Many months ago, in an “A to Z” interview where she gave one meaningful word for each alphabet, Priyanka Chopra had started off with “A for Ashok, my dad.”

“A” was also for Andaaz, her first big release, or “A” for Acting, a passion and her profession, but Priyanka began her interview with “A for Ashok, my dad, who for me is my strength, my weakness, both. Someone I completely adore and look up to. I’ve always been daddy’s little pet.”

When Dr Ashok Chopra succumbed to cancer last week, Priyanka showed both her weakness and her strength: she was the inconsolable “daddy’s little girl” at one moment and soon the strong young woman who wore pink (not white), stood by her mom and conducted a prayer meeting for her dad. Like Rajneesh, the spiritual guru, advocated years ago, a lot of people in the film industry now celebrate life instead of mourning death, and Priyanka did the same for her dad. Although it was her kid brother Siddharth who was handed over the pagdi in a traditional Arya Samaj ceremony, it really was Priyanka in control, keeping the family together and calling on close uncles to come up and say a few words. One doctor colleague who spoke at the meeting recalled Ashok Chopra’s entry into the army where he was asked what else he could do besides being a medical man. Dr Ashok Chopra had promptly said, “I can sing,” and had drummed on the table to belt out a robust Roop tera mastana…

Considering how passionately he loved music, Priyanka thoughtfully had a music group sing some of his favourite numbers, besides playing a gurbani (sacred verse) which her dad himself had sung and recorded.

After giving her their condolences, since Priyanka chose a five-star hotel (the same one where Fardeen had his farewell for dad Feroz Khan), celebrities like Rishi Kapoor and Neetu escorted Hiroo Johar and Neela Shammi Kapoor to the lounge upstairs for a quick cup of tea.

It wasn’t merely Priyanka’s stardom that drew so many. Dr Chopra himself, a garrulous man, befriended many. And in the last few years, with some new equipment that he had imported, he sculpted many a star face or body that needed chiselling before facing the camera. He was rumoured to have had a hand in whittling away a bit of unwanted flesh from the face of at least one senior actress, recognised here and abroad for her acting skills, and from the torso of a producer’s son who has had two releases.

One person who was not spotted with Priyanka was her first co-star, Sunny Deol (his film The Hero was her first release; Andaaz was her first big one). It is believed that he is distraught over the failure of Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, an unbelievably shoddy film. The Deols have reportedly made a pile by trading on the success of the Yamla Pagla Deewana franchise; it is the investors and distributors who have burnt their fingers with it.

Before YPD2 was released, the Deols gave their somnolent Sunny Super Sound a facelift and for a change, Sunny emerged out of his ivory tower to throw open the gates of his preview theatre to various groups of people who trooped in to watch the sequel. One also hears that the family has a new Porsche on its porch.

Where the failure of the film has hurt Sunny is that his saleability as a leading man has been seriously dented. Perhaps he needs to do a reality check and let his acting career take a different turn. At this 50-plus stage, it shouldn’t hurt him to become a character actor like many of his contemporaries (Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor) have done without regret.

Even as we’re talking, there’s a question mark over Sunny Deol’s next release, the Kangana Ranaut starrer I Love NY. Whispers emanating from T-Series (they are the producers of the film) indicate that they have moved on and are working out the release details of the owner’s wife, Divya Bhushan Kumar’s first directorial venture titled Yaariyan. They are not really talking about I Love NY right now which doesn’t augur well for Sunny, especially since the film has been ready for ages.

Meanwhile, as lamented in this column the last week, the unfortunate death of young Jiah Khan has once again turned the spotlight on an affair gone sour, giving a 22-year-old a questionable taste of jail. There is a whisper that in the Rabiya vs Pancholi mudslinging, Zarina tried to call a truce. But Rabiya isn’t relenting. The dirty linen is piling up.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is editor, The Film Street Journal