Sanjay Bhansali said that he had discussed Bajirao Mastani with Ranveer and Deepika during the post-production of Ram-Leela.
Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali will soon start work on his next project Bajirao Mastani with his Ram-Leela actors Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. However, earlier when the director had announced the star cast, he was allegedly accused by filmmaker Karan Johar for 'stealing' his actors from his film Shuddhi.
Mr Bhansali, defended himself by saying, "I am not of the habit of stealing a friend's star cast."
Karan Johar's ambitious project Shuddhi was originally supposed to star actor Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead roles. However, Hrithik walked out of the film citing date issue. Later in an interview he said that director Karan Malhotra was not willing to give him the extra time required to complete Bang Bang, and therefore he said a 'dignified yes'. Soon after Hrithik, the film's lead actress too walked out of the project, saying she agreed to do the film only for Hrithik. (Also Read: Hrithik Roshan Talks About Leaving Shuddhi)
Reportedly, Karan Johar's second choice for
Shuddhi was Ranveer and Deepika, who were then gaining immense popularity due to their sizzling chemistry in Mr Bhansali's
Ram-Leela.
When Mr Bhansali announced his second project,
Bajirao Mastani, he clarified that he had discussed the project during the post-production of
Ram-Leela, as he knew that Hrithik and Kareena were Karan's first choice for
Shuddhi.
Meanwhile, Mr Bhansali is gearing up for release of
Mary Kom starring actress Priyanka Chopra in the titular role.
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