Aishwarya Rai joins Padmavati cast; Sanjay Leela Bhansali to direct her in a song sequence

What Kajol was to Karan Johar, her contemporary Aishwarya Rai Bachhan is to his idol Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Bhansali’s special bond with Rai is well documented and now he has managed to rope in the beauty for a special appearance and song sequence for his next, the period drama Padmavati. [caption id=“attachment_3148034” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. File Photo[/caption] Mumbai Mirror reports that both parties are keen on making the special appearance work. The song sequence will be filmed during a schedule of 15 to 20 days in a suburban studio. Interestingly, Rai was last seen dancing in Bhansali’s 2010 drama Guzaarish on the song Udi sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. Post that, she went on a five-year sabbatical to make the most of motherhood. She returned to the silver screen last year with Sanjay Gupta’s suspense thriller Jazbaa which saw her playing a gritty lawyer. Her next Omung Kumar’s biopic Sarbjit was also a serious role as she played the sister of the titular character who was wrongly convicted in Pakistan for crossing the Line of Control. Her last release was Karan Johar’s romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Muskil which saw Rai dance for a couple of shots with Ranbir Kapoor on the song Bulleya. But it will be Padmavati in which she will do a full- fledged dance number. She has enthralled the audience with her swift dance movements in Bhansali’s past two movies in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. Her jugalbandi with Madhuri Dixit on Dola Re Dola was a casting coup which was replicated in Bhansali’s last film Bajirao Mastani with Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padhukone in a friendly dance-off on the Marathi number Pinga. However, Zee News reports that Rai’s song in Padmavati will not see her in a dance-off with Padukone but will be on completely different lines. While neither Bhansali nor Rai has confirmed the news yet, her fans are hoping to see her share the screen space with Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in the period biopic.