Alia Bhatt is making waves with her portrayal of Gangubai in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi. Many names had cropped up before Alia was finalized for the film and one of the names was that of Deepika Padukone. There were strong rumors and Deepika and Priyanka Chopra both were being considered for the role. But, it eventually went to Alia.

Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone
Alia Bhatt (left) and Deepika PadukoneVarinder Chawla

Why Alia, not Deepika?

Now, on being asked what made him choose Alia for this and Deepika, Bhansali had a clear answer. "They are different people. They have different approaches, they have different heights. They have different voices, they have different body language. They have a different approach to cinema. All that put together... Deepika is a beautiful girl, a wonderful actor. For me, Alia is a very beautiful girl, again a wonderful actor," Bhansali told Bollywood Hungama.

"But if I have to do Bajirao Mastani then I will have to have Deepika, and if I'm doing Gangubai, I will have to have Alia play it. So, each one has the power that they exude when they find a role that suits them, and you cannot give the wrong role to the wrong actor," he further said.

Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt and Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt and Sanjay Leela BhansaliCollage of photos taken from Twitter and Facebook

When Inshallah got shelved

Prior to this, Bhansali was going to cast Salman Khan and Alia Bhatt in Inshallah. The film had created tremendous buzz but owing to the creative differences between Khan and Sanjay, the film was eventually shelved.  "Salman is a very dear friend, and I wanted to work with him after Padmavat. I put my best feet forward to make it happen. For whatever reasons, it didn't turn out. We all change as people. So he has changed; in his mind, I have changed," he told a leading website.

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