Priyanka Chopra, the 2000 Miss India World pageant winner, loved by millions of Indians as their own 'Desi Gal', who is making her debut in Telugu eleven years after her Tamil debut Thamizhan blames on her busy schedules in Bollywood for being unable to scorch the Telugu screens. Interesting coincidence it is, the same film 'Zanjeer' aka 'Thoofan' has Ram Charan making his entry into Bollywood while the stunning beauty from Bollywood PC is making hers in Tollywood.

IndiaGlitz had a quick, to the point talk in which she was warm, forthcoming and all praise for her co-star Cherry, Director Apoorva Lakhia, her iconic character Mala' and Jaya Bachchan who played the original in Zanjeer.

Debut in Tollywood, Finally...

I am very happy that I am finally making my debut in Telugu. after a decade though. Been busy with Hindi films whenever I got offers to do in Telugu. I am so excited to be entering into TFI with such a high voltage action drama as ‘Thoofan’

Not Exactly The Same ‘Mala’ Of 1973

At the outset, I would like to thank Jayaji for her portrayal of the street girl ‘Chaku Choori Wali’ Mala and the iconic manner in which she played the role. Coming to the new version, Apoorva did considerable changes to the character starting with my own background. I am a New York based girl visiting India for marriage, seeing a murder happening in front of her own eyes, meeting ACP Vijay Khanna and falling into the deep trouble. She never returns to the US any more.

Remembering my lines in Telugu was a huge issue

The problem was with Mala, who is so talkative and it was okay in Hindi, I could depend on dubbing but in Telugu it was a nightmare remembering my lines by heart. Not just mine but I should also understand and remember others’ lines to emote and respond while they are speaking. Ram helped me a lot in this regard and I thank him.

Ram is a darling co-star

Ram is a wonderful co-actor and his performance is driven by an enormous passion and it was hard to compete with him in certain emotional scenes. I can confidently say that he is going to hit it with his first film in Bollywood.

Director Apoorva is a perfectionist

Apoorva Lakhia is a director with clarity. Does everything with utmost perfection and you know how daring he has to be to have attempting Amitabh’s Zanjeer. And he didn’t do a shot by shot remake. He customized the story to current times, designed a new movie altogether, envisioned a completely new product for a budding hero doing an iconic character and made the film. He did a commendable job of it and I am sure everyone will talk about him after the release of Zanjeer.

Audio Is Cool

This is one of the sweetest albums of recent times with all the sound tracks hummable and foot-tappable. For me, I loved my song ‘Pinky’ a lot and can see me humming it all the day.

Thoofan Movie A Must Watch

Thoofan has all fantastic actors like Ram Charan, Sri Hari, Prakash raj, Tanikella Bharani and of course myself reliving famous characters, Apoorva Lakhia’s direction, Dance moves by Ram, and even Mahi Gill’s item song... Everything will entertain you and I am sure you’d cruise with us in a nostalgia yet surrounded by high voltage action episodes of today’s standards. Come, watch the movie on the 6th September.