Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela BhansaliVarinder Chawla

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is reportedly in a hurry to complete his upcoming movie "Padmavati" starring Deepika Padukone. It has been reported that the director wants his next to be ready by the end of May 2017.

Bhansali reportedly is willing to showcase "Padmavati" at the Cannes Film Festival and so he is speeding up the process. Although there has not been any official confirmation on the cast of Bhansali's upcoming period drama, reports said that Deepika and Ranveer Singh have been finalised for "Padmavati."

"After finalising the cast, Bhansali has been meeting the actors to discuss their characters in detail and monitor their prep. The work on music and other departments had begun long ago. His target is to wrap up the film as soon as possible and screen it at Cannes," Mid-Day quoted a source as saying.

Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 17 to 28, 2017. "'Padmavati' has managed to create a lot of buzz for its subject as well as casting. This project is close to Bhansali's heart and so, he wants to have a grand launch. He is trying to finish shooting and post production by May," the source told the daily.

There was a buzz that Fawad Khan was approached to play the role of Deepika's onscreen husband in the film but that did not happen for unknown reasons. And now latest rumours suggest that Shahid Kapoor has been roped in for the character.

While Deepika will reportedly play the titular role, Ranveer will be seen as Alauddin Khilji and Shahid will portray the character of King Rawal Ratan Singh, who plays Deepika's husband. Deepika and Ranveer have earlier teamed up for Bhansali's "Bajirao Mastani" and "Ram Leela" that had not only impressed critics but had also stormed the box office.