Is Sanjay Leela Bhansali looking to skip his Bollywood film with Shah Rukh Khan to focus on ‘Baiju Bawra’?

A lot has been said and written about Bollywood maverick filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali reuniting with Shah Rukh Khan after they created magic with ‘Devdas’ in 2002.

There has been media speculation that the two talented powerhouses will reunite for ‘Izhaar’ after the filmmaker wraps up with ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ with Alia Bhatt, along with the Netflix series, ‘Heera Mandi’. However, sources are now saying that Bhansali has decided to put the cross-border love story starring Khan on the backburner to focus on the remake of the tragic drama ‘Baiju Bawra’.

What’s even more interesting is that there has been plenty of talk in the past that the film could reunite Bhansali’s with Ranbir Kapoor and his favourite actress, Deepika Padukone. While Bhansali launched Kapoor with ‘Saawariya’, he has worked with Padukone in three films, including ‘Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram Leela’, ‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Padmaavat’.

“The filmmaker had officially announced ‘Baiju Bawra’ in 2019 and he is sticking to his plans of making this epic next after the release of ‘Gangubai…’,” a souce close to the development told entertainment portal Pinkvilla. “In-fact, in the lockdown over the last one year, he even took some time off to work on the script, screenplay and music of ‘Baiju Bawra’. It’s his dream project and he is looking forward to commence this journey once ‘Gangubai’ and ‘Heera Mandi’ is out of his system.”

The source also stated that a line-up of stars spanning generations are being singled out for the project.

“While the story stems from the 1952 classic, ‘Baiju Bawra’, Bhansali is planning to bring in his own spin to this epic tale. The grandeur, music and storytelling aside, the star-cast is said to be the main highlight of the film,” the source further told Pinkvilla. “If everything goes as planned, with actors giving a combination shooting dates, this one will hit the floors by mid-2022.”

‘Baiju Bawra’ tells the story of a talented musician Baiju who challenges Tansen, one of the most revered musicians in Emperor Akbar’s court to avenge his father’s death. However, triumph and tragedy go hand-in-hand for the young hopeful who has left behind the love of his life to set forth on a new path.