Sanjay Leela Bhansali had considered THIS actress for ‘Bajirao Mastani’ before Deepika Padukone – Times of India

‘Bajirao Mastani’ which starred Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra Jonas released in 2015. However, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been planning to make this film for a while. Several other stars like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan were also rumoured to be offered this film. But, here’s some news!
Bhumika Chawla was Bhansali’s first choice for ‘Bajirao Mastani’ after she rose to fame after ‘Tere Naam’ with Salman. The actress has said in an interview that she even did a screen test for it after the release of ‘Tere Naam’, but an unfortunate incident happened. She expressed that she had done a photoshoot with Bhansali in his style but her saree caught fire because ghee and oil had spilt on her saree. Bhumika was wearing a silk saree and holding diyas which fell on it.

The ‘Tere Naam’ actress had also revealed that she was signed for multiple projects at that time – like ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ among others but those projects never came alive with her.
Meanwhile, Bhansali had said on ‘Koffee With Karan’, that he wanted to make ‘Bajirao Mastani’ with Salman and Aishwarya, but it couldn’t happen due to their personal differences. The filmmaker’s dream project finally happeend with Deepika, Ranveer and Priyanka and it got a lot of acclaim.

Bhumika was last seen in ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’ where she collaborated with Salman again after ‘Tere Naam’.