As Sanjay Leela Bhansali gets ready for the release of "Bajirao Mastani", its scriptwriter Prakash Kapadia says casting for the magnum opus was the most difficult thing as it went through many changes. The period romance drama with Ranveer Singh as Bajirao, Deepika Padukone as Mastani and Priyanka Chopra as Kashi Bai hits the screens on December 18.
Earlier, the "Ram Leela" director wanted to make this historical saga with his "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" stars Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. But after they broke up things did not work and then names of several actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn among others cropped up.
"Casting was definitely the difficult part for this film as it's a grand one. It (film) required a lot of hard work, dedication and time. Sanjay himself managed the casting... He did speak to a lot of actors but things were not working out earlier. Finally, we got our casting as it was their destiny," Kapadia said in an interview. Bhansali and Kapadia both have been working on the story since 12 years.
"We wanted to make it after "Devdas" but due to some reasons it got delayed," Kapadia said. Considering the work on the script was going for several years the makers have made the film according to the taste and preferences of today's audience.