At the trailer launch of Loveratri in Delhi, Salman Khan spoke at length about Priyanka Chopra’s voluntary exit from Bharat and if he was miffed with the Quantico star.
While the actual reason is still unclear, director Ali Abbas Zafar’s encrypted tweet unsing words ‘Nick of time’ left many speculating that it was because of Priyanka’s impending wedding with her alleged beau Nick Jonas.
Salman, who was hopping between Mumbai and Delhi on Monday to launch the trailer of his upcoming production Loveratri, starring Aayush Sharma and Warina Hussain, was being showered with questions pertaining to the film.
But in the midst of all this, the Bhai of Bollywood just couldn’t escape the one big question – Priyanka Chopra’s exit from his next film Bharat.
Throwing light on the entire controversy, Salman said, “I’m really happy for her. If we knew it before that she has been signed for a very big film there, we would never have stopped her. Just that we got to know about it in the very end, just 10 days before her schedule was to begin. She came home. I said ‘no problem, if you don’t want to do it, then don’t do it’.”
When he was further probed whether her upcoming wedding was the actual reason, Salman added, “We were given some other reasons at that time, that (laughs), well, you all would understand! That might also be the reason, or maybe this one.
Whatever be it – marriage, or some other film or she doesn’t wish to work in India at the moment, or she doesn’t wish to work with me, she just wants to do Hollywood films and TV shows, whatever be the reason, it is her call. We are really happy and supportive about her doing really good work. Even if she isn’t working here, she is making India proud outside.
Even if she doesn’t wish to work with Salman, it’s fine, she is working with some big star there. At least it makes India proud. We were pretty okay with that.”
After wrapping up her American TV show Quantico and other Hollywood films, Priyanka was set to return to Bollywood with big-ticket film Bharat opposite Salman. And just when the film went into its first schedule of shooting in Mumbai, its director Ali Abbas Zafar posted a tweet announcing Priyanka’s exit in the ‘Nick of time’ and his choice of words did leave many speculating.
While Katrina replaced Priyanka quickly, it was reported that Salman was so miffed with Priyanka’s decision that he even refused to acknowledge her mother Madhu Chopra at a fashion show recently.