In Pics: Not just Priyanka Chopra, here are 5 other Bollywood stars who bailed out of films at the last minute
These Bollywood stars walked out of their films after signing on the dotted line
The news grabbing everyone's eyeballs this morning is Priyanka Chopra suddenly exiting from Salman Khan's Bharat. While no official reason has been declared yet, most people believe it to be due to her having gotten secretly engaged to beau Nick Jonas. In fact, Bharat director Ali Abbas Zafar gave us all the indication we needed with his official announcement of Priyanka's exit, where he said "Yes Priyanka Chopra is no more part of @Bharat_TheFilm & and the reason is very very special , she told us in the Nick of time about her decision and we are very happy for her … Team Bharat wishes @priyankachopra loads of love & happiness for life".
But anyway, reports have surfaced that Salman isn't really happy about Priyanka's decision, and while we don't completely blame him, there might be quite a few reasons prompting an actor to have to leave a film they might have already committed to or started working for.
So, here are 6 Bollywood stars, from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Kareena Kapoor Khan, who left their movies for some or the other compelling reason -
People have been a lot more interested in Priyanka Chopra's exit from Bharat and Salman Khan's possible reaction on it than the fact that she might have actually got engaged to Nick Jonas. Ali Abbas Zafar, however, made us all happy by giving us the biggest hint. 'Nick' of time. It doesn't really get bigger than that. There has been no word on the exit from Priyanka or Salman yet, and no party has yet made any indication of who will replace PC in the film.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan lost out big when she walked out of Chalte Chalte, which she was doing opposite Shah Rukh Khan. Rumours say that she exited due to Salman's behaviour, who walked onto set and started hurling abuses at her, and even Shah Rukh wasn't able to calm things down. Rani Mukerji stepped in, and the film went big. BIG. Aishwarya faced a similar situation again when she had to leave Madhur Bhandarkar's Heroine after 10 days of filming due to her pregnancy . She even shot for the promo looks, and a poster (a controversial one) was released as well. Kareena Kapoor Khan was eventually cast in the role, but the film was only a modest hit and received mix reviews from critics.
Kareena Kapoor Khan was in the same boat herself when she was poised to make her screen debut in Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai. However, she reportedly left the film because she thought Hrithik Roshan's star power would completely overshadow her, which is where Ameesha Patel stepped in and helped turn the film into a success. Kareena also walked out of shooting for Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram Leela, due to not being able to commit enough days for filming. Apparently, she was also uncomfortable with the 'no pregnancy' clause of the film. Fortunately enough, Deepika Padukone was paired up opposite Ranveer Singh, and the rest is 'potential November marriage' history.
Abhishek Bachchan was initially signed on to star in J.P. Dutta's Paltan, after having worked with the director before in Umrao Jaan, LOC: Kargil and Refugee, his debut. However, the actor abruptly left the film, and amidst all the shock, reports surfaced that it was due to his not being happy with the role and the amount of screen time he would get. He was then replaced by Harshvardhan Rane in the role.
Bollywood legend Rekha was initially cast to play one of the most crucial roles in Fitoor, opposite Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur. In fact, the actress even shot a majority of her scenes in Kashmir. However, she eventually quit the film due to her dissatisfaction with how her character looked and was developing. She was replaced by Tabu, who received immense acclaim for her performance.
Sushant Singh Rajput was initially signed on to play the lead of Romeo in Robby Grewal's Romeo Akbar Walter. Sushant was even pretty excited about the role, and even appeared for the film's first look and a poster was released with the actor for the film. However, some prior work commitments forced him to leave the project. Eventually, John Abraham took his place.