Deepika-Priyanka to have Aishwarya-Madhuri-style confrontation in Bajirao Mastani

Paro and Chandramukhi never came face-to-face in Saratchandra Chatterjee’s Devdas, but when Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his film Devdas, he made sure that the two women in Devdas’s life came face to face, delivered a few dramatic dialogues and, of course, danced together. Bhansali’s logic was simple: audiences would feel cheated if Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, who played Paro and Chandramukhi respectively, didn’t share a scene in the film. A similar eagerness to give meet audience expectations seems to be at play in Bhansali’s upcoming film, Bajirao Mastani. Kashirao and Mastani, the two women whom the Maratha warrior Peshwa Baji Rao loved, will be given scenes of confrontation and a dramatic song-and-dance sequence, like the Rai and Dixit’s Dola Re Dola in Devdas. Says a source close to the project, “It is obvious. SLB [Bhansali] can’t have two stunning actresses in a film without them sharing screen space. Though the film is named after Mastani, Barjirao’s other woman Kashibai has an equally important role in SLB’s script.” [caption id=“attachment_1662151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: ibn live[/caption] Kashibai, who was apparently the less aggressive feminine presence in Bajirao’s life, is being played by Bhansali’s current favourite, Priyanka Chopra. Deepika Padukone is playing Mastani, who was Bajirao’s wife and historically speaking, was a formidable woman. Along with her beauty, she was a skilled horse rider, handled both spear and sword expertly and was a talented dancer and singer. Padukone made news when she was cast as Mastani because she also became the first actress in Bollywood to get as much as Rs 8 crore for her starring role. Though Padukone’s is the title role, it can be revealed with full authority that Chopra’s role has been re-written to suit her stature as an actor and a star. Says a source close to the project, “Kashibai’s role according to SLB’s script was never a walk-over, not even when 8 years ago when Kareena Kapoor was to play Mastani and Rani Mukherjee was to play Kashibai. Now with Deepika and Priyanka playing the two parts, SLB has modified the characters accordingly.” So now it’s time for the dance-off. Padukone has already shown her dancing skills in Bhansali’s Ram Leela. It’s time to see if Chopra can match Padukone move for move and if there’s more to her dancing than the sexy writhing she did for the song Ram Chahe Leela in Ram Leela.