The Truth about Priyanka and Salman

The Truth about Priyanka and Salman • Basic Instinct • The Actress Who Would be Producer

Priyanka Chopra, who was photographed last week leaving Salman Khan’s Bandra home at 5.30 am, is insisting that the tabloids have got the story all wrong. Responding to rumours that she has switched loyalties from Shah Rukh Khan to Salman, the Barfi star has said she wasn’t at Galaxy Apartments to see the Ek Tha Tiger star at all.

Priyanka claims she was visiting Salman’s younger sister Arpita, “who has been a friend of mine for seven years”, and added that Salman and Sohail “also happened to be there”.

It’s no secret that Salman and Priyanka never quite hit it off while shooting God Tussi Great Ho, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Salaam-e-Ishq. In fact, it’s popularly believed that one of the reasons God Tussi Great Ho took years to complete was that Salman couldn’t be persuaded to shoot with Priyanka. There were also reports that he gave Salaam-e-Ishq director Nikhil Advani a hard time for casting PC opposite him.

In the photographs that made it to the front pages, however, it is evident that Salman and Priyanka have buried their differences. The actor was shot escorting Priyanka to her car; in another image, he is seen resting casually against the wall, chatting with her at his door.

Shootout at Wadala director Sanjay Gupta, who locked down his set, allowing only a bare-bones crew to be present while filming a steamy love scene between John Abraham and Kangana Ranaut, has been proudly showing off the scene to friends now that the sequence is finally edited and ready. Those who were invited to watch portions of the film in Gupta’s home-theatre set-up have reportedly said the love scene is likely to be a highlight of Gupta’s film.

Taking off from a squabble between the couple, the scene is said to start with John forcing himself upon Kangana, literally ripping the sari off her back, before the situation quickly turns into a consensual passionate encounter, with the couple grunting and grinding against a wall.

John, who is hoping this film will put him back in the running, has apparently stripped off his shirt for many of the film’s action and dramatic scenes, eager to show off his bulky frame. Assistants working on the film, however, have said the surprise package of Wadala could well turn out to be Sonu Sood, who replaced Vivek Oberoi when the Shootout at Lokhandwala star famously got cold feet about playing second fiddle to John.

According to the industry grapevine, this much-loved actress who is making a sort of comeback with a masala musical, clashed repeatedly with the film’s producer, one of Bollywood’s ‘edgiest’ filmmakers working today.

Envisioned as a quirky comedy, the film’s shoot allegedly had the actress interfering extensively, at times bullying the director, who makes his Hindi film debut with this project. The result, if sources are to be believed, is that the film has turned out to be very different from what was planned—a more ‘commercial’ and ‘conventional’ venture than the producer and director had intended it to be.

The differences of opinion apparently continued until very recently, when it was time to put out the first trailer of the film. One hears that the actress sat on the edit herself—taking advantage of the fact that her producer was doing the rounds of film festivals at the time—and assembled a cut she thought did justice to their movie.

When her producer returned and saw her version of the trailer, he reportedly re-cut a brand new version, very different from hers. The studio that’s distributing the film sided with the producer ultimately, releasing his version of the trailer over that of the actress.

If the leading lady is upset, she’s not showing it. The actress realises this is one of only two projects she has on her hands currently (and the only solo-heroine film), and cannot afford to get into a public scrap with those behind the film.

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Rajeev Masand

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