Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: Even though the Hindi film industry has transformed for the better over the years, there are certain stereotypes that the industry still adheres to even now. After Aishwarya Rai was dropped from Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Heroine’ for being pregnant, Kareena Kapoor is now being dropped from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Ram Leela’ because the actress is all set to tie the knot in October with beau Saif Ali Khan.

The tiff between Bhansali and Kapoor has been going on for quite some time now. While earlier reports had suggested that Bhansali was in talks with Priyanka even though Bebo had given her nod to the project, it later turned out that the actress herself had walked out of the project which also stars Ranveer Singh.

And now, the filmmaker has come out with his own version and states that it was he who dropped Kareena from the film which is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and not the other way as Kareena projects it.
Speaking to a daily, a source close to the filmmaker said, “A Juliet no matter how far removed from Shakespeare`s original vision of her cannot be a married woman. With images of her wedding festivities flashing all over, it would have been impossible for Kareena to pass herself as a Gujju Juliet despite her great talent.”
The two have been wanting to work together for a long time, and were in fact excited to have finally zeroed in on a project. But insiders state that Kareena never clearly told her wedding dates to Bhansali. “Sanjay holds no grudge against the actress although she was less than honest with him about her wedding plans,” the source added.

As a result, the news of her October 16 wedding came as a surprise to the director. “It threw up a series of frightening scenarios. Kareena would, understandably, get busy with pre-wedding and post-wedding events. In the midst of her wedding in October, Kareena also needed at least a month to promote Madhur Bhandarkar`s’ Heroine’ which releases a month ahead of her wedding date.”

“The parting was anything but acrimonious. Sanjay was surprised to read on Monday morning that Kareena had `walked out` of ‘Ram Leela’. The truth is, this was building up for a long time. And money was the least of the problems. Sanjay was extremely keen to work with Kareena. He thinks she is an exceptional actress.”

So is Priyanka onboard? A friend of Sanjay`s says it is too early to decide. “It isn`t easy to find a replacement for Kareena. Sanjay isn`t even trying. He is now looking for a completely new Leela.”

Let’s hope that this time around Sanjay looks for a ‘single’ actress who has no plans of getting married in the near future.