Don't Expect Deepika Padukone's Padmavati This Year

New Delhi: Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor's Padmavati, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, won't hit the screens this year, reports DNA. The makers are now planning to release the period drama in February 2018. "Sanjay Leela Bhansali had an October 20 deadline, which is impossible to meet now. The workers' strike took away a few important days. Meanwhile, two of the principal actors - Deepika and Shahid - also had free dates, so they took off on vacations. A lot of the shoot is still left. The major chunk may have been shot, but some big action sequences are still left. Ranveer's portions as the young Alauddin Khilji, too, remain to be shot," DNA quoted a source as saying. After the October 20 deadline, the release date was later shifted to November. As of now, apart from Anushka Sharma's Pari, no other major releases are scheduled for February 2018.

The shooting of Padmavati was delayed twice, after the sets were attacked and disrupted. Once, the props and costumes were damaged and the set was torched and earlier this year, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was assaulted by a Rajput group called Karni Sena while filming Padmavati at Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur.

DNA report also states that though major portions of Padmavati has been shot, the post-production work will take time and hence, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has decided to shift the release date.

In Padmavati, Deepika Padukone stars as Rani Padmini, wife of Raja Ratan Singh, played by Shahid Kapoor while Ranveer Singh features as Alauddin Khilji, one of the most powerful rulers of the Khilji dynasty.

Padmavti is Ranveer and Deepika's third film with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The trio have previously collaborated for blockbusters like Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela and Bajirao Mastani.