Aditya Pancholi, the veteran actor of the 90s who carved a name for himself as a bad guy in many movies, is set to enthral audiences in yet another villainous role.

Buzz in Bollywood is that Pancholi has been approached by Sanjay Leela Bhansali to star as a villain in his upcoming project "Bajirao Mastani."

Bhansali of Devdas fame, is said to have met the actor on Thursday afternoon at his Juhu office and surprised him with the offer. A look test was also conducted, where make up was applied on the veteran actor and he also tried out some wigs and costumes, reported to Mumbai Mirror.

"We have met and I have been approached for the role. It is a nice role but I can't talk about it. Nothing is finalised yet. He( Bhansali) will take a call," Pancholi told PTI.

Pancholi has appeared in numerous films and portrayed the characters with elan. In recent times, he was lauded for Rohan Sippy's 2011 flick "Dum Maro Dum", where he had played the part of a French -bearded druglord. Since then he has also appeared in "Jai Ho" and "Dishkiyaoon."

"Bajirao Mastani", a historical love story set in the 1700s, is about the life of Maratha general Peshwa Bajirao and his wife Mastani. An earlier movie on the same subject called "Mastani" has been made by Dhirubai Desai in 1955.

Bhansali has been dreaming of turning the romantic relationship between Peshwa Bajirao and his wife Mastani into a movie for more than 10 years now. He had thought about this project as far back as 1999, when he was directing "Hum Dil Chuke Sanam." It has been said that he wanted to cast Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the movie.

While the idea was shelved when Khan and the former Miss World broke up, the "Jai Ho" actor and Katrina Kaif are said to have done a photo shoot in the traditional attire of that period, reported BoxOffice Capsule.

Bhansali has now roped in actress Deepika Padukone and her alleged boyfriend Ranveer Singh for the love story.