When Priyanka Chopra Was Accused Of MISBEHAVING With A Doctor On A Dubai Flight, 'Would Have Slapped Him'
Here's a throwback to the time when Priyanka Chopra was accused of abusing her co-passenger, a high-profile doctor, in 2011 and speaking ill of veteran actor, Dilip Kumar
As much as a celebrity remains in the news for his/her professional and personal lives, one can't deny the fact that controversies play an equal role in getting them to ring to headlines. Well, like most of them, global star Priyanka Chopra, too, was involved in a huge mess back in 2011. It all happened during one of her plane journeys when the actress was accused of abusing a fellow passenger. Priyanka, however, had a very different story to tell. The passenger in question was a doctor, who had alleged PeeCee of risking others' lives by talking on her phone after the flight took off.
The man who accused Priyanka Chopra was Dr Fayaz Shawl, a Kashmir-born interventional cardiologist based in the US, with some high-profile patients like UK’s Queen Elizabeth and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He was traveling along with the actress in an Emirates flight from Mumbai to Dubai on Deb 20, 2011. Fayaz, in his statement, had accused of PC of misbehaving with him and abusing him. He had said, "I usually take a chartered plane to fly to Dubai. But, on the request of ailing actor Dilip Kumar’s family to check on his heart condition, I had to go to their residence in Pali Hill and missed my flight. So, I boarded this Emirates flight on which Priyanka Chopra was a co-passenger in first class. She occupied the window seat and was on the phone even when the flight started to take off. The staff was not objecting as they were in awe of the star, so, I passed a note to her to stop. I know of two air crashes that took place due to the phone signals interfering with the air control."
He added, "At this, Priyanka turned to me and said, 'Who the hell are you to stop me?' I said, 'Lady, had you been in the US, you would have been handcuffed for this.' To this, she replied, 'F*** US.' I told her that I am a doctor and saw veteran actor Dilip Kumar in Mumbai. She said, 'Who the hell cares about that old man?'. So, I said, 'You have no right to endanger my life and that of 250 other people.' She then said: 'Let’s go to the pilot.' I told her that when we get off at Dubai, I could get her arrested for this."
"I have video clips of the incident as I recorded it on my phone. I also filmed co-passengers who said on-camera that they were scared when she was talking on the phone in-flight," concluded the doctor.
Priyanka Chopra, on the other hand, refuted all his claims and accused him of recording her without her consent. She had said in her statement, "It is disgusting that celebrities like us get a raw deal at the hands of attention seekers, so easily. These allegations are a bunch of lies. That man is a lunatic. If it hadn’t been for his old age, I would have slapped him for how he behaved with me on the flight. He tried to film me on his phone despite my requests to not do it. I was calling him ‘sir’, as I’ve been brought up to respect elders."
The actress added, "He was clearly drunk and tried to make an issue out of me talking on the phone. I’ve travelled a million times, and I didn’t break any rules. The aircraft was on the tarmac when I finished an important call. By then this man was screaming. He dropped names and said he knows the Sheikh in Dubai and would get me deported. I took out my credit card and challenged him to make a call to the Sheikh right there from the aircraft’s paid phone. He behaved in a cheap manner and said 'I know you Bollywood starlet types'. That made me lose it because I value my dignity. He showed me a video of himself with Dilip sir (actor Dilip Kumar). I complained to the staff and they conveyed it to the captain. When the flight landed, he came and apologised to me thrice. But I didn’t accept his apology."
"If he’s talking to media now, it’s just to get attention. You can check with anyone on that flight, including Leander Paes. I would never insult a legend like Dilip Kumar. I’ve spoken to Saira ma'am (Saira Banu). She totally stands by me on this," continued the actress.
image source: instagram/priyankachopra
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