Years after Bharat exit sparked rift rumours, Priyanka Chopra spends time with Salman Khan's sister Arpita in New York

Indian Express

a day ago

Priyanka Chopra's relations with Salman Khan and his sister Arpita Khan were rumoured to have gone sour after she exited Salman's film Bharat in 2019. However, Priyanka's recent Instagram story hints that all is well between them now. Recently, Priyanka shared a video of her daughter, Malti Marie Chopra Jonas, playing with Salman's niece and Arpita Khan's daughter, Ayat Sharma. The clip shows the two munchkins holding hands, walking around the house, and sweetly talking to each other. Malti Marie is seen carrying a toy in her hand, while Ayat walks beside her.
Sharing the video, Priyanka wrote, 'So good seeing you @arpitakhansharma. Our girls are such besties (women with bunny ears).' Arpita Khan re-posted the video on her Instagram Stories and wrote, 'It's always so lovely meeting you and it was even lovelier spending the evening with Malti @priyankachopra (kissing face emoji).'
Arpita and her husband, actor Aayush Sharma, are currently vacationing in New York with their son Ahil Sharma and daughter Ayat. During this trip, they visited Priyanka's home.
In an earlier conversation with Bombay Times, Salman had shared how Priyanka had called his sister Arpita frantically to get a role in Bharat. However, when they showed interest in casting her, the actor backed out just five days before the film's shoot, citing her engagement with Nick Jonas.
'It must have been very difficult for her to make this decision because she was very keen to work on this project. She has called up Arpita a thousand times, saying, 'I want to work with Salman'. She has even called up Ali (Abbas Zafar) and told him, 'See if you can get me something in this film',' Salman had said.
Salman had even agreed to work around Priyanka's schedule. While it was said that Priyanka exited the film because of her engagement with Nick, rumours were also rife that the actor was prioritising the film Cowboy Ninja Viking, in which she was supposed to star opposite Chris Pratt. However, the film was later shelved.
Reacting to the same, Salman had said, 'Not doing this had to be because of the wedding or because she doesn't want to work with me anymore. It could also be because she doesn't want to work in humari industry (Bollywood) or wants to work only in Hollywood. Whatever she wants to do, I wish her all the best in life. We are glad that she is engaged and happy.' Priyanka and Salman had earlier worked in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004).
However, despite Priyanka's abrupt exit, Salman, in an interaction with SCREEN a year after Bharat's release, had admitted that he is willing to collaborate with the actor again. Calling her move choose marriage over his film 'gutsy', he had said, 'This is one of the amazing things Priyanka has done. It is a gutsy thing. She has worked so hard. I think she is one of the most hardworking actresses in Bollywood. It is so hard to keep a career here and there (the US). And then the most important film of her life, which would take her perhaps another 10-15 years to get, she has refused to get married. I mean, it is an amazing thing.'
Interestingly, Bharat and Priyanka-starrer The Sky Is Pink, which also featured Farhan Akhtar in the lead role, released in the same year, just a few months apart.