Priyanka Chopra walked out of THIS Salman Khan film; Katrina Kaif stepped in and scored a Rs 300 crore hit

Bollywood was buzzing when news broke that Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan were set to share the screen again. Fans remembered their hit pairing in 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' (2004) and were curious if the 2019 film could finally deliver another blockbuster. Excitement grew with the announcement of 'Bharat', a Salman Khan-Ali Abbas Zafar project, which promised all the drama, action, and charm fans had come to expect.

Priyanka left the project

The excitement, however, was short-lived. Just five days before filming was due to start, PeeCee made a surprising decision to leave the project. Salman Khan, didn’t hide his frustration and later made his feelings public at an event.


As quoted by DNA, Salman 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”

Katrina Kaif replaced Priyanka in film

After Priyanka’s exit, Salman asked Katrina Kaif to join the film. She agreed happily, stepping in as the new leading lady. The cast also included Sunil Grover, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani, and Tabu in important roles. With this strong ensemble, 'Bharat' was ready to release and fans were curious to see how the film would fare.

'Bharat' went on to become a box office success

'Bharat' hit theatres on Eid in 2019 and became a blockbuster. As reported by Sacnilk, it earned Rs 321 crore worldwide.

Priyanka later addressed Salman’s comments

In 2020, Priyanka spoke about the situation 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."