Keeping 'Sanju' out of this discussion, if there are two movies that have done extraordinarily well at the box-office and broken most records in recent years, it's Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmaavat' and S.S. Rajamouli's 'Baahubali: The Beginning' and 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion'. 

While the former opened floodgates of controversy ever since the reports of its release started doing the rounds and gave us a magnanimity of Alauddin Khilji in Ranveer Singh, the latter gave us Prabhas who is probably now known as Baahubali and not by his real name.   

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However, had things worked the way Bhansali wanted, then people would have addressed Prabhas as both Baahubali and Maharawal Ratan Singh, the character that Shahid Kapoor played in 'Padmaavat'. 

Reportedly, after the insane success of 'Baahubali: The Beginning', Bhansali offered the role of Maharawal Ratan Singh to Prabhas in the movie that was then titled 'Padmavati'. Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh were signed for the role of the goddess queen Rani Padmavati and the cruel king Alauddin Khilji. Bhansali was so impressed with Prabhas' performance as Baahubali that he decided to cast his at the courageous Maharawal Ratan Singh.   

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According to a report in Quint, Prabhas who was then working on 'Baahubali 2' was also open to work with Bhansali but once he heard the narration and the his role, he declined from being a past of Bhansali's ambitious project. Since Maharawal Ratan Singh did not have a 'meaty role', Prabhas felt that his 5 years long hard work and the image he built will lose its impact. In fact, he was looking for a character that was as strong as that of Deepika Padukone.

Honestly, has Prabhas taken up the role, he could have fulfilled his dream of becoming a king. But, he declined the offer and the role went to Shahid Kapoor who did a brilliant job as the brave, fearless and courageous Rajput king.  

Source: The Quint