Madhu Chopra recalls Priyanka Chopra’s reaction on being replaced in Ram Leela.
Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone in the film.
Ram Leela starred Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh in lead roles and created waves at the box office. A key talking point in the film was Priyanka Chopra’s dance number, which left fans impressed. However, not many people know that Deepika Padukone replaced Priyanka as the lead in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film.
Speaking to Lehren Retro, Madhu Chopra shared, “I don’t remember much from that time. I just know that she went to his office next door when I was with my patients in my clinic. When she came back, she said that I am only doing a song in Ram Leela. I asked her, ‘What happened?’ She said, ‘I think that’s better.’”
Madhu added, “She might have taken a well-thought decision. They might have had some lovely discussions that she agreed for something like this because they are still friends.” Sanjay then offered Priyanka the lead role in Mary Kom, but he was hesitant at first.
However, Priyanka Chopra’s mother said that the actress doesn’t have a revenge mindset. She said, “She doesn’t keep that revenge attitude. She did the film because Sanjay asked her to. Omung (director, Kumar) was the director, and she stayed with Mary Kom for a while to see everything.”
Madhu also spoke about Priyanka starring as Kashibai in Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani. “Kashibai was very hard because there were tight shots, and it was all on the face. The expressions were everything… Sanjay is not an easy director, and to keep him pleased in the sense that he is satisfied with the performance… that was the target. That was something she was very focused on. There were no distractions; she would not even talk inside her van during that time,” Madhu shared.
Meanwhile, the actress has wrapped up shooting for her upcoming action-thriller, The Bluff, co-starring Karl Urban. She will also share the screen space with John Cena and Idris Elba in the American action-comedy Heads of State.
