It seems that the award-winning actor-director duo of Ranveer Singh and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who have been responsible for hits such as Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani, and Padmaavat, have encountered a rough patch.
Veteran journalist Subhash K. Jha informs that tensions arose after Bhansali failed to include Ranveer in the lead of his next film Love & War.
The romantic drama, with a love triangle, has Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal playing lead roles. Ranveer was apparently approached for the role of the second male lead, but he reportedly rejected the offer. The role was then offered to Vicky Kaushal.
Pouring oil on the fire, Bhansali was surprisingly missing at Ranveer Singh's 40th birthday bash on July 6—a party for select friends only. "Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who catapulted Ranveer to superstar status with Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani, and Padmaavat, was not among the invitees. The director and actor are no longer close friends," the report added.
Ranveer had also been linked to Bhansali’s long-gestating musical epic Baiju Bawra, where he was expected to star opposite Alia Bhatt. However, that project appears to have taken a backseat as Bhansali shifts his focus entirely to Love & War, which began filming in November 2024. Nearly half the shoot is already complete, with major emotional and dramatic sequences still in the pipeline. The film remains on schedule for a March 2026 release.
Meanwhile, Ranveer Singh has shifted to his next major assignment—Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar. First look was released on his birthday and created a huge splash. In the teaser, Ranveer is seen in an intense avatar, giving a raw, action-oriented performance in a hard-hitting 2-minute 40-second teaser.
The movie also features a strong cast featuring Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal. It has, though, not been controversy-free. The teaser raised eyebrows due to Ranveer's on-screen romance with 20-year-old actress Sara Arjun. The movie is said to have been filmed two years ago, so Sara was 18 and Ranveer was 38 during filming. As social media backlash has intensified, Ranveer has decided not to comment about it publicly.
Directed by Aditya Dhar and co-produced by him, along with Jyoti Deshpande and Lokesh Dhar as producers, all of B62 Studios, under the banner of which it is being produced, Dhurandhar is also written and directed by Aditya Dhar. The movie is set to release on December 5.
As Bhansali goes ahead with his ambitious Love & War, and Ranveer maps his course with new associations, the erstwhile-iconic creative combination of the two seems to have gone almost undeterred into oblivion.
