Deepika Padukone Not Approached for Madhur Bhandarkar's Next: Actress' Spokesperson

It has now emerged that Bollywood beauty Deepika Padukone has not been approached by director Madhur Bhandarkar for his next, as opposed to earlier reports.

Recent rumours claimed the "Fashion" director was on the lookout for the female lead for his next project, and had Padukone in mind. The filmmaker was reportedly impressed with the actress' recent performances.

However, the "Chennai Express" actress appeared quite surprised with the reports and had her spokesperson clarify the matter.

"We have not been approached for the film," Padukone's spokesperson said in a statement, and further confirmed that the actress had "Happy New Year" and "Tamasha" with Ranbir Kapoor in her kitty, reported Pinkvilla.

The reports had also stated that Bhandarkar was in a dilemma, having to choose between Padukone and "Heroine" actress Kareena Kapoor Khan for the project.

It was even reported that Khan is desperate to bag the film and did not want to lose out to Padukone. Her bad luck with respect to her recent projects was understood to be the reason for her desperation to bag the Bhandarkar flick.

However, the filmmaker labelled the reports as baseless and posted a clarification on his Twitter account on Friday.

Contrary to baseless reports doing rounds in the media, I have neither approached Deepika nor Kareena for any role in my upcoming film.

— Madhur Bhandarkar (@mbhandarkar268) April 25, 2014

Meanwhile, previous reports had claimed that the director had zeroed in on "Fashion" actress Priyanka Chopra, for his upcoming film titled "Madamji", which will be based on the life of an actress-turned-politician. Rumours even hinted that the film has been inspired by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's J Jayalalithaa's life.

(Ed: VP)