BOLTI BANDH! - Priyanka Chopra

On Thursday afternoon, Priyanka Chopra got the fright of her life. Priyanka was calmly dubbing for Madhur Bhandarkar's upcoming film Fashion, when about 20 people barged into the studios (in Laxmi Industrial Estate, Andheri West) and stopped the dubbing.

All the 20 people raised objection as the Fashion team had decided to work despite the Film and TV industry strike, which had been going on since October 1 and ended only last evening at 8 pm.

Priyanka was left with no choice and had to immediately go back home.

Fashion is scheduled to hit the theatres on October 29 and Madhur, who was carrying on his work despite the strike, has now requested Priyanka to cancel some of her upcoming assignments scheduled for this month.

Who were these people who forced Priyanka's dubbing to come to a standstill? A source said, "Apparently, these people were from the striking unions and The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE). They did not want anybody disobeying their call for the strike."

"Madhur was not present at the studios when the incident happened. He was coordinating everything from his office. His assistants called him to inform about the inconvenience that they as well as Priyanka had to undergo. Madhur could do nothing about it," added the source.

When contacted, Madhur confirmed the incident and said, "Yes, I was not present at the studios. 15-20 people barged in and forced us to shut shop. I was scared when I got the call telling me about this."

"Bechari Priyanka ko jaldi se ghar jaana pada. We have completed only 25 per cent of Priyanka's dubbing for Fashion. We had no option but to shut for the day. Now, I have requested Priyanka to give me fresh dates. Frankly, I am quite nervous. I need at least three days with her," he added.

Commenting on the strike being called off last evening, Madhur said, "The strike being called off will not return the time which I lost. Of course I am not getting anyone else to dub the remaining parts for Priyanka. Priyanka is a professional and she understands that my film's release is less than a month away, so I am sure she will adjust her schedule and comply.

I have spoken to her, and she has agreed to dub in the second week of this month. But this incident has made my entire schedule go topsy-turvy. I have still to do a lot of post-production work. Priyanka is leaving town for a few days. I will breathe free only after she returns to Mumbai."