Speculations around the cast of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati keep pouring in. While grapevine is abuzz with rumours that Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor have been locked in to play the lead roles, an official announcement is yet to be named.
Last month, there was news that Shah Rukh Khan has replaced Ranveer in the magnum opus. But he later opted out. Now a new report throws light on the reason why exactly the deal between Sanjay Leela’s Padmavati and SRK might not have worked out.
According to reports, Shah Rukh, demanded Bhansali to change the qtitle of ‘Padmavati’. The title he suggested took the limelight off from the female protagonist and made it sound like a film about the male protagonist. There have been times when a film’s title was not based on the character in focus! Like for instance, Shah Rukh’s superhero film Ra.One. The eponymous character was infact the antagonist of the film played by Arjun Rampal. This title change just might have worked out in favour of the film. But we guess it didn’t go well with SLB, as we know Shah Rukh is shooting for ‘The Ring’ in Prague, when he should be here for ‘Padmavati’ if he was on board.
‘Padmavati’ is Sanjay’s dream project. He has been working on it for quite a long time. The idea of Padmavati was introduced to him way back in 2008. In that year Bhansali went to Paris to direct the 1923 opera ballet ‘Padmavati’, written by Albert Rousselan, for the prestigious Theatre Du Chatelet. Select filmmakers from the world over had been invited by what’s considered the world’s most prestigious opera company. And ever since, Bhansali had been planning to make a film about the play.
According to the legends, Alauddin heard tales of the immense beauty of Padmavati, wife of Ratan Singh, King of Chittor, and went to Chittor with an intention to siege the fort and see the Rani. Singh persuaded his wife to let the Sultan see her. After getting consent, Alauddin saw her reflection in a mirror. He was awestruck on seeing the beauty that she was, and swore to get her for his harem. But, Padmavati picked the infamous tradition of jauhar over him(self-immolation of queens and female royals of Rajput kingdoms when faced with defeat at the hands of an enemy).
Talking about the role that has been offered to SRK and Ranveer, it is still unsure who actually would be cast ultimately. But someone important from the film’s creative team might have spilled the beans. Costume designer Ajay Kumar, who has begun the work on Padmavati, posted on Instagram that hinted that both Ranveer and actress Deepika Padukone are part of the movie.
We hear that Padmavati is back on track and will release on December 15, 2017 as planned. Watch this space for more updates on the story.
