Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; December 16, 2016)

Being a taskmaster that he is, Sanjay Leela Bhansali likes his actors going the extra length to get into the skin of their characters. Last year, the lead pair of Bajirao Mastani, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone had moved closer to the set in Goregaon, and the film did phenomenal business at the box office. Eager to repeat the success with upcoming period drama, Padmavati, the filmmaker has got the two actors to shift to a temporary address once again till the shoot is wrapped up.

Sources close to the production house say the hotel that she’s putting up in is a five-minute drive from Film City. “The shift will also enable both of them to report to the set at any time of the day, without having to spend hours on the commute. Deepika stays in Prabhadevi while Ranveer’s house is in Bandra. Travelling to Goregaon can be a real pain, especially during peak hours. So, Deepika will stay in the hotel as long as her schedule continues. She is mostly shooting in the night. Ranveer will resume filming in mid-January and will be put up in a highrise nearby,” says a production insider.

Ranveer is currently promoting his latest outing, Befikre. For Bajirao Mastani, he had stayed at a hotel for more than two months and Deepika followed suit soon after.

Padmavati is a dramatised account of the 1303 siege of the Chittor Fort in Rajasthan. Tyrant ruler Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer) led the invasion, motivated by his desire to capture the beautiful queen, Rani Padmini (Deepika), the wife of Mewar king Rawal Ratan Singh ( Shahid Kapoor). The film is slated to release in November 2017.