‘I Feel Safe on Sets Because I’m Not Being Myself’: Alia Bhatt to SLB

Sanjay Leela Bhansali reveals the hardest scenes to shoot in 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'.

Alia Bhatt and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

Pen Studios has released the second part of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s interview with Gangubai Kathiawadi’s lead actor Alia Bhatt. In the clip, Bhansali talks about the toughest scenes to shoot in the film, tells Alia how he tried to inspire her for the ‘telephone scene’, and reveals he only makes films that he can relate to.

Talking about how he finds the inspiration behind his films, the filmmaker said, “I think inspiration comes from people but if it doesn’t connect to me in a personal way- if Bajirao’s story doesn’t connect to me in a personal way- I won’t make it. Even if it’s a perfect script, well-written, it has to have something of ‘me’ in it.”

“Bajirao was very fascinating to me and then Khilji was very fascinating to me. Then in Guzaarish, Ethan was fascinating. Then I went into 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, which is a tribute to all those Bhuleshwar days, where you know, chaat pe (on the roof) family is there…joint family and all that. It was a tribute to the Bhansali mad family.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Filmmaker

Alia recalled an interview wherein Bhansali had said that he felt safe on a film set as a child, adding, “I connected to that when I saw it because I feel the same thing.” When asked why, Alia said, “Because I’m not being myself. I’m living in another person’s shoes. It’s only that. For some reason I feel safe with the noise and living another life.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali also had a message for his younger self who directed Khamoshi, “Don’t indulge and be fearless. There are so many places where young directors or new directors feel the pressure of working with a big actor who starts telling them what to do. To not allow anybody to disrespect you. Don’t make a film to get fame or money.”

The filmmaker also named Manorama as his favourite comic actor and Alia Bhatt as his favourite actor. “What is your most difficult scene to shoot in Gangubai?” Alia asked.

“Every scene with you was difficult, especially the one where you came out and stood at the door for the first time.. That first time you call, are you calling the gods to come and help you, to save you? Are you calling a friend? And the look on your face because that is where everything flowed. When the gods didn’t answer you and a client came and then you fixed in your mind that I’ll get back at life.”

Bhansali had earlier told Film Companion that he had ‘exploded’ on the sets of Gangubai Kathiawadi, “It was my way of giving those vibes to her, of feeling the nerves of calling the mother, of getting the anger filled, and at what note it should explode. I never told her."

Talking about the scene, he said, “That is where the audience got the loneliness of Gangubai. That was the most crucial scene.”

Alia and Bhansali also revealed that her character wasn’t supposed to fall during ‘Dholida’, “Look at the power you generated. When you went and fell, nobody moved and you took off and the cameraman held and the dhol waala came at the right time and till you went away, it was all in the power that you generate.”