Shahid says no to Padmavati, Fawad steps in

Fawad to woo Deepika

The Pakistani hottie will play her husband in Padmavati, Raja Rawal Ratan Singh

Upala KBR upala.kbr@dnaindia.net

The Rani of Chittor has found her Raja, Rawal Ratan Singh and this search for the male lead of Padmavati has ended with Fawad Khan. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has finalised the Pakistani actor to star as Deepika Padukone's screen husband in his period epic, Padmavati. Fawad was in Mumbai for the past couple of weeks, finalising the deal.

Says a source, "Bhansali wants 200 days from all his lead actors, including Ranveer Singh (plays Alauddin Khilji) and Deepika (Padmavati). Fawad has those days to spare. In between, he has Karan Johar's production, but it should not be a problem as KJo and Bhansali share a good equation. So they will work it out. It's too big an offer for Fawad to pass up.

Moreover...

FK and DP walked the ramp on Wednesday as Manish Malhotra's showstoppers and their chemistry was noticed. Fawad has played a Rajput prince before in Khoobsurat and was liked in the part. In that movie, he wooed DP's rival, Sonam Kapoor.

The source adds that Shah Rukh Khan, Shahid Kapoor and Ali Zafar were approached, but no one wanted to play second fiddle to Ranveer. This is a step up for Fawad, who gets to work with SLB and a top actress.