Sanjay Leela Bhansali puts Baiju Bawra on hold; Rs. 350 crore budget creates a roadblock

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s journey with Baiju Bawra has been full of ups and downs over the years. The filmmaker announced this musical revenge drama in the pre-pandemic times and soon from there, roped in Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt to play the leads. He was then in talks with Deepika Padukone to play the dacoit, but the conversations fizzled out.

The world was struck by the pandemic then and Bhansali resumed casting for the film once things settled down. The director got into a discussion with Kiara Advani and Nayanthara to play the part of a dacoit. Just when he was on the verge of locking his cast, SLB got the shock of his life as the subject of the film was not getting approval from the studios. “Sanjay Leela Bhansali wishes to make Baiju Bawra the biggest musical of Indian Cinema and the budget for his magnum opus is approx. Rs. 350 crores. When SLB went with the project to the studios, they felt the budget was too high,” a source told Bollywood Hungama.

Some of the studios asked SLB to tone down the cost of the film. “While both Ranveer and Alia were signed for amounts lower than their market value out of love and respect for SLB, the studios felt that in today’s market, investing Rs. 350 crores on a musical like Baiju Bawra was not a financially prudent move in the post-pandemic world. SLB wasn’t in the mood to compromise on his vision and hence has decided to put the film on hold,” the source told Bollywood Hungama further.

Bhansali is now revisiting the scripts in his cupboard and will be starting an altogether new film by Summer 2024. Inshallah in the forefront, but that’s only if Shah Rukh Khan says yes to the film. If not Inshallah, SLB has multiple other scripts lined up that are in the position of going on floors.

Also Read: Sanjay Leela Bhansali is all set to bring Baiju Bawra to life after 20 years