Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's association extends beyond the films they've collaborated on. `They meet socially (last at the Bachchans' Diwali bash). He counts her as one of the few friends he has in the industry. But that's it. There's been no talk of working together on Padmavati,` says a source close to SLB.

That puts paid to rumours and reports that the two will be teaming up. According to the source, there is no scope at all to include another actress in a leading role or a special song, as is being reported.

`The conflict in the plot hinges on the three characters - Rani Padmavati (Deepika Padukone), her husband Raja Rawal Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor) and Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh), who falls for Padmavati. Aditi Rao Hydari plays Khilji's wife. Besides that, there is no other female character,` adds the source.

In fact, at one point of time Aishwarya was the prime contender to play Padmavati. But when Ranveer Singh came on board as Khilji, the entire casting had to change. Will they work together in the near future? By all accounts, SLB has a love story set in Kashmir, for which he only wants ARB.

Did you know?
Aishwarya was supposed to do the item song Ram Chahe Leela in Ram-Leela (which Priyanka Chopra eventually did), but she didn't like the lyrics.