DNA (April 9, 2014)

Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; April 8, 2014)

Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh will play siblings in Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do this summer. And in winter, there will a change of role play. PC and Ranveer will play husband and wife in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani. While Ranveer will play Bajirao, PC will, in all probability, play his wife Kashibai.

Incidentally, there are several actors out there who have played siblings, lovers, and a married couple quite effectively.

Shah Rukh Khan played Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s brother in Josh (2000) and he played her lover in Mohabbatein (2000).

Rakhee played Amitabh Bachchan’s love-interest in Kabhi Kabhie (1976) and later played his mother in Shakti (1982).

The Big B also romanced Waheeda Rehman on screen in Adalat (1976) and Kabhi Kabhie. And later, Waheeda played his mother in Coolie (1983).

Jaya Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar, two extremely talented actors, played father-daughter in Parichay (1972), a deaf-mute couple in Koshish (1972) and lovers in Anamika (1973).

Ranveer and PC are therefore in the august company of all the actors named above.

Seema Sinha (BOMBAY TIMES; March 21, 2014)

Speculations don’t seem to cease when it comes to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s dream project Bajirao Mastani. The epic historical, based on the life of Peshwa Bajirao and his ladylove, Mastani, which the filmmaker first spoke about 15 years ago, has seen several big names being tossed around for the lead roles.

Though initially planned with Salman Khan as Bajirao, names like Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ranveer Singh and even Ajay Devgn later started doing the rounds. Similarly, there were rumours of Bhansali having ‘advanced talks’ with Deepika Padukone and Kareena Kapoor Khan for Mastani’s role.

The latest is that Priyanka Chopra has bagged the role of Kashibai, who was the Peshwa’s first wife. Will there be any concrete news soon? Well, your guess is as good as ours.
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Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; March 21, 2014)

Priyanka Chopra has apparently bagged a role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s long-in-the-planning film, Bajirao Mastani. If the latest buzz is to be believed, the actress will be seen as Bajirao’s wife Kashibai in the film.
A source says, “Priyanka has agreed to essay Kashibai’s character. It may not be the title role, but it is vital to the story.” Another source adds, “An important role if portrayed with an amazing performance will always have more weightage and appreciation than that of a lead role. So looking at PC’s acting prowess, one can go beyond just the length of her role.” Bhansali has finally started working on his dream project Bajirao Mastani with the production house, Eros, apparently as producers.

Priyanka remained unavailable for comment.

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 10, 2014)

For almost 15 years Sanjay Leela Bhansali has nurtured a dream—to make a film on Peshwa Bajirao and his ladylove Mastani. Finally, it seems the search for the lead pair is half over. Buzz is that Bhansali has got his Bajirao in his Devdas.

He had conceptualised the project with his Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam pair and then real-life sweethearts Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead. But, with the end of the love affair, Bhansali had no option but to put his dream project on hold.

The latest is that Shah Rukh Khan, who worked with Bhansali in Devdas (2002), has been roped in for the role. According to a source close to the film, SRK has consented in principle to do the film.

The relationship between SRK and Bhansali was cordial till Om Shanti Om and Saawariya clashed at the box-office in 2007. A war of words ensued and things turned bitter. So much so, that the two stopped speaking to each other. However, the ice started melting when the two shared the stage during the poster release of Bela Sehgal's film Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi (2012). After the event, Bhansali even took SRK to his new office where the two reminisced about the good old days and talks of a collaboration resurfaced. After that Bhansali got busy with Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela and even approached Ajay Devgn to play Bajirao. But one day, on the sets of Ram-Leela, SRK dropped by and while talking to Bhansali showed keen interest in playing Bajirao. The first schedule of Bajirao Mastani is likely to kick off in July/ August. Said the source, “Bhansali wants the first schedule in the rains. The pre-production work on the film has kicked off.” The film will roll with a humongous budget, which could probably be the highest in Bollywood till date. SRK’s company Red Chillies Entertainment might co-produce the film with Bhansali. 
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Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; January 10, 2014)


Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s dream project Bajirao Mastani is finally about to take off after 14 years. He first spoke about it in 1999, after which the fallout between his lead pair - Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai – stalled work on the film. Bhansali then wanted to replace Ash with Kareena Kapoor but that didn’t happen either. Instead, he went on to make Devdas and Black, following which there were rumours about him casting casting Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya as the lead pair.

Sources in the industry say that Sanjay Leela Bhansali has now signed Shah Rukh Khan for it. The historical drama, based on the life of Peshwa Bajirao and his ladylove Mastani, has seen several casting changes and has never really taken off.

A source from the industry tells HitList, "After his film Ram-leela released in November 2013, Bhansali has now started work on his next production, Bajirao Mastani. He wants to begin shooting in April 2014, but the film’s scale is such that it needs extensive pre- production work."

There are also rumours that Bhansali is keen to cast Deepika Padukone opposite Shah Rukh in the film with Katrina Kaif playing Bajirao's wife Kashibai. “Bhansali has just worked with Deepika, so he might cast her again in this one. He is in talks with both Deepika and Katrina,” adds the source.