“I remember during ‘Devdas,’ people told me that they had seen ‘Devdas’ before, so what would be so different about this one. But I was convinced with the subject, and that is what drove me.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Many people ask me why I chose to remake ‘Devdas.’ I wanted to make a film that celebrated grandeur and grace.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I gave everything I had to give to ‘Devdas.’ I knew I would never make a better love story because there is none.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“When you don’t have to say ‘I love you,’ when you don’t have to prove your love by singing a song, or express it through the body, that’s two souls connecting.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“When I make a film about a physically challenged person, I come away with so much. I learn to value what I have. My survival instinct sharpened after ‘Black’ and ‘Guzaarish.’”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“It’s been a journey of great stress and awakening. I have given my blood sweat and tears to ‘Padmavati.’”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I have been fascinated by Rani Padmavati from my childhood.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“During our childhood, my sister and I had no birthday parties. We would take a packet of sweets to school and distribute it to our class-mates. That was it. We were not allowed to go to parties, either.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Though all festivals are important, this Cannes Festival starts off the season.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“It is absolutely important to balance stars with newcomers so the whole chemistry and ambience between people who have never worked before becomes far more explosive and exciting.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My ‘Devdas’ was a tribute to all the mainstream masters, from Mehboob Khan, K. Asif, and V. Shantaram to Raj Kapoor. I am not saying critics shouldn’t have criticised my film. But they should have judged the film within the genre and format that I had chosen.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“The media should be ready to cover every event at the Oberois’ residence. If Vivek’s dog has dysentery tomorrow, we should be prepared to hear Vivek talk about it on camera for three hours.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“There is dignity in being a celebrity. Let us not lose that dignity.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My soul needs music all the time.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I need music while taking a bath. I need it in the car.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My mother was my pillar of strength.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“The film industry functions on fraternal feelings. If there is a problem, we solve it in-house.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“The first film that I saw of Shammi Kapoor was ‘Bhramachari.’ I instantly fell in love with the film and connected with Shammiji. His style was natural and unique.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Once a film is selected at Cannes, the crossover becomes very easy, thanks to the prestige and dignity it gains at Cannes.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I think caring too much about the economics starts affecting the creative aspect of the film. That is a dangerous process for a filmmaker. He should make his film without having to worry about how much it has cost or how much it will be sold for.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“It is very difficult for anyone to predict how a film will do. It depends on so many things: the mood of the audience, the state of their mind at the time, how they have reacted to the whole treatment.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I don’t want to plan my career. That would be a business plan. Filmmaking is not a business plan.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“What’s life without risks? When I made ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,’ everybody said in India you can never have a husband say that I am uniting my wife with her lover. The male audience would reject it, and it is a male audience and hero-oriented industry.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“You can do a formula film and walk the conventional path, but it may not work at all.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“The multiplexes audience has one way of thinking. When they are all sitting together temperamentally, there is room for a filmmaker to reach out to a far larger audience in a comfortable way.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“The equality of men and women is not possible because both are different. A mountain is a mountain, and a river is a river.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“A man is not capable of giving the way a woman gives. She is stronger. When a woman sacrifices, it lends her grace and beauty.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My mother is special to me. She understands me. She has no expectations from me.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Western music is alien to my ears.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I just wish one of the big American studios had bought ‘Devdas.’ They would have pitched the film for the Oscars in a big way, like Miramax did with the Chinese film ‘Hero.’”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I am distressed when I see news channels saying ‘Devdas’ has let down the country by not getting an Oscar nomination.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I don’t think international cinema is ready to embrace mainstream Indian cinema unconditionally. Even Mira Nair’s ‘Monsoon Wedding’ didn’t get to the Oscars after being nominated for the Golden Globe Awards.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Of course, an Oscar nomination would have added considerably to the film’s business abroad. But it has already made nearly Rs 150 crore. It has done stupendous business overseas. We did a business of Rs 80 crore when we took ‘Devdas’ to Cannes.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I am extremely proud that our cinema is being recognised in the West. I want Indian cinema to get its dignity, not by giving them the kind of films they expect from us, but by making cinema in a way that carries the legacy of the mainstream masters forward.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“’Devdas’ isn’t a real film. It isn’t in the same genre as Mira Nair’s ‘Monsoon Wedding,’ where the camera’s presence is so understated it almost disappears.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I was criticised for making ‘Devdas’ so ostentatious. But stark and realistic cinema isn’t the only real cinema in this country.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“’Ramleela’ is my most violent film.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“With ‘Bajirao Mastani,’ we have created history.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“’Devdas’ is the first Hindi commercial film to be seen at Cannes. And ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ is getting a whole lot of appreciation abroad. I’m pleased.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“The Cannes Film Festival is the biggest, most prestigious film festival in the world. This is where filmmakers are discovered, where futures are made, and the most important films premiered.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I have always chosen subjects which are little different, and not subjects that you see. That challenges me and the actors who work in the project.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Take any movie from ‘Khamoshi’ to ‘Black,’ I was always clear about my subjects.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“People don’t want to always see a comedy or an action film. If the film in a particular genre is made well, then it will see its share of success.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I am trying to pursue excellence.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Think of Hridaynath Mangeshkar’s ‘Mira bhajans.’ I have bought these records three to four times, as I listen to them so often.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“There is no such thing as human perfection, and yet when you hear Lataji sing, you wonder how she sang that song so beautifully, so perfectly. Or, how Kumar Gandharva touched your soul so powerfully.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I’m petrified of facing the camera. Even to shoot for a photograph is an ordeal. But it’s important to break free of your inhibitions at some point in your life.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“As long as what you do reaches out to people, I don’t think there’s any reason to stop yourself from doing anything.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I’ve met quadriplegics who have lost the use of their limbs but not their spirit. They are not dark, defeated people.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“’Jhalak’ was a wonderful experience, but it was important for me to get back to films, since I am a director too.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Bad behaviour on TV is quite nauseating and putting off.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I work like a dog.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I feel it is important to respect contestants on national TV, celebrity or not.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I never believed in birthday parties.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“All the pain, suffering, love, passion, and conflict have made me what I am.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My art completes my life.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Every time I read it, I realised ‘Bajirao Mastani’ must be made. It’s such a powerful screenplay.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“There was no fear of failure when I made ‘Bajirao Mastani.’”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I am a fearless filmmaker.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Audiences want to see something interesting. It doesn’t matter which genre or period it belongs to.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I don’t think the physical resemblance is as important as capturing the soul of the person that the actor is portraying. How much like Charlie Chaplin did Robert Downey Jr. look in ‘Chaplin?’ Did Meryl Steep actually resemble Nora Ephron in ‘Heartburn?’”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Did Robert De Niro actually look like Al Capone in ‘The Untouchables?’ Or did Van Kilmer look like Jim Morrison in ‘The Doors?’ No. It’s the core, the essence of the personality that matters.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I think suffering has always been an incentive for my creativity.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“One can’t allow oneself to be bullied into abandoning one’s dream.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I believe in ‘Black’ as much as I believe in ‘Bajirao Mastani.’”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Friendship and loyalty shouldn’t come in the way of casting.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“If you compromise in the casting it is bound to expose eventually.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I write all my scripts with Salman in mind. He understands me perfectly on the sets.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“If I am aware of my own limitations, then I can work towards overcoming them.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“To me, love means being free of your own bondage and connecting to another soul.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Some of the most beautiful people, to me, are those with the wrong geometry. Mother Teresa is extremely beautiful and not because she is a saint. Her characteristics are very strange, and that is what generates the power she had.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Bollywood works as hard as regional cinema makers.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I have grown up watching films in single screens where people would get up and dance in the aisles. With ‘Rowdy Rathore,’ I want to recreate the same magic.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“After ‘Saawariya,’ I retreated into a shell.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“With ‘Guzaarish’ I went through a catharsis.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I can’t begin to describe how humiliating it is for a law-abiding citizen to be cross-examined in a court of law for a crime he hasn’t committed.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I cannot be casual about my work.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I’m the most fun-loving guy.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“People might think that I’m inaccessible, unapproachable, and dark. In many ways, my characters are uncomfortable to interact with, but that’s not me.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I am the hardest working director.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Show me one director who does not get angry on their assistant for something that has gone wrong. But it is done out of my love. It’s just fun when I tell them to face a wall and stand or kneel down in a corner. It’s not like I want to punish them harshly. It’s not to humiliate; it is to teach.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“It’s pure joy to see some people who’ve never had the chance to live their dream, come on stage, and let loose.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My movies are personal notes of my whole life.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“There was one mistake in ‘Devdas,’ but I won’t ever tell anyone what it was.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I am not indulgent. I think constructing a scene elaborately – with art, costume, and visual drama – is not indulgence. Other people should do it, too.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I love humour, and I can laugh at myself.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Shah Rukh made ‘Devdas’ for me, and I made it for him. He’s special to me, and I think I am special for him. We are and will always be good friends.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Not every work of art connects with the audience.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I faced failure with my first film, ‘Khamoshi.’ All of us have our highs and lows, except Lata Mangeshkar.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“What upset me was that after ‘Saawariya,’ which came after the awards and rewards of ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,’ ‘Devdas’ and ‘Black,’ I was written off, almost hounded out of the industry.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My life revolves around music.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“The first thing I do after I wake up is switch on the music player and the last thing I do before going to sleep is stop it.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“If you take away music from me, I’ll die.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Life is not only about dark nights; it’s also about beautiful, sunshiny mornings.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I was always a flaky child.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“My mind was never into school, and education did not matter to me.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“Every director, actor, and even producer gets angry on the sets. Why am I the only one being singled out for losing my cool or being talked about vis-a-vis my anger?”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I am not popular socially. I am uncomfortable around people.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I never liked being told what to do, so even in school plays, I never liked being an actor.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
“I reveal myself in my movies.”
― Sanjay Leela Bhansali
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