Actor Ranveer Singh on Monday said his wife and frequent collaborator Deepika Padukone was pregnant with their first child during the shooting of Rohit Shetty's "Singham Again".

The couple, who have co-starred in movies such as "Ram-Leela" and "Bajirao Mastani", became parents to a baby girl on September 8.

At the trailer launch of the multi-starrer film "Singham Again", Ranveer said the movie marks the debut of their child, whom he fondly called 'baby Simmba', in a reference to his character's name in Shetty's ambitious cop franchise.

"There are so many stars in this film. So, let me tell you this is my baby's debut, baby Simmba. Deepika was pregnant during the shooting (of 'Singham Again')" he told reporters.

Deepika gave the event a miss as she was busy with the newborn, he added.

"I am on night duty, so I have come," Ranveer said, before exclaiming "Mulgi jhaali re! ('It's a girl!' in Marathi)".

"Singham Again" is fronted by Ajay Devgn, who will reprise his role of the tough cop Bajirao Singham.

The film, set to be released on Diwali, will also see Ranveer return as inspector Sangram "Simmba" Bhalerao and Akshay Kumar as DCP Veer Sooryavanshi.

Deepika, Arjun Kapoor and Tiger Shroff are the new additions to the cop universe, comprising Devgn's "Singham" movies, Ranveer's "Simmba" and the Akshay-starrer "Sooryavanshi".

"Lady Singham, Simmba, and baby Simmba wish you a happy Diwali in advance. Please enjoy the trailer, celebrate Diwali with family, we need your love and blessings," Ranveer said.

At the box office, "Singham Again" will face off with horror comedy "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3", directed by Anees Bazmee.

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