Everyone has that one period drama film that they go back to watching every once in a while. Mine just happens to be Bajirao Mastani. I mean there’s just something so magical about the film, no? The written-in-the-stars sort of love story and the stellar performances of the entire cast is enough to leave you spellbound. Speaking of performances, my fave actor in the film remains Deepika Padukone. I mean she portrayed the character of Mastani so effortlessly, it was almost like watching Mastani and not Deepika on-screen, right? But did you know that she wasn’t Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first choice for the film? Turns out, the movie was originally offered to another A-list actress.
It was none other than Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. In fact, not just Bajirao Mastani but even Padmaavat was initially offered to Ash. Totes didn’t see that coming, did you?
Wondering what went wrong for Ash to not end up in both the movies? In a conversation with a leading daily, Aishwarya had earlier said that while she was ready to play the parts, the director couldn’t find her the perfect lead actor for the role of Bajirao and Khilji. Umm…What?
She said, “He didn’t get the Bajirao for me. He wanted me to do Padmaavat, but could not get the Khilji for me, at the casting time. So, that’s how it didn’t happen.” Aishwarya also added that at the end of the day, it’s casting that matters the most. She added, “If the casting is not happening, then sometimes, it doesn’t come together. The intention is always there to work together, but it didn’t happen. We both loved working with each other, so let’s see, whenever it is meant to be.” Makes sense!
The Taal actress and Bhansali have previously worked on classic movies such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. They last collaborated on Guzaarish, which was back in 2010. It’ll be interesting to watch the duo come together once again.
Also, no offence to Ash, but we can’t imagine any other actress playing the role of Mastani the way Deepika did! BRB, gonna go watch Bajirao Mastani for the zillionth time again.
Featured Image: Instagram
