New Delhi: Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a happy man these days. His ambitious project ‘Bajirao Mastani' won hearts across the globe.
Backed by a stellar cast of Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Tanvi Azmi, it took SLB 12 years to give his dream a structure.
The love story of Peshwa Ruler Bajirao and Muslim warrior princess Mastani had intrigued many filmmakers in the past. Unfortunately, none of them could finish it.
One such director is Manmohan Desai who wanted to make a movie on it. Wondering who was finalised to play the parts of Bajirao and Mastani? Well, it was Bollywood's first superstar Rajesh Khanna and dream girl Hema Malini.
A vintage poster of the film which is doing the rounds of Internet is proof of the plan. Here is the poster.
The movie produced under the banner of Shiv Kala Mandir was to be directed by Desai and dialogues were to be penned by Kadar Khan. For reasons unknown the movie was shelved.
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This incident just reveals that Deepika and Ranveer were destined to play the star crossed lovers. Before them, Sanjay was hoping to rope in superstar Salman Khan and actress Aishwarya Rai for the roles but his plan did not materialize.
At the 61st Filmfare awards last night, ‘Bajirao Mastani' swept awards for most of the categories. Ranveer bagged the award for Best Actor, Sanjay for Best Director and the movie was declared the best film of 2015 by Filmfare.
