Recently rumours were rife that TV actress Ankita Lokhande was roped in for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati" alongside Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Vicky Kaushal. The recent buzz is that the "Pavitra Rishta" actress has not been signed for the film.
"Even when Bhansali was working on 'Bajirao Mastani' (2015), there were reports that Ankita had been signed for a role in the film. Now, similar reports are doing the rounds. Bhansali's film is highly anticipated, but there has been no official confirmation on the final casting. Ankita is not being considered for a role in the movie," a source told the Hindustan Times.
In fact, a spokesperson of "Padmavati" confirmed the reports. He said: "Ankita has not been signed for the film. Hope this puts an end to the speculation." This is not the first time that the name of Sushant Singh Rajput's ex-girlfriend has been doing the rounds for a Bollywood movie.
It had earlier been reported that she was also being considered for Salman Khan's "Sultan" and Shah Rukh Khan's "Om Shanti Om." But later, the movies were bagged by Anushka Sharma and Deepika Padukone. It was said that Ankita missed out the Salman-starrer due to her then boyfriend Sushant's tiff with the production house. Interestingly, the actress has changed her name's spelling post-breakup, and now she uses Aankita S Lokhaande on her social media accounts.
Meanwhile, there has been no confirmation regarding the star cast of Bhansali's "Padmavati." Ranveer and Vicky seemed to be finalised, while Deepika has not given the final nod. "Padmavati" is a love story, in which ruthless ruler Alauddin Khilji loses his heart to Mewar Rani Padmavati. While Deepika will play the titular role, Ranveer will be essay the character of anti-hero. The period-drama is expected to hit the screens on Dec. 15, 2017.
However, Ranveer and Deepika will reportedly not share screen space in the flick. "'Padmavati' is the ultimate saga of forbidden love. Ranveer's character is completely besotted by Deepika. The state of Mewar goes to war against the Khilji dynasty over her honour. But she never meets the man who loses his heart to her. So, there will be not a shot where Ranveer and Deepika will shoot together," a source told DNA.
