Deepika and Abhishek in Bhansali's next

Deepika Padukone, who is gearing up for release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's “Padmavati”, has been roped in to play poet Amrita Pritam in the director's next venture and Abhishek Bachchan will star opposite her as Sahir Ludhianvi, reports Hindustan Times.

Touted to be the love story of Pritam and lyricist-poet Ludhianvi, the film will be Deepika's fourth venture with Bhansali. Abhishek is likely to essay Sahir's role in the movie.

A Quint report quoted a source as saying, “Abhishek has begun preparing for his Sahir biopic. He will begin rigorous interaction with Sanjay Bhansali after 'Padmavati' releases. But his groundwork on Sahir has begun in right earnest. He is regularly listening to the immortal repertoire of Sahir's lyrics from Guru Dutt's 'Pyasa' to Yash Chopra's 'Trishul'.”

Bhansali was earlier in talks with Shah Rukh Khan for Sahir's role.

Meanwhile, the family of Amrita Pritam claimed that the producers of the upcoming movie have not secured any permission from them regarding the project as yet. Over two years ago, the family had threatened to move court and even sent a legal notice to another producer who had planned a similar movie, saying it had refused to approve the project even at the inception stage. The film's producer Ashi Dua and director Jasmeet Reen had then approached Irrfan Khan and Priyanka Chopra for the roles, but the movie has not seen the light of the day.