Sanjay snipped Deepika, Ranbir prem kahaani

By: Upala KBR, Mid-Day
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone saga was never going to be like a Romeo-Juliet saga but this sweet love story would"ve lasted longer, had it been allowed to blossom.

But the split came suddenly, abruptly, without warning. Sources from the industry allege that it was Ranbir"s director Sanjay Leela Bhansali who snipped this prem kahaani in the bud.

One would think that Bhansali brought the curtains down on this romance because he didn"t want his Saawariya hero associating with the Om Shanti Om girl. But the fact that the young lovers belonged to rival camps had little to do with the split.

An insider from the Bhansali camp says, “ Sanjay did not want Ranbir to come in the spotlight for any other reason but the film. He wanted the focus on Saawariya.

During Ranbir"s sister Riddhima"s wedding, the director had given strict instructions to Rishi and Neetu not to allow the media any access to the newbie."

A source close to the Kapoors sheds some more light on the chapter, “When things started getting serious between Ranbir and Deepika, Bhansali had a chat with Neetu and Rishi Kapoor and told them it was in the best interests of the film if the duo didn"t see each other anymore.

Bhansali wanted Saawariya to be the focus. He felt that if their romance was in the spotlight, the film would get side-tracked."

Caught unawares

A friend of the couple reveals, “Ranbir just stopped calling her and returning her calls one fine day. Deepika didn"t know what hit her."

The friend goes on to add, “Even if Bhansali had done not interfered, Ranbir and Deepika would"ve split eventually. They are very different people."

Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika, who is now back with old beau Nihar Pandya, were unavailable for comment.