Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Padmaavat is receiving great response from movie buffs. The talented stars Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh are heaped with praises for their spectacular performances. But, if a latest report is to be believed, the two handsome hunks were not the first choices of Bhansali. Yes, the ace director was keen to cast superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the film. However, the latter turned down the offer.
According to a report of Catch News, the filmmaker first approached SRK to play the role of Rawal Ratan Singh, which is portrayed by Shahid but the superstar felt that the character of Alauddin Khilji had more space in the film. Thus, after knowing the reason, Bhansali offered him that part as well but Shah Rukh again rejected it.
It was being said that during that time, SRK’s film Raees was surrounded in controversies and the actor thought that playing that kind of character might create problems for him.
Well, only SLB knows if there is something true to these reports. It goes without saying that it is hard for movie buffs to imagine any actor other than Ranveer playing Khilji in the film.
On a related note, after facing protests, the movie finally released on January 25. It was earlier scheduled to clash with Akshay Kumar starrer PadMan but after Bhansali’s request, the release date of the latter was shifted to February 9.