Barsaat & The Rain Of Terror: How Priyanka Chopra moved out at the right time

Suneel Darshan dropped a bomb this week. He made public what many of us have known   for a long time: that Akshay Kumar had to quit co-starring with Priyanka Chopra after a slew of hits with her, because his wife, the no-nonsense Twinkle Khanna, issued an ultimatum to her husband: either marriage or Chopra.

Suneel, who now reveals that Akshay Kumar quit Barsaat to solve 'domestic problems', faced a rare, though not unknown dilemma: what does a filmmaker do when co-stars suddenly fall  out during the making of a film? Suneel’s brother Dharmesh also went through a similar traumatic dilemma during the shooting of Dhadkan; Akshay Kumar split with Shilpa Shetty and decided to marry Twinkle Khanna. Luckily for Dharmesh, his film was complete when the  split happened. But he was forced to cut out a smooch between Shilpa and Akshay.

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Imtiaz Ali breathed a sigh of relief  when he got to know his lead pair in Jab We Met had split only after the film was complete.

Suneel talks of Akshay Kumar’s 'thirteenth hour' walkout from Barsaat and the ensuing  havoc. But what about the havoc in Priyanka’s career? First Akshay, then another major superstar who was almost willing to leave his wife and children until his no-walkover wife took charge of the situation….Priyanka was banned from not only from working with this star-wife’s superstar-husband, this star-wife also made sure Priyanka was banned by all the important filmmakers of Bollywood.

When we congratulate Priyanka for heading westwards at the right time, we forget Priyanka  had no choice. Bollywood had turned its back on her. She was a hot property but only when she had Superstars to work with. With Akshay, Salman (who got pissed off when Priyanka  said not to a film he offered her) and Shah Rukh unwilling to work with her, where would Priyanka have fitted in?

The only choice Priyanka had was to produce her own films like Kangana Ranaut.

Priyanka took the better route.

When I see Priyanka Chopra looking so happy with her American husband, Nick Jonas, and daughter Malti, not to mention the dogs, I remember the whoops of cynicism and hoots of  disgust that greeted her decision to marry the American lad.

“Usski Aunty lagti hai,” said one filmmaker “friend” of Priyanka.

“I give it to six months,” a senior actress crystal-bawled.

Now she has been married for four years. No sign of wear and tear. Touchwood.

The best career decision that Priyanka made was to quit Bollywood. The best personal decision she took was to marry Nick Jonas. Believe it or not, they are happy together. I am sure the couple saw the explosive song that Suneel Darshan has unleashed on the netizens and had a good laugh.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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