Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who has earlier delivered blockbusters like ‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela’, seems to have finally found his success mantra and that is his films’ leading lady, Deepika Padukone. After taking the world by storm with her exceptional acting prowess, Deepika is all set to play the Goddess Queen, Padmavati in the movie slated to release in December. However, it seems that this lethal collaboration won’t just end here, since Deepika has now bagged a role in Bhansali’s biopic on celebrated poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi. Deepika will be playing renowned poetess Amrita Pritam, Ludhianvi’s muse.
© UTV Motion Pictures
Speculations were rife that Priyanka Chopra will be playing the role of Amrita Pritam, but after she turned down the project, several names and suggestions popped up. According to a report published in Quint, Deepika has been finalized to play Pritam, opposite Abhishek Bachchan who will step into the shoes of Sahir Ludhianvi. According to sources, Abhishek has already started preparing for the role, “Abhishek has begun preparing for his Sahir biopic. He will begin rigorous interaction with Sanjay Bhasanli after ‘Padamavati’ releases. But his groundwork on Sahir has begun in right earnest.
© UTV Motion Pictures
The source was further quoted as saying, “He is regularly listening to the immortal repertoire of Sahir’s lyrics from Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyasa’ to Yash Chopra’s ‘Trishul’. Abhishek’s father had the good fortune to interact with Sahir when he worked in ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ and ‘Trishul’. So Bachchan Saab is able to provide plenty of invaluable inputs to Abhishek’s preparation.”
Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi’s romance was never a conventional affair and quite ahead of their time, and it will be interesting to see how Deepika and Abhishek recreate that romance. While it will be Deepika’s fourth film with Bhansali, this will mark Abhishek’s first collaboration with the director. Deepika and Abhishek have earlier worked together in movies like ‘Happy New Year’ and ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’. Although they didn’t really captivate our hearts, we have our hopes really high for this one.