It is a chilly afternoon at filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s work pad in Juhu. Soaked in the sunlight streaming from his window, Sanjay is ready to share what is on his mind .
Q: You look happy?
Sanjay Leela Bhansali: I’m on top of the world, the social media is buzzing with congratulatory messages and my phone has not stopped ringing since the release of the film.
I wake up in the morning and rush to the office because I don’t know what to do with myself. My team and I have been working tirelessly for more than a year without a single break that now we are getting withdrawal symptoms without Bajirao in our lives.
Q: When you were shooting the film, did you envision the film would shape up the way it has?
SLB: No, I don’t think any filmmaker can. We all aspire perfection not that we accomplish it but yes, the passion was always there, in every shot and every scene. Every day I took one shot at a time and gave it my best without compromise. I indulged the scene and lingered on till I was certain I could not add any further to it. This way, I was assured of my team and I giving our best.
Q: How do you choose your team in every film?
SLB: I like somebody I take him. I have to see conviction in their eyes. I worked with cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee in Guzarish and repeated him, I worked with art director Nitin Chandrakanat Desai in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, his assistants asked me to sign them for Bajirao Mastani and I submitted to their enthusiasm. I had worked with costume designer Anju Modi in Ram Leela and repeated her for Mastani.
I work 18 hours a day and anyone who wants to work with me has to work harder. Anju had ten options for every scene for Deepika and me to pick the best. I broke and built Aina Mahal again and again and my art director obliged uncomplainingly.
Q: Writer Prakash Kapadia wrote the screenplay of Bajirao Mastani 12 years ago, did you have to rewrite it?
SLB: Not at all, hardly anything has been altered from the original script, except that we have edited the narrative to make the film shorter.
That is the beauty of a subject like this – the story and the emotion can never be outdated. I fine tune all my scripts excessively, more so this time because there are so many locations and characters. The script had a soul 12 years ago and the soul was retained 12 years later.
Q: How difficult was it balancing three superstars on the sets and on screen?
SLB: Everybody was given a narration and everybody was well acquainted with their characters before the shooting commenced. There was no tension, rivalry among the actors and we always sat and ate together, nobody complained, nobody sulked. There was no heartache, no obstacles and no untoward incident, Bajirao Mastani in that sense was a blessed project.
Q: You once told me that you cannot watch your set being dismantled; do you still feel as anguished?
SLB: It is the most painful part of the creative process. I was heart broken when they had to dismantle the set of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam but I’m changing, learning detachment, I have stopped anguishing over what I cannot control.
Now before they break my set I stroll on the set and bid farewell to every pillar and corner. It is not easy even now to let go but I’m trying. Once a film reaches the cinema halls it is no more yours. It belongs to the audience, there is loss but there is gain too.
Q: How do you look back on your association with your actors – are they your muse or your friends?
SLB: Hmm…I’d say I find it stimulating to work with the best minds and in the process when we cherish each other it is precious. I did one film with Shah Rukh Khan (Devdas), Amitabh-Rani (Black), Hrithik Roshan (Guzaarish), two films with Salman Khan (Khamoshi, HDDCS), Ranveer-Deepika (Ramleela, Bajirao Mastani) and three with Aishwarya Rai (HDDCS, Devdas, Guzaarish) and I’m bonded with all for ever.
Q: You sound peaceful
SLB: I feel calmer. I believe life comes full circle. I had to make Khamoshi in order to make Black and I had to make Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in order to make Ram Leela.
The suffering of Devdas is different from the suffering of Guzaarish and if my father had not made me watch Mughal-E-Azam 18 times I would not have been equipped to make Bajirao Mastani. I’m ready to let go of the fragrance and start my next film, ready to inhabit new characters and new world.
Also Watch: Ranveer Singh on the success of Bajirao Mastani
(Bhawana Somaaya has been writing on cinema for 30 years and is the author of 12 books.)
(This article is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 6 January 2016. It is now being republished to mark Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s birthday.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)