Deepika Padukone beats Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor to become the highest-paid artiste in 'Padmavati'?

Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone are walking away with fat paychecks for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati." But did you know the leading lady is taking home the highest remuneration of them all?

While Deepika has demanded Rs. 11 crore, Ranveer will receive somewhere between Rs. 7-8 crore, DNA reported. This isn't surprising considering the laurels Deepika has picked up in the past few years. However, the actors' fee demands have spiked "Padmavati" budget. It is now a Rs. 140 crore project.

Deepika has had a string of blockbusters, a big-ticket Hollywood actioner — "XXX: The Return of Xander Cage" — coming up, and a place in the Forbes' list of Highest-Paid Actress in the World in 2016. And with these achievements on her resume, her quoted fee for "Padmavati" comes as no surprise.

"Adding to this, Ranveer Singh, too has decided to demand his usual market rate, unlike in Bajirao Mastani wherein he opted for a lower remuneration in lieu of a profit share. Similarly, Shahid Kapoor, too, has chosen to stick to his current market rate, which put together makes for a massive chunk of the overall budget going in remuneration," a source told Bollywood Hungama.

Although an official announcement is yet to be made, reports have it that Deepika, Shahid and Ranveer will play the queen, king and a cunning ruler, respectively, in the movie. Massive sets are being erected at Mumbai's film studios and the project is expected to be rolled out sometime in September.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that Shahid put forward a couple of preconditions before he signed on the dotted line.

Apparently, he wanted his role to be meatier, somewhat equal to what Ranveer has in the film, which made the filmmaker redirect the focus of the script to the love triangle between three principle characters of "Padmavati." The "Udta Punjab" actor also said he would begin shooting in a few months as he has just stepped into fatherhood and would like to stay at home, be available to his wife and baby girl.