When Sanjay Leela Bhansali was asked, “Can you ever make a realistic film?”

• Sanjay Leela Bhansali turned 60 on February 24.
• He is known for his larger-than-life films such as Bajirao Mastani and Devdas.
• He loves documentaries and parallel cinema, and does not care about the film industry’s opinion.

On February 24, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali turned 60. The National Film Award-winning director is renowned for his outsized movies, including Devdas (2002) starring Shah Rukh Khan and Bajirao Mastani (2015) starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. In a previous interview, a question on Sanjay’s ability to create “realistic films” was posed.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali stated in the interview that he enjoyed both mainstream and independent films, as well as documentaries. The filmmaker also mentioned in the same interview from 2016 that he didn’t care what the film business thought. He claimed that just because a movie bombs at the box office does not indicate that the director or star have lost their touch.

The director had responded, “Maybe,” when asked if he would “ever produce a realistic film,” to Filmfare in 2016. I develop my own worlds for my movies. That’s how I always do things. My audience enjoys becoming lost in the universe I build. I have to put in much more effort and be much more imaginative than others in order to build a different reality. I feel more a part of this imaginary world than any other. But if I want to produce a straightforward movie tomorrow about following a woman on the road, I’ll do it. Every genre has my admiration. There are numerous reviewers and filmmakers who disregard other genres. I enjoy seeing documentaries, independent films, art houses, and mainstream movies.

Without comparing or ranking anyone, I also expect people to realize that if Anurag Kashyap makes a certain type of movie, SLB also makes a certain type of movie. We must acknowledge the coexistence of Raj Kapoor and Bimal Roy.

Gangubai Kathiawadi, starring Alia Bhatt, was Sanjay’s final motion picture (2022). Recently, Sanjay released the teaser for his eagerly anticipated film, Heeramandi. The program is scheduled to launch on Netflix this year and will be the filmmaker’s first foray into the OTT space. Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sanjeeda Shaikh, and Sharmin Segal feature in the historical drama. The Lahore-based television show centered on the life of the courtesans of the time.

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