Shivi's Take: Mr. Bhansali

 Shivi's Take: Mr. Bhansali

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a filmmaker known for his huge sets, dramatic lighting, and an over the top elegance that only he can pull off. You see one frame from a Bhansali film and you just know it’s him.

Honestly, I used to think he was just loud cinema. Loud in every sense. Emotionally extra. Visually extra. Always about love and death and longing and women crying in slow motion while wearing twenty five kilo lehengas. I thought maybe he was all style and no soul. And I had heard the stories. Ranbir Kapoor breaking down on the Saawariya set. Actors walking out. People called him difficult. Arrogant. The kind of director who throws a fit if a curtain is not moving the way he wants. I actually respect that type of direction, but I felt skeptical.

So when I found out he was speaking at THR Talkies, I went in expecting a very grumpy and intimidating man in black sunglasses. But what I saw was completely different. He spoke about his childhood, his inspiration, and his experiences. And I sat there thinking about how much all of his movies reflect him as a person. Maybe his films are loud because he is not. At least not emotionally.

As a film student, it is a weird relationship I have with his work. Everything we are taught like subtlety, naturalism, and holding back, he goes against all of it. And yet, you watch a Bhansali film and you feel something. Even when the plot does not work, the emotion punches you. And his women? Oh my god. He gives them rage and power and softness and cruelty, all in the same frame.

I have to talk about Gangubai Kathiawadi. It is my favorite of his works. Maybe because it is not just grand, it is intimate. It feels personal. Alia Bhatt completely blew my mind in that. The way she carried the weight of every scene. The white sarees. The speeches. I have watched it more times than I should probably admit.

Then came Heeramandi. The web series no one expected to be that detailed, that political, that stunning. Every frame felt like a painting, but it was not just pretty for the sake of it. There is one scene, Aditi Rao Hydari’s dance, absolute perfection. And the fountain scene? I was in shock. In the best way. Heeramandi shows Bhansali understands excess but also control, precision, and actual storytelling.

When I watched Gangubai, I noticed one thing about his sets. They were loud, of course, but also very closed. Does that make sense? You could understand the emotions through that closed off feeling, which made me realize how important set design really is. If it is even slightly off, the message it sends can change completely.

During that talk, which you can check out on YouTube, you can actually spot me, although it was not my greatest look, I realized something. Every filmmaker who works with such disciplined elegance speaks differently from others. I understand how some directors work in chaos. But I know I cannot be one of them. Which is why I get him. I get his work.

He also talked about one shoot where a woman in the far background did not look quite right and it bothered him. That might sound silly to some people, but it made perfect sense to me. When you have a vision and one small element feels off, you feel it. So I get why people call him difficult. But if I am being honest, I think I would be like that too.

Anyway, I think SLB’s work is really interesting to study and fun to peel apart. Every scene has something cool to observe and think about. If you ignore the Bollywood rumours, of course.

Thank you for reading