Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has worked with big stars like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. Despite his fondness for his actors and characters, he reserves the term “friend” only for Salman. Even though they may have had differences, Salman always checks on him and advises him when Bhansali makes mistakes.
In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Bhansali mentioned, “I love my actors. With actors, your relationship should not be just of friends; you have to love your actors, you have to love your characters that you’re creating. The only person I’m still friends with is Salman.” The filmmaker said that even though their film Inshallah was shelved, Salman did not stop talking to him. He said, “Even if a project didn’t happen, he stands by me. He’ll call me, he’ll care for me. ‘Are you okay, bro? You’ve goofed up, you’ve messed up.’”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali said he appreciates Salman Khan’s humour, and their limited film collaborations don’t bother Salman. Bhansali considers this a sign of true friendship. Despite any work-related ups and downs, they stay in touch regularly. “That is what a true friend is all about. At work, we may have had our moments and things might not have fallen into place, but after one month, he’s calling me, and I’m calling him, and we talk. That is a friend. In that sense, I’m fortunate enough to have that friend who, once in 6 months, we’ll speak, and we’ll start exactly from where we left off. But mostly, I love all of them when I’m working with them,” he said.
Salman Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali have worked in films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Khamoshi: The Musical and Saawariya.
In a recent chat with Galatta Plus, Bhansali opened up on why he doesn’t always repeat actors in his films, describing it as an organic process rooted deep within.
“I’ve worked with wonderful actors. Ranbir ho, Ranveer ho, Deepika ho, Madhuri Dixit, Amit ji.. all wonderful actors. Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Nana Patekar and Seema Biswa – one of my all-time favourite actors. And now, in this one, Sonakshi Sinha and Richa Chadha. I feel that I have a great equation with each one. I sometimes feel that when I don’t repeat them, they get upset about it.” They say, ‘we gave so much to Sanjay for this Film, why not this one?’ But I feel sometimes the casting is very organic, it has to come from deep within. We’re not here to build relationships. I respect you. I love you for what you created for me – you have acted, you’ve given your time and your hard work and you have created magic on the screen,” said the filmmaker.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi was released on Netflix on May 1.
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