Why Priyanka Chopra left Salman Khan’s Bharat?

Ever since Priyanka Chopra walked out of Bharat, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and starring Salman Khan, everyone has been agog with curiosity as to what could have happened for the actress to take such a drastic step? The film is an official adaptation of the South Korean drama, Ode To My Father, which had PeeCee playing Salman’s wife.

Hollywood portals including E! Online and People.com have stories confirming her engagement but the actress herself and Nick remain mum about it. The timing of her opting out of Bharat and announcement of her engagement seems just too much of a coincidence. Here’s what we have come to know about why Priyanka actually left Bharat!

Says a trade source, “On one of her trips to India, Priyanka had shot for two days for Bharat, in Mumbai. It was a hush-hush shoot and only the unit knows about it. Initially, she was very happy about her role as PeeCee is there right from the beginning to the end as the film is about a couple who fall in love, get married and grow old together as their life keeps coming in flashbacks. But while Priyanka was in the US, she kept getting news about other actors getting added to the cast. First came Disha Patani (and her role was increased), then Tabu and Nora Fatehi and all had roles specially created for them. Apparently, Salman is taking the call for these roles so PeeCee thought that she might face the same problem that Jacqueline Fernandez faced in Race 3 – of getting sidelined by Daisy Shah and the rest. At the end of it all, Race 3 looked more of an ensemble cast, with Bobby Deol, Freddy Daruwala and Saqib Salim, than a Salman Khan film. In Bharat, besides Tabu, Disha and Nora there’s also Sunil Grover and Aasif Sheikh. That’s why PeeCee thought it was in her best interest to leave the film.”

According to the source, “Today Priyanka Chopra’s a huge international star and to be part of a film like Bharat, which is looking like an ensemble cast, day by day would not work for her image. But she’s also very close to Salman’s family so apparently, she could not tell them what changed her mind. Hence, the engagement has come at an opportune time which satisfies everybody. An engagement is a happy time and nobody can grudge her that, not even Salman, who initially was apparently very upset about her walk-out. Priyanka is currently shooting for Shonali Bose’s untitled next. She plays the main protagonist and the role is befitting her image. Katrina Kaif has been approached to step into PeeCee’s shoes for Bharat and will soon give her nod to it post her return from London where she is spending some time with her family.”