Padmaavat releases; brings lovebirds Deepika and Ranveer's 'separation' to an end

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, or should we say archnemeses Alauddin Khilji and Padmavati, were spotted walking hand in hand at the special cast and crew screening of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat. It has been a while since the lovebirds were told to stay away from each other and the gesture came as a pleasant surprise.

Ranveer and Deepika met just once before the screening day, but now that the film has been cleared for release, and the paid previews of the film took place on Thursday at whopping prices, the couple decided to walk holding hands.

“Ranveer was walking a little behind Deepika, when the actress saw the cameras and immediately put her hand behind and asked Ranveer to hold it. Ranveer promptly did so and they walked into the screening hall. It was rather surprising for the paparazzi as well to see that Deepika made that gesture,” says a source who was present at the venue.

But then Deepika and Ranveer had celebrated the actress’ birthday in Sri Lanka earlier this month. “The filmmakers had basically issued a diktat for them to not be together for the sake of the film. They were not lovers in the film and Khilji is basically infatuated by Padmavati and such things could have hampered the way the audience looked at the film. But now there is nothing to worry since the film is in theatres,” says an insider.

The special screening of Padmaavat also interestingly saw Shahid Kapoor’s wife Mira, mother Neelima Azeem, half-brother Ishaan, father Pankaj Kapoor and stepmom Supriya Pathak along with producer Tutu Sharma and his actress-wife Padmini Kolhapure in attendance.

— Sanskriti Media