Priyanka Chopra refused to work in this Salman Khan film, Katrina Kaif came to his rescue, movie earned Rs 300 crore

Written By Aman Wadhwa | Updated: Oct 21, 2024, 10:07 PM IST

Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan

Katrina Kaif replaced Priyanka Chopra in the 2019 film Bharat after she left the movie for her marriage with Nick Jonas.

Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan starred opposite each other in three films in the 2000s - Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Salaam-E-Ishq (2007), and God Tussi Great Ho (2008). While the first film was a commercial success, the rest two flopped badly at the box office. The two superstars were set to share the screen space in a 2019 film, which could have been their biggest hit. But Priyanka left the movie at the last minute. The film being talked about is Bharat.

After Ali Abbas Zafar and Salman Khan collaborated on two blockbusters - Sultan (2016) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), they announced their third film titled Bharat in 2018. Priyanka Chopra was announced as the leading lady, but she left the movie just five days before the filming was about to begin due to her marriage with Nick Jonas. Salman got very angry and even made sarcastic comments against her while promoting Bharat in 2019.

The superstar said, "Over Bharat, she chose USA in the ‘nick’ of time. She has worked all her life so hard and when she got the biggest film of her life, she dumped the film and got married. Hats off! Usually people leave the husbands for this. Thank you, Priyanka! I will always be thankful to her. Bharat was about to go on the floors and just five days before the shooting, Priyanka meets me and says that she wouldn’t be able to work in the film. Now, if Priyanka hadn't left Bharat, how could we have brought Katrina on board."

After Priyanka's exit, Salman asked his ex-girlfriend Katrina Kaif to come on board and she happily obliged. The film also starred  Sunil Grover, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani and Tabu in pivotal roles. When Bharat was released on the occasion of Eid in 2019, the film became a blockbuster and earned Rs 320 crore worldwide.

In 2020, Priyanka finally addresses Salman's comments against her in an interview with Mid-Day. She said, "The only thing I’d say is that if there was a reaction required you’d have had it by now. Salman is amazing. I’ve always admired him. He came for Nick (Jonas) and my reception, we went to his house, I’m really close to his sister (Arpita Khan). So, there’s never an issue with him."

The DNA app is now available for download on the Google Play Store. Please download the app and share your feedback with us.