Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat were a massive success at the box office. The lead actress Deepika Padukone was critically acclaimed for the portrayal of her electrifying characters Mastani and Rani Padmaavati. But do you know that Deepika wasn’t the first choice of Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the films? Read on to know more about it.

As per reports in Pop Xo, it was none other than Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. In fact, not just Bajirao Mastani but even Padmaavat was initially offered to Ash. Wondering what went wrong for Ash to not end up in both the movies?

In a conversation with a leading daily, Aishwarya had earlier said that while she was ready to play the parts, the director couldn’t find her the perfect lead actor for the role of Bajirao and Khilji. She said, “He didn’t get the Bajirao for me. He wanted me to do Padmaavat, but could not get the Khilji for me, at the casting time. So, that’s how it didn’t happen.”

Aishwarya also added that at the end of the day, it’s casting that matters the most.  She added, “If the casting is not happening, then sometimes, it doesn’t come together. The intention is always there to work together, but it didn’t happen. We both loved working with each other, so let’s see, whenever it is meant to be.”

Keep reading IWMBuzz.com for more updates.