With his grandiose sets and detailed plots, it’s hard to imagine Sanjay Leela Bhansali giving us a bad movie ever. But very few of his movies come close to SLB’s magnum opus Bajirao Mastani.
Not Just SLB’s hardwork, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone’s phenomenal acting made this movie a roaring success. But did you know that DP wasn’t the first choice for the iconic role of Mastani? Scroll down to know who was SLB’s first choice:
Who Was She?
Well, we don’t think anyone else could have done it better than Deepika Padukone as Mastani. And TBH, the movie turned out to be a turning point in DP’s career. But Bhumika Chawla was the first choice to play the role of Mastani!
In a recent media interaction with Siddharth Kannan about her movie Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, Bhumika Chawla spilled some beans on how SLB was trying to put Bajirao Mastani together ever since he received massive appreciation for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. And when she came into limelight after Tere Naam, the filmmaker called her for the screening test of Mastani’s role. The Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan actress said, “This was a lot of years ago but then over the years, things changed. My screen test happened soon after Tere Naam. I had done a photoshoot with Sir in his style. My saree caught fire because ghee and oil spilled on my saree. I was holding the diyas in his style and it fell, and I was wearing a silk saree. I remember that happened.”
Well, if you’re thinking this was the only film Bhumika was replaced from, you might be wrong. In the same interaction, the actress revealed how she was the first choice for Jab We Met and Munna Bhai MBBS! “Ek hi baar mujhe bura laga tha, jab maine Jab We Met sign ki aur nahi hui (That’s the only time I’ve felt bad about losing a film, when I lost Jab We Met after signing it). I was the first one, Bobby Deol and me, when it was called Train. Then, it was Shahid Kapoor and me, and then Shahid and Ayesha Takia, and then Shahid and Kareena. That’s how things happened, but it’s okay. I only felt bad once and then never again because I just move on. I don’t think much about it. I had signed Munna Bhai MBBS but it didn’t happen. Kannathil Muthamittal with Mani Ratnam sir didn’t happen,” revealed Bhumika.
Bhumika recently united with Salman Khan after almost two decades in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. She portrayed the role of Pooja Hegde’s sister-in-law.
While I loved Bhumika in Tere Naam and appreciate her as an actor, it’s safe to say that nobody could’ve done justice to the role of Mastani the way DP did!
Feature Image: Instagram
