Prabhas is no longer interested in projecting himself as a Telugu actor. And why should he? After Baahubali—and never mind the underwhelming response to his last pan-India release Saaho— Prabhas is building himself as a national superstar .And for this his films need Bollywood’s A-listers to be paired opposite.

In Ashwin Nag’s film Prabhas is paired with Deepika Padukone.The hunt for an A-lister heroine opposite Prabhas in Om Raut’s Adipurush is now on. Sources say Deepika was the first choice to play Sita opposite Prabhas’ Rama.

“But she’s already doing Ashwin Nag’s film with Prabhas. They can’t be paired in two back-to-back films,” says a source close to Prabhas.

At the same time actresses like Rakul Preet Singh, Kiara Advani and Pooja Hegde who have worked in Telugu cinema can’t into Sita’s mould.

“It’s a problem. Deepika was the perfect choice. No other A-lister seem to fit into Sita’s role,” says the source.