us wondering if Salman is still not okay with Priyanka informing the Bharat team in the 'nick of time' Meanwhile, Priyanka has been replaced by Katrina Kaif in the film and the actor is glad about that.
Bharat is an official adaptation of 2014 South Korean film Ode To My Father. It is scheduled to release on Eid 2019.
