Viacom 18 Will Pick the Bill for Bhansali’s Rs 170 Cr ‘Padmavati’

Viacom 18 to back Bollywood’s most expensive film till date, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone show Sanjay Leela Bhansali some love (Photo: Yogen Shah)

It’s a done deal. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s most ambitious epic project to date Padmavati is now being produced by only one corporate studio, namely Viacom 18.
While no official confirmation from Viacom is yet to  be obtained, the project will be announced by Viacom in the next two weeks — unnamed sources from the studio confirm the epic collaboration.

Sources close to Sanjay Leela Bhansali also confirm this historic Rs 170 crore budget collaboration between two of the biggest names in the blockbuster business.
Says a source close to Bhansali, “Earlier there was some talk  of Eros International jumping on to the production. But it was only talk and never reached any contractual stage, as Eros is at the moment going through too many financial issues to shoulder a project so mammoth in scope and resources. But Sanjay Bhansali stuck on with negotiations with Eros although they were not leading anywhere because of his close relations with Eros and Sunil Lulla. There was  even a suggestion of another production housing hopping on board with Eros to shoulder the massive financial requirements of Padmavati. But it all fell through as Eros was unable to shoulder  even a part of the budget.”

Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra in the film poster of Bajirao Mastani.

After weeks of negotiation, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has a cut a firm and cogent deal with Viacom 18, arguably the only production house in Mumbai which is not making heavy losses on unviable projects. Viacom 18 has earlier collaborated with Bhansali on Mary Kom.

Padmavati, which is expected to star Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, is not only the most expensive film produced by Viacom 18 but also the most expensive Hindi film ever proposed.