Bhansali: 25 years of big-screen magic

It’s interesting that in the middle of a pandemic that has taught us the importance of simple living, we are celebrating an auteur who doesn’t believe in minimalism. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who completed 25 years in Bollywood on Monday, has made films that did wonders on the big screen.

When Bhansali announces a project, you imagine him heading into the field and dreaming big. Not many in Indian cinema come close to Bhansali in mounting love stories (‘Devdas’ and ‘Ram Leela’) on an unimaginable scale. Grandeur is unmissable in his recent infatuation with period dramas (‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Padmaavat’).

Loss of love is at the heart of every Bhansali film. He makes romance seem like the most prized thing in the world. Of course, his films aren’t perfect. The filmmaker unabashedly believes in melodrama and over-the-top characters. Today, his relationships don’t appear true to life as there are new ways of proclaiming love.

Nevertheless, it’s a style he has scrupulously built over two decades. Bhansali’s universe is filled with lush colours, stunning sets, fantastic songs and scores, and terrific dance choreography. Showtime picks five best works from Bhansali’s nine-film career.

5. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

The story of a girl forced into an arranged marriage is influenced by Mani Ratnam’s ‘Mouna Ragam’ (1986). But in his sophomore flick, Bhansali’s flair for visual poetry comes out. He loads the frames with vibrant colour schemes and impressive art design.

Ismail Darbar’s versatile album is the film’s backbone. The high-energy ‘Nimbooda’ and ‘Dhol Baje’, and melodious ‘Chand Chupa’ and ‘Ankhon Ki Gustakhiyan’ are evergreen numbers. Aishwarya Rai has never been a performer and Salman Khan’s cheerful act isn’t entirely convincing. A controlled Ajay Devgn holds the love triangle together.

4. Khamoshi

Jatin-Lalit’s delightful music complements the breezy romance in Bhansali’s debut. If you overlook the disability (deaf-mute), Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas play the typical over-protective and conservative parents of Indian cinema. ‘Khamoshi’ feels fresh because the love story works. Manisha brings poignancy into her performance as she did in ‘Bombay’. The film reminds us of Salman’s relaxed style. It’s a pity he shed that to become Bollywood’s Bhai and torture us.

3. Ram-Leela

In cinema, casting is everything. Bhansali picks a real-life couple for his adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and what we get is an intense and riveting love story. For the first time, a Bhansali film moves at a breakneck speed. A superb Deepika Padukone goes toe-to-toe with an electrifying Ranveer Singh. The visuals, needless to say, are fairytale-like with the picturisation of the ‘Nagada Sang Dhol’ being heart-stopping stuff.

2. Devdas

‘Devdas’ is what happens when an eccentric director meets an eccentric actor (Shah Rukh Khan). Bhansali adapts Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s epic unrequited love story with a devil-may-care approach. Aishwarya finally brings intensity to her stunning face while Madhuri Dixit is achingly good as the third spoke in the love triangle. The film’s grandeur can suffocate lovers of simple dramas. For Bhansali fans, big-screen excess got a new definition.

1. Black

This film was an excursion outside Bhansali’s comfort zone. He still builds a dreamy backdrop for the retelling of Helen Keller’s life. Yet, ‘Black’ required Bhansali to focus more on his writing than form. The drama is consistently engaging and disturbing. The little Ayesha Kapur sets the tone with a powerful performance of a deaf and blind girl. Rani Mukherji and Amitabh Bachchan’s student-teacher chemistry feels shockingly real. Bhansali’s most consistent film is sure to move you and it is his best film yet.

Way forward

With ‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Padmaavat’, cracks have begun to show in Bhansali’s universe. Perhaps, people are a bit exhausted with his characters who are verbose and lack freshness.

Bhansali tries to portray his women as feisty and strong-minded. But, they end up being the film’s emotional anchors who mollycoddle their men. His upcoming ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, a biopic on Mumbai’s famous brothel owner, could address this complaint.