Salman vents his frustration, calls Priyanka's act of quitting Bharat 'embarrasing': "It takes guts to leave one of the biggest films to get married"

Fans were more than excited when it was announced that Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra will be reuniting on the silver screens in director Ali Abbas Zafar's directorial Bharat. But, everyone was shocked when PeeCee walked out of the project.

Last year in July after Priyanka walked out of the film two days before it was to go on floors, Ali had announced the news on his Twitter account confirming that Priyanka was no longer a part of Bharat hinting that her wedding with Nick was the reason why she chose to not do the film.

He Tweeted: "The reason is very very special, she told us in the Nick of time about her decision and we are very happy for her."

Soon after Priyanka ditched Bharat team at the last minute, Katrina Kaif was immediately taken on board and the shoot began.

The film is now ready and all set to hit the silver screens on June 5, 2019. Ahead of the release, lead actors, Salman and Katrina are going all out to promote the film.

During a media interaction, Salman who thinks Priyanka quitting Bharat is an 'embarrassing` thing', was asked does he think that Priyanka may have been a wrong cast choice for the role?

To this, he said,

No, not a wrong cast. But initially, Priyanka was very keen to do this film. Ali (director Ali Abbas Zafar) 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 tried telling him, ‘Why can’t she (Katrina) pull off this role? She has been living in India for the last 20 years.’ But then Ali said, ‘Priyanka ka phone aaya tha (we got a call from Priyanka)’ and it is also true that Priyanka and my sister Arpita Khan are good friends. After all this, the ‘Nick story’ happened, the embarrassing thing happened and she chose to get married.

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He further added,

Look, she did the right thing. She did what she wanted, and Katrina got what she deserved. She (Priyanka) informed us five days before the schedule was supposed to start... she must have thought that in this way I would get upset with her and will never work with her.“She spoke to me saying, ‘Nick (American actor-singer Nick Jonas) has proposed to me and I want to get married, so there will be some date issues’. I said, ‘Sure, get married, we can adjust those two, three days. Then she said that she does not want to do the film.

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While he believes Priyanka is a hard-working actress, who efficiently maintains her career in Bollywood as well as in the American entertainment industry, he said it takes guts to leave one of the biggest films of her career to get married. Also, soon after leaving Bharat, Priyanka opted for The Sky Is Pink.

 Salman went on and said,

And she, over Bharat, did choose the USA in the 'nick' of time. She has worked so hard all her life, okay? And when she got the biggest film of her life, she dumped that film and got married. You know, hats off! Usually, people leave their husbands for a film like this.

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The superstar also reiterated that Katrina should receive a National Award for her performance in Bharat.

You know, inko (points towards Katrina) aisa lagta hai ki main mazaak kar raha hoon. I don't think anyone else thinks that. Jinhone sirf promo bhi dekha hai... I think 1000 per cent inko National Award mil sakta hai. Kyunki isse badi aur inspiring film, aur humari mitti se judi hui film, I don't think abhi kuch time tak aayegi.

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Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Bharat stars Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in lead roles along with Disha Patani in a pivotal role. The film is slated to release on the occasion of Eid, June 5, 2019.