With Bhatt and Singh’s date diaries affected by second lockdown, sources say duo to juggle KJo’s Rocky Aur Rani... and Bhansali’s Baiju Bawra
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; August 31, 2021)

Though he is neck-deep in work for his web debut Heeramandi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is eyeing to take Baiju Bawra on floors by October. The set is currently being constructed at Film City in Goregaon. Overjoyed as they must be to reunite with the auteur for the magnum opus, the project is likely to be strenuous for Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. The duo, after all, have begun shooting for Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani. With their date diaries affected by the second lockdown, the actors may have to juggle the two projects.

“At this point, it appears that some parts of Rocky Aur Rani... may overlap with the Baiju Bawra shoot. The primary roadblock will be the look of the characters, as the two actors sport distinct looks in the films. The actors’ teams are ensuring that the duo finish major chunks of Karan’s film before moving to Bhansali’s project,” reveals a source.

Johar kicked off the love story at a studio last week. After wrapping up the lead pair’s portions, he will focus on the scenes featuring veteran actors Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. The source adds, “The combination scenes will be canned later in the year.”

mid-day reached out to Singh and Bhatt’s teams who remained unavailable.