Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor were first choices for 'Bajirao Mastani'?

Did you know? Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was the original choice to play the lead in ‘Bajirao Mastani’. He even chopped his hair and shot a poster of it with Kareena Kapoor Khan many years ago.

It is no secret that filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus was one of the most-anticipated films of Bollywood which was offered to several A-listers of the industry before finally being made with Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.

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As per the Indian media reports, the film was initially planned to be made with Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead, with Rani Mukerji roped in to play the Kashibai. Reportedly, Bhansali wanted the audience to experience the crackling chemistry of the ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ duo once again.

However, following the much-publicized breakup of the then-most-sought-after couple, Rai was reportedly replaced by Kapoor on the call of Khan. The ‘Bodyguard’ pair even screen-tested for the film and Khan had also chopped his hair for the signature look of Peshwa Bajirao.

The pairing did not work out for Bhansali and he refused to cast them for his passion project, which resulted in the fallout between him and Khan later, and they never collaborated again after that.

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But the interesting fact is that the same poster of Khan and Kapoor as Bajirao and Mastani is still present in the filmmaker’s office.

After being delayed multiple times due to casting changes, Bhansali’s passion project was finalized with the real-life couple, Padukone and Singh as leads, while Priyanka Chopra played Kashibai.

The cinematic masterpiece about Maratha Peshwa Bajirao and his second wife Mastani, was released in Dember 2015. The film was a huge Box Office success and fetched several accolades including seven National Film Awards.