Abhimanyu Singh, whom we all know as Ransa Singh (the fearless prince) from Gulaal, was seen trying to impress his director Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the sets of <em>Ram Leela</em> with his dance moves (with <em>garba</em> as the dance form). Having never really done a full-fledged dance performance in a film earlier and thus this is almost like his first attempt. Though he failed initially, but Abhimanyu practiced day and night to perfect his dance steps to impress his director and has succeeded in doing so the next day when Bhansali saw the improvement in Abhimanyu.

Contrary to rumours of ill-health Saroj Khan is all set to face one of her career’s biggest challenges. She would be doing a song and dance for <em>Ram Leela</em> on a scale that leaves behind <em>Maar daala</em>, the song-and-dance Saroj Khan did with Madhuri Dixit for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s <em>Devdas</em>. “Who’s spreading rumours about me being unwell?” fumes choreographer Saroj Khan when I call her up to ask about her health. For the last few days the print media and internet have been abuzz with rumours of Saroj Khan being “critically ill” and hospitalized.

Cinematographer Ravi Varman, whose visuals in Anurag Basu`s Barfi fetched him several accolades, was injured while shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Ram Leela. Varman fractured his hand, putting a question mark on the rest of the schedule. The film features Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in lead roles and is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s much anticipated movie ‘Ram Leela’ has launched its first poster amidst much fan fare. The film stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, produced by Bhansali Productions Pvt Ltd and Eros International. <em>Ram Leela</em> will hit the silver screen on 29 November, 2013.

While we lavish praises on production houses and artistes for the success of a particular film, little do we think about the dozens of people who toil on the sets handling lights, camera and equipment transporting them from one place to the other and even to great heights. A recent accident that happened on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film <em>Ram Leela</em> had the entire unit gasping for breath when a light man lost his balance and fell from a height.

It is not easy being a Sanjay Leela Bhansali heroine. This, Deepika discovered when she had to perform a traditional Garba for <em>Ram Leela</em>. Traditional choreographers from rural Gujarat have been specially flown in to Mumbai to choreograph the number. Says a source close to Deepika, “It was the same Garba team that had choreographed Aishwarya Rai’s <em>Dholi taro dhol bhaje</em> number in SLB’s <em>Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam</em>. And the director’s brief to the team was simple. Make it as scintillating as Aishwarya’s number.”

Deepika is running scared. So far the most abusive word she has used is ‘slut’ in Cocktail. For Ram Leela she needs to get a lot more colourful. Playing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Juliet in <em>Ram Leela</em> is not going to be a cakewalk for Deepika. It requires a drastic and complete makeover, and not just from her Armani outfits to Ghagra Cholis to look like a firebrand from Kutch. She would also have to work seriously on her Gujarati accent to sound credible. However, there’s a lot more to her character than clothes and diction. Deepika’s character Leela has a peppery tongue.