Deepika Padukone to headline Anurag Basu’s Imali?

It has been close to one and a half year since we have not seen the reigning queen of Bollywood Deepika Padukone on the silver screen. The actress was last seen in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed period drama Padmaavat (2018), which hit screens in January last year.

Padukone will next be seen in filmmaker Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak, which is currently being shot. The movie will buzz into theatres on 10^th January, 2020, which clearly means that there is going to be a huge gap of two years between the release of her last and upcoming film.

Latest reports claim that Deepika may give her nod to a new project, meanwhile. Buzz has it that renowned filmmaker Anurag Basu is considering to sign the talented actress for his next directorial venture, titled Imali.

Interestingly, Padukone won’t be the first choice of the director for the movie. Basu was initially set to make Imali with Kangana Ranaut. However, the Queen (2014) actress bowed out of the project recently, citing creative differences. Some media outlets reported that she quit the film because she wanted to focus on her next directorial venture, which is currently at the scripting stage.

Now fresh reports suggest that Deepika Padukone may come onboard to replace Kangana Ranaut. “Kangana Ranaut had walked out of filmmaker Anurag Basu’s forthcoming movie Imali citing difference in opinion. As the two of them couldn’t reunite after Gangster (2006) and Life In A Metro (2007), the filmmaker has now approached Deepika Padukone to play the lead role in the film. As Deepika is busy with Chhapaak, the conversations between the filmmaker and the actress have been more than positive.”

An official announcement is awaited.