Sanjay Leela Bhansali is often misjudged as a strict taskmaster who has a stern face while making his actors ace their roles in his projects.
But the Bollywood insiders who have been up close and personal with the legendary filmmaker confessed that SLB also has a great sense of humor. In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, the Heeramandi helmer said that his best jokes come when he is angry.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali says Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are ‘witty’
While talking to Pinkvilla, Sanjay Leela Bhansali revealed that he is a humor-loving person. He stated, “I enjoy my laughter; I enjoy my one-liners. I enjoy people cracking a good joke, I enjoy people who have straight-faced humor happening. I think humor is so important, to be able to laugh and my best jokes are when I am angry. That’s when the classic one-liners come out and everyone is running to find a corner to go and laugh,” the Heeramandi filmmaker said adding that this is the actual atmosphere on the set.
He further added that everybody gets angry but as long as you can see the humorous or the light side of it, it’s great. “If you can laugh and smile then the work is great fun. So, in spite of all the drama, I enjoy my work because I laugh a lot and I make people laugh a lot,” he revealed.
Watch the interview below:
When asked what kind of comedy films he enjoys, the filmmaker revealed something that doesn’t have to be slapstick but intelligent. Giving an example of Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, he said, “They’re very funny, witty and sharp. There’s humor in every line that they can make you laugh. So, that kind of humor which has got intelligence and has got a certain amount of wit about it,” he shared adding that actor Mehmood’s 1974 movie Do Phool is one of his favorites.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali reveals Salman Khan’s observation about his films
In the same interview, he stated that he had been told that he should attempt to make a comedy movie, but SLB isn’t too sure about it. “One thing on my list of films to make is that one should attempt to make people smile a lot more than they smile in my film,” he exclaimed.
SLB also went back in time and recalled an observation of Salman Khan about him. He divulged, “Salman once told me that if one sees your film, unanimously if the whole Gaiety Galaxy is sitting together, you’ll only hear one ‘hmmh’ come out. That’s the amount of laughter you give in your film,” she concluded adding that he should make one comedy film for which he would need a lot of courage.
Bhansali’s OTT debut TV series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar was a massive success and has a stellar cast of Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Segal Mehta, and Taha Shah Badussha, among others.
