Priyanka Chopra: 20 movie facts

THIS week, Priyanka Chopra will turn a year older and mark her 36th birthday on July 18. To celebrate, Eastern Eye went through her body of work to pick 20 fun facts you may not know about her films and roles.

• Hit comedy Bluffmaster (2005) was inspired by Argen­tinian film Nine Queens. The movie features songs by British band Trickbaby.
• UK-set romantic comedy Aap Ki Khatir (2006) was a Bollywood adaptation of Hollywood hit The Wedding Date.
• Don (2006) was a remake of the 1978 film of the same name and Priyanka portrayed the character originally played by Zeenat Aman.
• Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love (2007) was loosely based on British romantic comedy Love Actually, with separate love stories woven together.
• Fantasy comedy God Tussi Great Ho (2008) was a Bolly­wood remake of 2003 Hollywood comedy Bruce Almighty.
• The major acting honours that Priyanka won for her acclaimed film Fashion (2008) included Best Actress honours at the Filmfare, National, IIFA, Stardust and Screen Awards.

• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had initially been offered the lead role in hit comedy Dostana (2008), but turned it down. Priyanka successfully stepped into playing the role of a beauty who is pursued by two men pretending to be gay.
• 2010 romantic comedy Pyaar Impossible was based on 1991 Malayalam film Kilukkampetti.
• 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) was a big screen adaptation of a short story written by Ruskin Bond titled Susanna’s Sev­en Husbands. The Vishal Bhardwaj-directed black com­edy-drama revolves around a woman who murders her seven husbands in an unending quest for love.
• The fearless actress did most of her own stunts in ac­tion sequel Don 2 (2011).

• Director Anurag Basu was at first reluctant to cast Priyanka in the role of au­tistic girl Jhilmil in award-winning Barfi (2012), but relented after workshops were she dazzled him with her performance level.
• The 2013 release Deewa­na Main Deewana was ac­tually made in 2003, but the release was delayed and that is why Priyanka looked so young in it. The romantic comedy was a remake of Tamil film Priyamudan.
• The 2013 film Zanjeer was a remake of the 1973 clas­sic and marked the Bollywood debut of South Indian star Ram Charan. The film was simultaneously shot in Hindi and Telugu.
• To play the title role of Mary Kom (2014), Priyanka underwent extensive physical training for three months to get a muscular physique and to learn the distinct boxing style required.
• Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to make Bajirao Mas­tani (2015) in 2003 with Salman Khan and Kareena Ka­poor in the title roles, and Rani Mukerji playing Bajirao’s first wife Kashibai. The film was restarted years later with Priyanka taking on the role of Kashibai.
• The original choice to play the roles of sib­lings in 2015 comedy drama Dil Dhadakne Do were real life cousins Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan. When both of them were unable to do the roles, they were replaced with Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra.
• Priyanka produced Marathi film Ventilator (2016) with her mother Madhu Chopra. The drama won a number of awards and became one of the most successful Mar­athi movies of all-time.
• The antagonist role played by Priyanka in her Hollywood debut Baywatch (2017) was origi­nally written for a male, but she was cast and the movie went on to clock up huge numbers globally.
•  Hollywood film A Kid Like Jake (2018) is written by Daniel Pearle and based on his own 2013 play of the same name.
• Priyanka’s forthcoming film Bharat (2019) is a Bollywood remake of Ko­rean film Ode to My Fa­ther. She stars opposite Salman Khan in the film due for release Eid 2019.