Actress Priyanka Chopra has been confirmed as the leading lady of ‘Zanjeer’ remake by Apoorva Lakhia, which marks the debut of Tollywood hero Ram Charan Teja.

If the insiders are to be believed, getting Priyanka Chopra to sign on the dotted line has cost the producer Amit Mehra, son of Prakash Mehra, director and producer of original ‘Zanjeer’, whooping amount of 9 crores.

If this is true, Priyanka Chopra has now replaced Kareena Kapoor as the highest paid actress in the industry. Previously, Kareena Kapoor was in news for charging 8 crores for Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie ‘Heroine’.

Priyanka Chopra though will be essaying the role of Jaya Bachchan in the original; her role is far cry from the original Mala. In the movie, Priyanka Chopra will play a swanky US-returned restaurateur and would not be seen in any songs or item numbers.

The rest of the cast and crew of the movie have also been finalized.

Earlier it was reported that the director had approached Sanjay Dutt and Sonu Sood to play the character of Sher Khan, immortalized by Pran in the original. But now Arjun Rampal is all set to play the crook with the golden heart.

Prakash Raj, who has craved a niche for himself in Bollywood by playing villain roles in ‘Wanted’ and ‘Singham’, will be seen playing Teja in the movie.

Mahie Gill will essay the character played by Helen in the original ‘Zanjeer’.

‘Zanjeer’ is a bi-lingual and will be made in Hindi and Telugu languages simultaneously.