The year has started on a good note for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who has been honoured with the Padma Shri. “It means your work has been recognised by the Government. It just spurs me to work harder. I’ve been working for 24 years making films. I started by directing songs. So what a journey it has been for me.”
The filmmaker says that he doesn’t have many ambitions. “I just make my films. Whatever I get in terms of success I accept, but I don’t sit back to enjoy it,” SLB says. Ask him how much of his own personality goes into his films, and he says, “The way I make my film is the kind of person I am. If today the Government of India has connected with my cinema I feel very reassured, grateful and proud. But it shouldn’t make me arrogant.”
While his films have garnered lots of accolades, there are also some who don’t connect to the opulence of his vision. “The disapproval is also important. There is a certain style I have of putting the story across. Many like it, others don’t,” he says.
He is also known to isolate himself while he is seeped in the creative process of making films Sanjay doesn’t deny that. “I find it very difficult to socialise. But I meet a lot people while making my films. Each film creates a family. After it’s complete, the family is dismantled. That’s life. I’ve learnt to enjoy my own company. I’ve realised my work is my life.”
Point out to him that suffering has been a constant in all his protagonists and the filmmaker says, “I feel suffering and pain are important. And I don’t just address the question of pain, I show how my heroes overcome that pain.” His next Bajirao Mastani doesn’t break from the pattern either. “It’s a very intense love story and yes, in many ways Bajirao is also a man who suffers with passionate intensity. It’s the dilemma of a man in love.”
He feels he has changed a lot as a person from his first film Khamoshi to his latest. “I’m calmer. During my days of struggle there were too many obstacles. Today I am no longer disturbed by the obstacles. I’m far more at peace now. Cinema is my life.”
