Sanjay Leela Bhansali has recently announced his next magnum opus, Love & War, and it will star Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal in the lead. Love & War has even gotten a release date for Christmas 2025. Ranbir, Alia, and Vicky may not have worked as a trio in a movie before, but they have worked with each other in the past. Ranbir and Alia, of course, brought their offscreen romance on screen in Brahmastra, while Alia was paired opposite Vicky Kaushal in Raazi. Vicky had a small part in Bombay Velvet, which had Ranbir in the lead, while Ranbir had a starry cameo in Love Per Square Foot and Govinda Mera Naam, both having Vicky Kaushal in the lead role. Above all, they worked together in the Rajkumar Hirani blockbuster, Sanju. Love & War: Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal Team Up For Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Next Epic Saga, Film Set To Hit Theatres on Christmas 2025.

Bhansali had memorably worked with two of his Love &War's leading stars in the past. Ranbir, of course, made his big-screen debut with Bhansali's Saawariya. Alia Bhatt got her first National Award win for her scintillating performance in Gangubai Kathiawadi, again directed by SLB. It is only Vicky who is acting with the director for the first time. However, that wouldn't have been the case a few years back if things had gone as planned.

When Bhansali had first announced his controversial magnum opus, Padmaavat, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone were already pencilled in for Alauddin Khilji and Queen Padmavati's roles. However, it was Vicky Kaushal who was eyed for the role of Rawal Ratan Singh. That didn't turn out to be the case, as Shahid Kapoor played the role. There were also reports going on then that Deepika Padukone wasn't keen on having Vicky, who was fresh off the critical success of films like Masaan and Raman Raghav 2.0. but hadn't gotten the star status he got from the success of Uri: The Surgical Strike. Before Govinda Naam Mera, Did You Know Ranbir Kapoor Had a Cameo In Another Vicky Kaushal Movie?

Vicky had even confirmed this in an interview given to BollywoodLife, where he said, "We were in talks, but then certain things fall into place; certain things don't fall into place. For me, you need to try and understand that my first film came out in 2015, and if because of that one film, a director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali calls you to his office and tells you that you are a contender for a part in his next, that in itself means a huge deal for me." You can see his optimism when he added, "We'll keep working. He (SLB) will keep making films; I will keep being a part of films, and we will probably cross paths again." It looks like his wish really did come true!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 24, 2024 07:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).