Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor made their acting debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya, back in 2007. The movie, which is based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1848 short story White Nights, is very close to the filmmaker’s heart. While talking about the purity of the actors he has worked with, SLB stated that when RK was performing in the climax of the film, for nearly seven minutes, there was silence on the set. He also recalled getting emotional on watching the actor perform.
During a conversation with The Hollywood Reported India, Sanjay Leela Bhansali spoke about giving his actors the freedom to play their characters in their way. This is when he recalled the innumerable moments between him and Ranbir Kapoor in the climax of Saawariya. “It’s one of the favorite pieces of mine of what an actor can do.. of 7 minutes of complete silence. The way he performed, magic in one shot. And I would sit there and just cry and watch him because I realized he was an actor. There’s a good boy, bad boy, nice person, bad person nothing. He is a great actor,” the filmmaker stated.
He further added that an artist should never be good or bad. The art should be pure and the fact that the fountain from where it is stemming and coming is that pure. Because according to him, that purity will reach the audience. In the same interview, he spoke highly of Alia Bhatt and how she transformed herself into Gangubai for Gangubai Kathiawadi despite being doubtful about it at first. The Bajirao Mastani maker stated that the National Award-winning actress didn’t know if she would be able to live up to his expectations as she didn’t know the character.
But once she got into it and ‘flew into the role’. the Jigra actress got so engrossed in her character that even today, she sometimes talks like her, stated Bhansali. “It’s so much a part of it and it’s so beautiful,” he added. Meanwhile, on the work front, Bhansali is all set to work with Ranbir Kapoor after 18 years, along with Alia and Vicky Kaushal in Love And War releasing on the big screens in March 2026.
