Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali‘s collaborations have always resulted in some major critically acclaimed and blockbuster hit films. Be it Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas or Guzaarish. So naturally, as movie lovers, the audience is waiting for yet another opportunity for this director-diva combination to come together and create magic on celluloid. There’s also been a lot of speculation that the two might work together after these movies as well. For instance, SLB’s first choice for Bajirao Mastani was Salman Khan and Aishwarya. But after Ash and Salman’s extremely public and bitter break up that never came into being. In an interview with SpotBoye, when she was asked about whether a collaboration with the magnum opus director was in the cards,
she said,
Bajirao Mastani also we were supposed to do together. He didn’t get the Bajirao for me. He didn’t get the Khilji for me; He wanted me to do Padmaavat, but could not get the Khilji for me, at the casting time. So, that’s how it didn’t happen. I would love to work together.
She further added that it was all about casting the right people.
The person he saw to play Khilji with me playing Padmavati did not happen. So, at the end of the day, you need to see the casting. If the casting is not happening, then you know…sometimes, it doesn’t come together. The intention is always there to work together, but it didn’t happen. We both loved working with each other, so let’s see, whenever it is meant to be.
Woa! I’d love to know who it was that SLB had in mind to play Khilji originally!
While both Padmaavat and Bajirao Mastaani were played by Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh and boy did they play their parts well… I would’ve loved to see Ash as Padmavati and Mastaani. She had done complete justice to the role of Jodha in Jodha Akbar and I’m sure she would’ve been mind-blowing in these movies if she had done it.
But I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer for an Ash-SLB collaboration to happen again!