Much water has flowed under the bridge, but Salman Khan keeps bringing up Priyanka Chopra whenever there is a talk of his upcoming film Bharat and its leading lady Katrina Kaif's role. After Priyanka Chopra quit his film Bharat in 2018 on a five-day notice, Salman Khan was mum for a long time - also probably because it was to be kept a secret that Priyanka was getting married to Nick Jonas.
It was Salman's father Salim Khan who first spoke on his behalf whether he had felt bad that the former Miss World left Bharat so suddenly. But as time passed, Salman opened up about the Priyanka Chopra controversy at every occasion possible, leaving no stone unturned to make his feelings clear.
So, whether it is cribbing that "Maybe she doesn't want to work with me anymore" to thanking Priyanka Chopra for leaving the film so Katrina Kaif could be a part of it, Salman Khan has said it all. He also has said only positive things about PeeCee's marriage to Nick Jonas, except recently when he opined that people leave their husbands for a film like Bharat, but Priyanka Chopra left the film.
Yet again, during the exclusive press interviews of Bharat where International Business Times, India was present, Salman Khan spoke about Priyanka Chopra. He talked about how she quit his film unceremoniously when, in fact, it was she who had demanded to be part of it from director Ali Abbas Zafar. But he also called her decision to quit Bharat 'bold, brave and outstanding'.
Read all that Salman Khan said about the Priyanka Chopra episode!
Salman Khan said that he felt the role in Bharat was tailor-made for Katrina Kaif, but that Priyanka Chopra was chosen for her desi-ness. He said, "Initially, Priyanka was very keen to do this film. Ali (the director) and we all thought it was Katrina Kaif's film. But Katrina and I did Tiger Zinda Hai just before that and Ali said that we need a girl who is 'Hindustani'. I said, 'Kamaal hai yaar! Tumhari dost hai, tumne itna kaam kiya hai. Tumko usme confidence nahin hai?' (You have worked with Katrina Kaif so much and yet you don't have confidence in her). I tried telling him, 'Why can't she (Katrina) pull off this role? She has been here (in India) for the last 20 years. She's done Raajneeti and...you've forgotten all that just because of one Bang Bang and films like that came and now she's not looking Indian'."
"But then Ali said, 'Nahin woh Priyanka ka phone aaya that (Priyanka had called asking for the role), and Arpita (Khan Sharma) and Priyanka are very close friends. After then this Nick (Jonas) thing happened and she chose to get married," he said.
Salman Khan said that it must not have been easy on Priyanka Chopra to take such a decision. He said, "It was a very brave, bold and amazing step to take. And she's taken that step. Usually people have jhagde (fights) in the house, girlfriend-boyfriend, husband ko shaayad chhod bhi de for Bharat (Wives would leave their husbands for a film like Bharat). But she (Priyanka) did the right thing. She got married and she go what she wanted, and Katrina got what she wanted."
"And also, she must've thought, I would get upset with her and will never work with her. She informed us just five days before the schedule was supposed to start...woh sab uske dimaag mein aaya hoga. She came home and spoke with me. 'Nick is gonna propose to me and I want to get married, so there will be date issues'. I said, 'Sure, get married, we can adjust those two, three days. You're not going to make the clothes for the wedding. Then she said, ' I don't want to do the film'," said Salman.
Salman Khan revealed that he let Priyanka go. "I said okay. I could've said that she should get married a year later after the movie. But I didn't. She chose to get married, which I think is outstanding! What a gutsy thing to do. I mean, she's worked so hard (in Bollywood). She's one of the most hard-working actresses we have. It's so hard to keep your career alive. And then, the most important film (Bharat) of her life that would perhaps take her (ahead) another 10-15 years, y'know that she refused just to get married. It's an amazing thing," Salman Khan concluded.
The superstar also reiterated that he is willing to work with Priyanka Chopra again in the future. Well, if this could've been Priyanka Chopra's best film, was Bharat the best film of Salman Khan, we asked him. "Every film is my best film," quipped Salman Khan. Trust the Bhai to leave us speechless! Hope after this tell-all, there is no bad-blood between Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra.
