Salman begins 'Bharat' shooting; Priyanka Chopra confirmed as female lead
(Sourced from PTI)
After a gap of over two years, actor Priyanka Chopra is all set to come back to the Indian film industry with Salman Khan's 'Bharat'. The 35-year-old actor, who moved to New York for the TV series "Quantico" and made her Hollywood debut with "Baywatch", will star opposite Salman in the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed film. Here are more details.
Priyanka, whose last Bollywood outing was "Jai Gangaajal" in 2016, said she was excited to reunite with Salman and director Ali. "I'm looking forward to begin shooting this film and working with Salman and Ali again after a considerable time. I've learnt a lot from them in our previous collaborations and am excited to see what this one has to offer," she said.
The actor duo will be teaming up after 10 years, after having worked in films like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Salaam-E-Ishq, and God Tussi Great Ho. Ali, who has directed Priyanka in Gunday, said the actor was the perfect choice for the female lead in Bharat. "'Bharat' is Priyanka's homecoming to Bollywood after having proven her range as a performer in Hollywood films," he said.
"Priyanka is biggest Indian artist internationally and she is a perfect fit for film. Priyanka brings in outstanding acting as well as incredible international appeal to make the scale of the film bigger and even more global," Ali said. Ali added love story in "Bharat" is very mature and quite subtle, and Priyanka's character is "the catalyst at the film's most important turning point".
Ali and producer Atul Agnihotri traveled to New York to meet Priyanka and gave her the narration of the film. Priyanka loved Ali's script and she was immediately convinced to do the film. Atul, who is collaborating with Priyanka for the first time, is happy to have her on board. The film is an official adaptation of 2014 Korean film, "Ode to My Father".
"Bharat" has started its preparation in London, after which the director will move to Spain, Poland, Portugal, and Malta. The film will see Salman sport five different looks spanning 60 years, wherein a crucial part will showcase the actor in his late 20s. Produced by Atul Agnihotri's Reel Life Production Pvt Ltd and Bhushan Kumar's T- series, the film releases during Eid in 2019.
