page_title: Bajirao Mastani
section_title: Casting
hierarchical_section_title: Bajirao Mastani / Production / Casting
caption_attribution_description: English: Ranveer Singh &amp; Deepika Padukone at the press conference of ‘Bajirao Mastani’ in Delhi
context_page_description: Bajirao Mastani is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language epic historical romance film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who also composed its soundtrack. Jointly produced by Bhansali and Eros International's Kishore Lulla, the film stars Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. The supporting cast includes Tanvi Azmi, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi and Milind Soman. Based on the fictional Marathi novel Rau by Nagnath S. Inamdar, Bajirao Mastani narrates the story of the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I and his second wife.
  Conceived as early as the 1990s, Bhansali announced the film in 2003 but production was delayed several times due to its changing cast. Bajirao Mastani, a passion project for Bhansali, spent the next eleven years in development hell before being revived in 2014. Extensive research was done before moving into pre-production, which required the creation of twenty-two highly detailed sets, and numerous costumes and props to strengthen its opulence and high production value. Principal photography took place on sets constructed in Film City, with some portions being filmed on location. Visual effects and CGI were used in post-production to enhance a number of scenes.
context_section_description: Bhansali originally wanted to repeat his Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) pairing of Salman Khan with Aishwarya Rai for the eponymous roles, but could not cast them together after their highly publicised break-up. Khan then tried to suggest his then-girlfriend Katrina Kaif for the role of Mastani but things did not materialise. When the film was finally announced in 2003, Bhansali had cast Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the titular roles, with Rani Mukerji playing Baji Rao's first wife Kashibai. However, the idea was scrapped when Khan and Kapoor signed other films together. Bhansali wanted to be the first director to showcase their pairing. Hence, the film was shelved and Bhansali went on to direct other films.
  Over the following ten years, media speculation about the production and casting of Bajirao Mastani continued. After the film was revived in 2014, reports of Ajay Devgn and Deepika Padukone being approached for the film made headlines in February. Devgn dropped out of the film, however, due to differences with Bhansali about several terms of his contract, such as dates and remuneration. The next month, it was reported that Ranveer Singh was in talks to play Bajirao. The same month, reports suggested Priyanka Chopra was cast to play Kashibai, Bajirao's first wife. In July 2014, it was officially confirmed that Singh, Padukone and Chopra were finalised to play the principal roles.
  Chopra was the first actor to be cast in the film; Bhansali wanted Kashibai to be cast first, only after which he could decide whom to cast for the title roles. Bhansali, who produced Chopra-starrer Mary Kom (2014), went on to that film's set in Manali to narrate it with the writer Prakash Kapadia; Bhansali was adamant in his choice of Chopra, who recalled, "The rest of the film hadn't been cast yet. My picture would be there and the pictures for Bajirao and Mastani would keep changing."
  Milind Soman joined the cast in the late August 2014. In late September 2014, it was confirmed that Tanvi Azmi was cast for the role of Bajirao's mother Radhabai; Shabana Azmi, Dimple Kapadia, and Supriya Pathak had also been considered for the role. The following month, Aditya Pancholi joined the cast as an antagonist. In November 2014, the casting of Bajirao's sisters were finalised; Sukhada Khandkekar was ast as Anubai and Anuja Gokhale as Bhiubai. The following month, Mahesh Manjrekar was cast to play Maratha Emperor Chhattrapati Shahu. It was announced in January 2015 that Vaibhav Tatwawaadi was chosen to play Bajirao's younger brother Chimaji Appa. Irrfan Khan was cast as the film's narrator.
  All of the actors had to undergo training before filming began; Singh and Padukone learned sword-fighting, horse-riding and the ancient Indian martial art Kalaripayattu. Singh was also required to learn Marathi and shave his head for the part, whereas Padukone had to take Kathak dance lessons. In preparation for her role of Kashibai, Chopra had 15 days of language training in the Peshwai Marathi dialect spoken during the time of the ascension of the Peshwas to perfect the accent. Azmi shaved her head completely for her role.
  Singh has described his character as a "true Maratha", saying, "The deeper I get into it the more I realise what a great man he was. It is a great honour to be selected to play this character." He has said he always wanted to transform himself into a character and playing Bajirao gave him that scope, which he said was "draining and tiring in every way". For portraying Bajirao, Singh's preparations required him to isolate himself from his own being and living like Bajirao. He instructed the crew members to address him as Bajirao, which helped him to remain in his character. Singh would not respond to people who used his real name. He said, "It takes a lot of work and effort to be different from whom I am, and two hours to get ready, complete with makeup and the heavy costumes. After all this, if someone just tells me, Ranveer, your shot is ready! all that goes to waste." Padukone found her character to be very relatable, saying, "She was so brave, 
caption: Ranveer Singh (left) and Deepika Padukone (right) were cast to play the titular roles.
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