WHY SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI MAKES HIT FILMS

‘Sanjayji is so spontaneous that you come to know immediately whether the dialogue or the script has touched him or not

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.’What is the secret to the success of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s films Devdas, Black, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat, Gangubai Kathiawadi?Prakash Kapadia, 60, has been working with Bhansali for 20 years now, dreaming up beautiful scenes and penning dramatic dialogues to ensure his movies charm audiences.

Kapadia tells “One day, I reached Bhansali’s office and he told me to give him the script of Padmaavat. So I asked him to give me 10 minutes. Then I went to him and narrated the entry of Khilji. He was so happy, he came out of his office and told everyone to leave whatever they were doing, and announced that the next film would be Padmaavat.” The first of an enchanting two-part interview:

Whose idea was it to make Gangubai Kathiawadi?

Sanjayji was planning a film (Inshallah), which did not materialise, and we already had the first draft of Gangubai written by his assistant (Utkarshini Vashishtha).

He gave it to me to rewrite it. Since Alia (Bhatt) was going to do the other film, it was already decided that she would do this film. So I wrote the script keeping her in mind. I knew her strengths. Plus, Sanjayji had done a lot of sessions with Alia for the previous film and he had given me a lot of inputs about her.

 Are you present on the sets during the making of the films you’ve written? Yes, I always go on the sets, whether it is Sawariyaa or Black because when an actor or director is stuck on the sets, as a writer, I may come up with something new.

Sometimes Sanjayji wants a new dialogue or a scene improvised, so I have to be there to write it.