Upala KBR (MID-DAY; September 19, 2017)

When Salman Khan ended his long-standing association with his former manager Reshma Shetty earlier this year, it sent shock waves within the industry. The manager was known to be the brains behind Khan’s strategic business moves and interesting film choices. Now, mid-day has learnt that Shetty has found another big- ticket client in Priyanka Chopra.

The Quantico actor has signed on Shetty’s company Matrix, which is reputed to be one of the best talent management agencies in the country. She will now be handling Chopra’s work in India.

Chopra is another feather in Shetty’s cap, whose company already boasts of clients like Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kapoor Khan among others.

Interestingly, celebrity management company KWAN, co-founded by Anirban Blah and Madhu Mantena, was also in the running. Says a source, “Madhu Mantena had even met Priyanka in New York to convince her to join his company. But when Priyanka was in Mumbai last month, Reshma managed to crack the deal.”

Mantena, however, offers a different version of his meeting with Chopra. He says, “I had gone to meet her in NYC for Vikas Bahl’s Indo-French project, which will be jointly produced by Phantom Films and Reliance Entertainment and star French star Kev Adams.”

Chopra hiring Shetty is quite an interesting development, considering the actor is close to the Khan family, especially Arpita Khan Sharma. Will this affect the actor’s dynamic with Khan? The source adds, “It remains to be seen how Salman views this turn of events, given that he did not part ways with Reshma on the most amicable terms.”

When we reached out to Shetty, she confirmed the development but refused further comment.