Priyanka Chopra was set to star opposite Saif Ali Khan for the first time in Ritesh Batra’s next, a period drama. However, a new report states that the actress had to drop out of the film because of a scheduling conflict. The untitled film began filming in Mumbai on October 21, 2026, with Saif. The makers are trying to find a replacement for Priyanka while they begin production with Saif as the male lead. Ritesh shot to global fame with the award-winning film The Lunchbox starring the late Irrfan Khan in 2013.
Priyanka Chopra quits Ritesh Batra’s film starring Saif Ali Khan
According to a report in the Mid-Day, was due to join the shoot of Ritesh Batra’s upcoming period drama but dropped out because of other professional commitments. The source told the portal, “Priyanka was expected to join the Mumbai shoot. However, she had to bow out of the film. She was keen to headline it, and work with both Saif and Ritesh.”
Priyanka Chopra
The team tried to make the dates work, but the scheduling conflict could not be resolved. Actor , who is also part of the project, will begin filming from today at a museum in Byculla in Mumbai. The makers are reportedly in talks with two other actresses to replace Priyanka. The movie is said to be shot on a start-to-finish schedule in different parts of South Mumbai.
Saif Ali Khan
Priyanka is part of SS Rajamouli’s next Telugu film, Varanasi (2027) starring Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran. She has already filmed a cameo in Mira Nair’s biopic Amri about Amrita Sher-Gil. The actress also has the Hollywood films Reset and Judgement Day lined up in the coming year. Meanwhile, Saif was last seen in Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan and has the projects Devara 2, Race 4 and an untitled film with daughter Sara Ali Khan in the pipeline for next year.
More about Ritesh Batra
Ritesh Batra’s first feature film, The Lunchbox, with Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language in 2015 and created a stir after it wasn’t selected as India’s official entry for the Oscars. He went on to direct the Hollywood films The Sense of an Ending (2017), starring Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling, and Netflix’s Our Souls at Night (2017) with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. Ritesh reunited with Nawazuddin on Photograph (2019), which was also filmed in Mumbai and starred Sanya Malhotra.