<p>Priyanka Chopra’s current pet project is no secret — it’s Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s biopic, which is based on the life of Mary Kom. The actress has been training hard to carry off the role with elan and Bollywood is buzzing with curiosity to see the end product. <br /><br /></p>.<p>What many don’t know, however, is that the project wasn’t first offered to Priyanka — rumour has it that the makers of the film first approached another one of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s favourite heroines, Rani Mukerji, with whom he filmed ‘Black’ and Saawariya. However, the actress lost the chance to essay the iconic role simply because she put down a few unreasonable conditions.<br /><br />Says a source, “Rani had already burnt her fingers badly with relatively new directors like Anurag Singh in Dil Bole Hadippa and Sachin Kundalkar in Aiyya. So when Omung Kumar (the director of the film) — with zero experience in direction — came to Rani with the offer to do Mary Kom, Rani politely suggested that Omung first shoot a few scenes with her. If she liked them she’d do the rest of the film.” <br /><br />Not surprisingly, this request didn’t go down too well with the film-maker. Omung understandably made a hasty exit and signed Priyanka Chopra instead. <br /><br />Adds the source, “No actor, not even Naseeruddin Shah, can do a test-run with a <br />director. You either do a film or you don’t. At the moment, Rani is exploring her celluloid options very carefully.”<br /><br />Maharaja Features</p>
<p>Priyanka Chopra’s current pet project is no secret — it’s Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s biopic, which is based on the life of Mary Kom. The actress has been training hard to carry off the role with elan and Bollywood is buzzing with curiosity to see the end product. <br /><br /></p>.<p>What many don’t know, however, is that the project wasn’t first offered to Priyanka — rumour has it that the makers of the film first approached another one of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s favourite heroines, Rani Mukerji, with whom he filmed ‘Black’ and Saawariya. However, the actress lost the chance to essay the iconic role simply because she put down a few unreasonable conditions.<br /><br />Says a source, “Rani had already burnt her fingers badly with relatively new directors like Anurag Singh in Dil Bole Hadippa and Sachin Kundalkar in Aiyya. So when Omung Kumar (the director of the film) — with zero experience in direction — came to Rani with the offer to do Mary Kom, Rani politely suggested that Omung first shoot a few scenes with her. If she liked them she’d do the rest of the film.” <br /><br />Not surprisingly, this request didn’t go down too well with the film-maker. Omung understandably made a hasty exit and signed Priyanka Chopra instead. <br /><br />Adds the source, “No actor, not even Naseeruddin Shah, can do a test-run with a <br />director. You either do a film or you don’t. At the moment, Rani is exploring her celluloid options very carefully.”<br /><br />Maharaja Features</p>
