Priyanka Chopra left Salman Khan film at last moment, ex-girfriend Katrina Kaif came to his rescue, movie became superhit

After delivering two blockbuster hits together, Sultan (2016) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), Ali Abbas Zafar and Salman Khan teamed up once again for their third film, Bharat, announced in 2018. Priyanka Chopra was initially cast as the female lead but she shockingly left the project just five days before filming was set to begin. Later, the reason behind her exit was revealed to be her engagement and marriage with the American singer-songwriter Nick Jonas. Salman then asked his ex-girlfriend Katrina Kaif to join him in Bharat, and she agreed immediately.

Chopra's sudden departure hugely upset Salman Khan, who later made sarcastic remarks about her while promoting the Ali Abbas Zafar directorial in 2019. Talking about the Fashion actress's exit from the film, the Sikandar star had then said to the media, "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."

In 2020, Priyanka finally addressed 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."

Coming back to Bharat, apart from Salman and Katrina, the film also starred Jackie Shroff, Sunil Grover, Disha Patani, Tabu, Sonali Kulkarni, Shashank Arora, and Kumud Mishra among others. An adaptation of the 2014 South Korean film Ode To My father, Bharat traced India's post-independence history from the perspective of a common man. The movie was finally released in the theatres on June 5, 2019 on the occasion of Eid. It wasn't as successful as Salman and Zafar's previous two blockbusters, but still became a superhit at the box office. It earned Rs 212 crore net in India and grossed Rs 320 crore worldwide, as per the industry tracking platform Sacnilk. 

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