Rift with Priyanka? It’s a stupid rumour: Ramcharan

With days to go for the release of Priyanka Chopra-Ramcharan starrer Zanjeer, there are whispers in the industry that PeeCee is miffed with Ramcharan for coming late to the film’s promotional events. However, Ramcharan laughs when we mention this to him

With days to go for the release of Priyanka Chopra-Ramcharan starrer Zanjeer, there are whispers in the industry that PeeCee is miffed with Ramcharan for coming late to the film’s promotional events. However, Ramcharan laughs when we mention this to him. “It is a stupid rumour. There is nothing of this sort. Very soon, you will see both of us promoting the film together.”

Priyanka-Chopra-and-Ram-Charan-pose-during-the-promotion-of-Zanjeer-directed-by-Apoorva-Lakhia-on-the-set-of-the-Jhalak-Dikhhla-Jaa-in-Mumbai-on-August-20-2013-AFP-Photo

The actor, in fact, has only good things to say about his co-star. “It’s very important to have a good co-star and we had a good working relationship. She is the best I could have asked for,” he says.

Recalling the day the film’s director Apoorva Lakhia approached him for Amitabh Bachchan’s role in the remake, Ramcharan says, “I was pretty surprised...even shocked. I heard him out and asked for some time. Later, I told him that it would be too much for me to handle and I would rather do something that doesn’t come with baggage. But the script was so well written that Apoorva convinced me,” he says.

The 28-year-old also shares that his superstar father Chiranjeevi also had a chat with him. “He told me that you should not do a film only if the script is not good.” On the first day of the shoot, the crew met Bachchan, who was shooting nearby. “Before we started shooting, we took his blessings and it was a great feeling.”

What does he have to say to people who feel that classics shouldn’t be remade? “I don’t like to call them remakes. For me, it is a tribute. Nobody can fill Mr Bachchan’s shoes,” he says. Many actors who move from the South to Bollywood talk about how the industry there is more professional. “I found it very professional. In fact, talking of precision and speed of production, it’s faster.”