Patna, Dec. 15: Don't be surprised if you bump into actors Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone or Shahid Kapoor in Vaishali early next year.

They will be there in February for the shooting of a historical movie, Padmavati.

Some scenes of the movie will be shot at the historical Vaishali Garh, around 35km northwest of Hajipur, the district headquarters town of Vaishali. The movie, a joint venture of film director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, is based on the life of the queen of erstwhile Chittor.

Bhansali's staff have already booked a hotel in Hajipur, around 20km north of Patna. Shooting will start in mid-February and the movie is set for release later in 2017. The staff has also approached the district administration, police and tourism officials for approval of the film's shooting.

A formal request letter had been sent to the offices of the Vaishali district magistrate and the superintendent of police, seeking security for the actors and the film crew. But Hajipur sadar additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rasheed Zaman, when approached for comments, said today: "We have not yet received any request letter from the authorities concerned for providing security to the crew members. If we get a formal request letter, we will certainly look into it."

Efforts to contact Vaishali district magistrate Pratibha Patil and superintendent of police Rajesh Kumar for comments proved futile as they were busy in a meeting.

A source in the district administration said that members of the planned movie's research and production team visited Hajipur a couple of days ago and inquired about the support they required for shooting of the film on queen Padmavati, who sacrificed her life for the self-esteem of Chittor Garh.

The source said that parts of a battle between Rana Ratan Sen of Chittor Garh and Sultan Alluddin Khilji would be shot in the area surrounding Vaishali Garh. Deepika will play the role of Padmavati, who along with 1,600 other queens died by performing jauhar (self-immolation).

News about shooting of the upcoming movie has spread like wild fire in the area. After all it's not every day that actors come here for shooting. The last time was in September 2003 when Suniel Shetty, Johnny Lever and Mahesh Manjrekar had come for the shooting of Padmashri Lalu Prasad Yadav in which Lalu Prasad made a guest appearance. The movie was shot at 1 Aney Marg when Lalu's wife, Rabri Devi, was chief minister.

Bhavesh Upadyaya, a practicing lawyer and resident of Ufraul village said: "The residents of Vaishali are thrilled over reports that scenes of the movie, Padmavati, will be shot here."

Vaishali, the seat of the world's first democracy, is also the birth place of Amrapali, who, according to Indian mythology, was so beautiful that she even drew the attention of lord Buddha when she crossed the river Ganga. Vaishali Garh, a historical site, is under the Archaeological Survey of India's control.