Development Bhansali conceived
Ram-Leela while directing
Khamoshi: The Musical. The latter was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful, leaving Bhansali with no money to fund
Ram-Leela. He next directed
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam instead, which was also set in Gujarat like Ram-Leela. Feeling that directing two films set in the same place would be repetitive, Bhansali waited. He intended the film to be a tribute to Gujarat, saying, "I am Gujarati at heart. I love Gujarat's music, culture and food and I want to take all this back to the people." The film was dedicated to Bhansali's mother Leela. According to him,
Ram-Leela was his "most violent film" at that point, while the filmmaking style was similar to his previous directional ventures
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and
Devdas. He clarified that
Ram-Leela is not related to
Rama or
Krishna and that the character Ram does not depict the Hindu god. Speaking about the influence of his childhood environment on the film, Bhansali said that his family members used to speak "the most outrageously uninhibited things as though they were the most natural". He felt that the language heard by him were idioms for the current generation, who speak directly. Bhansali found it "very liberating to explore the union of body and mind in a love-relationship" and felt that it wasn't enough "to show a boy and a girl looking at one another when they fall in love". The lovers don't have sex together in the film as Bhansali felt the importance of showing the lovers "united completely in death". Terming
Romeo and Juliet as "the mother of all love stories", Bhansali wanted to make a different story with it, one that was not yet explored in cinematic adaptations. While changing many aspects of the film, Bhansali kept the theme of "misunderstanding between star-crossed lovers", while transposing them to another level. The idea of a feud between two families that destroys everything really appealed to him. According to Bhansali, "the whole execution of Shakespeare is more flirtatious and voluptuous" and he felt his film was the best interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. When asked about the extensive violence and guns in the film, he said that violence is "an integral part" of Romeo and Juliet, also stating how important it was for a filmmaker "to get out of his comfort zone".
Cast and characters Pakistani actor
Imran Abbas was the first choice for Ram, he rejected the role due to "contractual obligations". Bhansali offered the role to
Sushant Singh Rajput, but he had to turn down the role over scheduling issues.
Kareena Kapoor and
Ranveer Singh were cast in the lead roles in the film. Singh later confirmed the news and conveyed his excitement on working with Kapoor. Bhansali was impressed with Singh's performance in
Band Baaja Baaraat and cast him for the film. However, Kapoor walked out of the film 10 days before the shoot began and instead did
Dharma Productions's romantic comedy
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. With already-complete sets and an approaching filming schedule, Bhansali approached
Priyanka Chopra who agreed to do the film. Chopra was officially cast for Leela in July 2012 and was to start filming in August. However, before the filming started Bhansali brought
Deepika Padukone in the film. After this unpleasant experience with Bhansali, Chopra stopped talking to Bhansali, as confirmed by the CEO of Bhansali Productions. After wrapping the filming of his previous film
Lootera, Singh confirmed that he was signed on for the film in August 2012. In an interview Bhansali revealed that he met Padukone with the script while she was ill; impressed with her beauty and watery eyes, he cast her.
Richa Chadda was reportedly signed on to play a significant role, cast by Shruti Mahajan and Parag Mehta. Although she initially denied the claim, Chadda later agreed to play the role; she was not given the entire script until a month of filming. For Chadda's role, Bhansali wanted someone "with a dusky complexion and Indian features", hence she was selected. Bhansali ordered Chadda to watch
Mirch Masala to prepare for her look, which was inspired by Smita Patil. Chadda also attempted to mimic Patil's acting. Barkha Bisht Sengupta, a television actress, plays a supporting role. Sengupta was asked by Bhansali to forget acting for her role.
Gulshan Devaiah was reported to play the role of the antagonist Bhavani. Devaiah said that his character was from the
Jadeja clan and has "enough shades of grey" and was "nothing" like he had done in his career at that point. Devaiah felt that other than the basic frame,
Ram-Leela wasn't similar to Romeo and Juliet. Singh, who plays a Gujarati boy, had to learn some Gujarati abuses as well as gain muscle for his character in the film. Singh enrolled for a 12-week transformation programme with Stevens, going on a strict protein diet which involved eating every 2 hours. He managed to get the required look in 6 weeks. He was put on a diet of fish, broccoli, turkey and green tea and was prevented from eating roti, rice or sweets. Singh said, "I had to work out one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. I would work out at 5 in the morning, start shooting from 9, shoot for the entire day till 6 pm and then return to workout for an hour again." He felt that the fact he didn't consume alcohol more than once or twice a year helped him to achieve the result before the required date. Padukone was shown wearing a 30 kg ghagra with a 50-metre 'ghera' in the first look of
Ram-Leela. Padukone felt that the film was "tough" for her, stating that it was "mentally, physically, and emotionally demanding" for her. She attributes Bhansali's perfectionist outlook as the reason, while admitting she became emotional on the set. For the song Nagada Song Dhol, Padukone had to learn Garba. According to her, the Garba performed in the film was a folk one, rather than the commercial ones often played. Bhansali ordered Padukone and Singh to spend time together to develop their romantic chemistry. Padukone spent more than 12 hours a day for the workshop, which involved partying, watch films and attending premieres together with Singh. Since the two weren't familiar with each other, Bhansali wanted them to socialise. There were rumours that
Madhuri Dixit would be performing an
item number for the film followed by speculation that
Aishwarya Rai had been signed.
Priyanka Chopra eventually featured in the song. She confirmed the news, saying that she "loved the song from the time [she] first heard it" and she "was challenged to push [her] boundaries." Chopra had to wear full sleeves to hide the muscles she had developed for playing
Mary Kom Production design Wasiq Khan was the production designer for
Ram-Leela. Khan finished working on
Rowdy Rathore, a film produced by Bhansali, when he was called for
Ram-Leela. According to Khan, Bhansali sometimes took 3 to 5 hours for one shot to achieve "perfection". Since Bhansali wanted to focus on Gujarat's architecture and royal havelis, the film was to be "grand and larger than life". He said that the challenge was to make the film both a romance and action film as the film would have a "rustic feel and texture" depicting action scenes, with many people fighting. Khan found it hard to maintain his realistic designs with Bhansali's "grand sets, big shots, and beautiful costumes".
Ram-Leelas design and narrative were influenced by the "craft traditions and folk culture" of houses in the Kutch region of Gujarat. Khan found the experience of creating sets for
Ram-Leela "different" from his previous films. Bhansali and Khan spent about 2–3 months observing locations and discussed references and drawings. According to Khan, despite the decision to shoot half of the film on the sets and the other half in real locations, 90 per cent of the film ended up shot on sets due to difficulties to shoot action sequences in real locations. Some of the sets were created in Reliance and
Film City. Interior sets were created at Reliance while an exterior set used to show the mohallas, streets and markets was set in Film City. Khan and Bhansali travelled through villages in Gujarat and got references from the lifestyle, costumes and markets, which were used for putting together the sets. Designer
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who previously worked with Bhansali on
Black, was hired initially for the costumes of the leading lady, but was later replaced by Anju Modi. Bhansali asked Basu to create a trial look; impressed with it, he chose the design for Singh's character Ram. Ram's look was inspired by Rabari tribesmen. Ram was a character who was "exposed to the world" yet resides in a village in Kutch, making his clothes have duality. According to Basu, "for every ripped jeans or boots he sports, you also see him flaunting a kediyu and kohl-rimmed eyes." The jeans worn by Singh in "Tattad Tattad" were personally worked on by Basu; she ripped the jeans and added the embellishments herself. After Modi was finalised as the costume designer, she was sent the script for studying the character of Leela. According to Modi, Leela's costumes changed as the film progressed: "the attire becomes more mature and darker and she’s shown in closed neck, long blouses." For the song 'Lahu Munh Lag Gaya', antique Kutch fabric was woven in the skirt worn by Padukone that showed through. For the promotional poster, Modi created a 30 kilo lehenga. Modi also designed Chopra's costume, speaking of the difference with Padukone's costume, she said, "Priyanka’s character is that of a mujrewali or courtesan... since the characteristics of a mujrewali are understood – they are sexy, desirable – the outfit I made for Priyanka was very fitted to the body but still had to look Gujarati." The story of the film is set in
Gujarat. In Udaipur, Singh shot a song sequence in freezing cold water for about 45 minutes. Padukone was injured on set; however she had to continue shooting as an expensive set was put up at
Film City for the song "Nagada Sang Dhol." Sanjay Leela Bhansali had set up a gym on the sets in Filmcity Mumbai for the lead actor
Ranveer Singh to not be late for the shooting and to avoid any delays for the movie. The budget of the film has been estimated to be between and . For the song 'Tattad Tattad', Singh had 30 trials for his costume, after which Bhansali suggested that he shoot shirtless. While shooting the song Ram Chahe Leela with Chopra, she rehearsed the Indian choreography within four days and completed her shoot. In February 2013, the cinematographer Ravi Varman injured himself on set and suffered a fracture on his hand, leading to shooting being postponed till April. When asked about why
Ram-Leela was planned to be shot almost entirely in real locations and not sets, Bhansali said, "street rowdyism and gulli-mein-hungama, the desert and the lake" were elements present in the film. He contrasted the planned shooting with that of his previous venture
Saawariya, which was entirely shot on sets constructed in a studio. Labelling outdoor shooting as "a big challenge" he added that shooting with different kinds of architecture was "interesting". He felt that putting the lead pair in a real space was "liberating" and that he reacted to spaces "very differently", while noting that parts of
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and
Guzaarish were shot on real locations. Despite the intent to shoot the film in real locations, most of the film was shot on sets due to difficulties. ==Soundtrack==