Rajneesh Duggal, a former Mr India title winner, made his Bollywood debut with Mahesh Bhatt’s 2008 horror thriller. 1920 However, his journey in the Hindi film industry was full of challenges. In a recent interview, he revealed how his career got delayed by three years because of the decision of world-renowned actress and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra.
Rajneesh Duggal says he was the first choice for the film starring Priyanka Chopra
While speaking with Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube talk show, Rajneesh revealed that he was the first choice for Girish Dhamija’s 2005 film Yaken. He had even started working on the film and planned to move to the city of dreams, Mumbai. Rajnish revealed that the director himself trained the actor:
“For sure I was the first choice, I was signed for the film. In fact, I was working on it. When I met director Girish Dhamija, he asked me, ‘When can you come to Mumbai?’ I was already planning to go to Mumbai. So, I trained under Girish ji himself; he is an alumnus of the National School of Drama and is a dialect coach.”
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Rajneesh Duggal revealed that the producers had also arranged a penthouse for him in Juhu
Further, in the conversation Rajnish revealed that he had signed a three film deal with the same production company and was also selected for a double role in the film with Priyanka Chopra. He revealed that the producers took care of him and arranged a penthouse and a driver driven car for him. In his words:
“They signed a three-film deal with me. I had a double role in the film and Priyanka was in the lead role. They put me up in a penthouse on Juhu 10th Road. They gave me a car and a driver. One call and a person would bring food to my flat. I was attending classes and preparing thoroughly. I prepared for 2-2.5 months. I gave up brand endorsements of Siyaram, Vimal and other companies to focus on the film.”
Rajneesh Duggal told that the producer told him that Priyanka Chopra has refused to work with the new artist.
However, things changed when he received a call from the film’s producer Sujeet Kumar Singh, asking the actor to meet him at night. The producer then told Rajnish that Priyanka had become a big star overnight, so she refused to work with a newcomer like him. Recalling his first reaction to the news, Rajnish said:
“Suddenly, producer Sujeet Kumar Singh called me to his office at night. He told me that ever since they signed me and they paid her for a big deal, Priyanka has become a big star, now she is saying ‘I will not work with any new artiste’. My first reaction was to change the girl because I saw that they were investing money only on me. I did not understand the film business at that time.”
Rajneesh Duggal said Priyanka Chopra should not be blamed, but she could have taken a stand for him
In the same interview, Rajnish said that while the producers claimed that Priyanka Chopra wanted to oust him from the film, he felt the manager and people around her might be responsible for the incident. The actor further added that he doesn’t blame Priyanka for whatever happened, but had hope that she would have stood for him. In his words:
“He said Priyanka wanted it, but I think it might have been because of the manager or the people around her. I don’t blame her, but she knew I was doing the film. She could have said, ‘No, he will do it.'”
Watch the full interview Here,
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