Bajirao Mastani Budget: 210 Crores

Bajirao Mastani B-Town's most expensive film ever?

Subhash K Jha

At a staggering budget of '210 crore, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani may well be the most costly Indian film to be produced ever. The period epic to be co-produced by Eros International goes on the floors at the end of the year.

The film is expected to recreate a chapter of Maratha history that would require mammoth expenses. Says a member of the team, "Sanjay has earlier made a very lavish period film Devdas. But there he could allow his imagination to control his budget somewhat (although at '65 crore. Devdas was one of the most expensive films of that time). But in Bajirao Mastani there can be no compromises. Every detail has to be authentic."

Apparently, SLB intends to dress Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra in costumes woven from threads used in the the era of Bajirao Peshwa. Says the source, "The clothes, jewellery, armoury, locations and sets would be as authentic as possible. There will be no compromise on quality. In terms of scale and pitch SLB's role model for his historical is K Asif's Mughal-e-Azam."