After casting Priyanka Chopra in Bharat, the makers of this ambitious Salman Khan film has cast the second female lead in Disha Patani. The movie, which is directed by Tiger Zinda Hai and Sultan fame Ali Abbas Zafar, is an official remake of the Korean movie, An Ode To My Father. Disha Patani, who was last seen as the female lead in Tiger Shroff's blockbuster Baaghi 2, is reportedly playing a trapeze artist in this period drama.

It was Salman Khan's tweet that officially confirmed the casting of Disha Patani. Sharing a picture of Disha Patani on Twitter, Salman Khan welcomed her to the journey of Bharat. However, unlike with Priyanka, there was no joke made on Disha Patani (Salman had reminded PeeCee that Bharat is not a Hollywood movie). Disha Patani is quite a good dancer with a flexible body that can compete with her rumoured (now ex?) boyfriend, Tiger. So her casting as a trapeze artist looks right. Also, this is a chance for her to redeem her act, after Disha got negative reviews for her performance in Baaghi 2.

Director Ali Abbas Zafar also welcomed Disha into his movie. Speaking to Indian Express, he said, "I’m happy to welcome Disha on board. She is a promising star. For Bharat, we needed someone who was very athletic and yet possessed a kind of vulnerable beauty and Disha perfectly fit the bill. The pairing of Salman and Disha in the set up of a '60s circus is going to be very unusual and exciting."

Disha couldn't contain her excitement in being a part of this big a project, as she spoke the same publication. She told, "I am very excited to be a part of Bharat. It is like a dream come true to get an opportunity to work with Salman sir. I cannot wait to begin my journey with the entire Bharat team, Atul sir and Ali Abbas sir, whose work I have been a big fan of."

Bharat shows India in its various phases beginning from the pre-partition era and has Salman Khan play a character who ages from his teens to being a geriatric. It is scheduled to release during Eid 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2018 03:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).