Apart from entertainment, glitz and glamour, the world of Bollywood is full of controversies and celebrity wars. While some come to the forefront, some remain hidden for years. Among these unheard fights of Bollywood is that of the actress-turned author, Twinkle Khanna and global icon, Priyanka Chopra, courtesy of Akshay Kumar.

Akshay and Priyanka were supposed to star together in the 2005 film, Barsaat. Recently, filmmaker Suneel Darshan, who is going to release the unused song from this film featuring Priyanka Chopra and Akshay Kumar, revealed what caused Akshay Kumar to back out from his film after shooting a song with Priyanka. He said that Akshay’s wife, Twinkle had issues with Priyanka after the rumours of his alleged love affair with the Aitraaz actress went rife. As a result, Khanna forbid him to work with Priyanka and Suneel had to proceed with the film with Bobby Deol instead.

“Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra were a very good pair, very similar in terms of their traits. They had amazing chemistry. I thought the song looked beautiful; no vulgarity, no obscenity, very sensuous. Then Priyanka went on a world tour, and when she came back… I don’t know what happened in between…”

Darshan said that the profession of acting has its hazards- sometimes the proximity, the individual’s lifestyle, all these things come in the way and the media blows it out of proportion, without realizing how much loss a filmmaker could suffer because of it.

“Personal issues should never come in the way of creativity. And coming from people who’ve been in the film industry, they’ve seen the hazards, they know what happens. I feel the wife could’ve been wrongly insinuated because she has been an actress. She’s done films with Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn… If she’s done so much work, she should understand that people shouldn’t take it so seriously,” stated Suneel.

For the unversed, Suneel and Akshay shared a successful professional relationship. They have done several films together like Jaanwar, Ek Rishtaa, Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya, Talaash: The Hunt Begins, Andaaz, Dosti: Friends Forever, and Mere Jeevan Saathi.