Priya Mani, in a recent interview, also shared that initially when she received a call from Rohit Shetty’s office for the first time for Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone, she thought of it as a ‘prank’.
Priya Mani left everyone spellbound with her sizzling dance moves when she shook a leg with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the chartbuster track, ‘1 2 3 4 Get On The Dance Floor’ for Rohit Shetty’s 2019 film Chennai Express.
But do you know that initially when the ‘Paruthiveeran’ actress received a call from Rohit Shetty’s office for this film, she thought of it as a prank call and crossed-checked the number with her manager to verify its authenticity?
Recently, in a chat with Mashable India, Priya Mani recalled this incident and shared, “One day, I received a call claiming to be from Rohit Shetty’s office. I was immediately suspicious wondering why someone from his team would contact me. Then he asked me to come to Mumbai, to which I casually agreed and hung up. I thought it was a prank call. Then I contacted my manager to verify its authenticity. Five minutes later, my manager confirmed it was genuine.”
The actress said that she immediately packed her bags and flew down to Mumbai. Her manager also came all the way from Hyderabad to accompany for her meeting with Rohit Shetty.
Priya Mani revealed that the filmmaker told her that he had seen a Kannada song featuring her and Puneeth Rajkumar. She said that during their conversation, she also requested him not to use her just as a background dancer in the song. Hearing this, Shetty immediately clarified to her that the song was to feature only her and Shah Rukh Khan.
“I had previously seen an ad for Chennai Express in the newspaper, stating the film starred Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika. So, I started wondering why they would cast me in such a film… Although I was very grateful and happy, I requested Rohit sir not to use me just as a background dancer in the song. In my head, I was thinking like that since the film had two of the biggest names in the industry. He immediately clarified that the song features only me and Shah Rukh Khan and that Deepika is not even in it. I agreed to it immediately,” the actress told the publication.
After Chennai Express, Priya Mani once again worked with King Khan in Atlee’s blockbuster Jawan. Coincidentally, this film too featured Deepika Padukone in a pivotal role.
