Sanjay Leela Bhansali On Pursuing 'Modern Love'

After 20 years as a filmmaker, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has won the National Award for best director. Have his eccentric ways finally been vindicated?

- Saudamini Jain, Photographs By Prabhat Shetty

 

There couldn't be a more apt name for the building Sanjay Leela Bansali calls home : Magnum Opus. The Latin phrase that translates as 'great work' is used to describe larger-than-life epics, and for nearly two decades now, that has been the phrase used to describe the Bhansali's films.

It’s been four months since Bajirao Mastani released – the stunning love story of the Peshwa warrior Bajirao I and his second wife Mastani. Here is some more math: Bhansali had been trying to make the film for 12 years. He managed on the third attempt. After that, it took him a year to make the film, with his team working 20 hours a day. Bajirao Mastani cost `140 crore and earned `357 crore. It won seven National Awards.

So you expect to meet Bhansali glowing with satisfaction. Instead, he looks more tired than ever. “We worked like absolute mazdoor class – how else do you make a film of this scale in a year?” he says, as we settle down at the dining table. To his back is a small balcony, and across the balcony is the sea. “I worked so hard even after the release that I’ve fallen sick.”

Hard work is a recurrent theme in this conversation – it is the answer Bhansali resorts to with nearly every question. “I shoot like I’m never going to take another shot after that. Every centimetre, every millimetre of that screen frame matters to me.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Bhansali’s career as a filmmaker. In 1996, his directorial debut film Khamoshi, although critically acclaimed, flopped. “So I shifted gear and did Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999).” This is the film that is now considered the prototype of the Bhansali school of filmmaking: opulent backdrops, rich costumes and a story filled with longing – presented like high art to mainstream audiences.