<p>"Friendship in Bollywood...it's difficult! Difficult because there is a lot of competition. <br /><br />People are very friendly, they are warm, they are nice...and there are a lot of people who are friends for long...but real friendship is tough here," Bhansali told IANS in a candid chat.<br /><br />The 48-year-old has reportedly gone through strained relationships with Ajay Devgn, Aditya Chopra, Rani Mukerji, Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, among others. With some, he had a war of words and with some, ego hassles.<br /><br />Bhansali laments the conditional nature of friendships in tinsel town.<br /><br />"Bollywood is a competitive place. But for me at least, if a friendship means that I have to work with the same actor and the same actress because that's what friendship is, then that is not friendship for me. That becomes a liability -- a liability that you are bound to a person," he said.<br /><br />So what's an ideal friendship for the filmmaker?<br /><br />"I feel a good friend in the industry is a person who says..'Ok, you've made a film with me, we had a great working relationship. Now if your other script demands another person, it doesn't mean you're taking anything away from me, or you are betraying me or backstabbing me.'<br /><br />"I feel that is not friendship and if that is what friendship means, then I would rather stay away from that kind of friendship in the industry," he said adding that as a filmmaker, "I want the freedom and the liberty to say that my script is my god, and my screenplay is the most important - I have to be honest to it."<br /><br />"But in Bollywood, if I have worked with a director, an actor, an actress and I do not repeat them, then there is no friendship. To put it simply...equations with people here change from film to film," he said.<br /><br />A recluse, Bhansali, known for films like "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", "Devdas", "Black" and "Guzaarish", has few friends in the industry, but he isn't complaining.<br /><br />"I, in particular, might not have had too many friends in the industry, but I do not have enemies either. A good, healthy relationship with colleagues is what this industry needs, and I have tried to find and keep healthy relationships," said the filmmaker, who feels he can always go back to people like Salman and Farah, despite their past differences.<br /><br />Bhansali had a tiff with Farah over the clash between the release of his "Saawariya" and her "Om Shanti Om" in November 2007. Salman, who featured in the director's debut film "Khamoshi - The Musical", made nasty comments on the former's "Guzaarish". But they have let bygones be bygones.<br /><br />"A friend will start off exactly where he left it and Farah Khan stands for what I am talking about. We had a problem...but I knew if I go to her with a film, she will start from where we left.<br /><br />"There are good friends like that...Salman has been a very good friend over the years, and so have lots of others," said the National award-winner, who is producing "Shirin Farhad Ki Nikal Padi", which marks Farah's acting debut.<br /><br />Bhansali also finds a true friend in former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai, with whom he worked in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" and "Devdas".<br /><br />"Aishwarya came to work with me on 'Guzaarish' after I did two films - 'Black' and 'Saawariya' without her. And I started off with her exactly from where I left it. She makes a good friend because at least I didn't have to give explanations of why I didn't cast her in 'Black', and in 'Saawariya'."</p>
<p>"Friendship in Bollywood...it's difficult! Difficult because there is a lot of competition. <br /><br />People are very friendly, they are warm, they are nice...and there are a lot of people who are friends for long...but real friendship is tough here," Bhansali told IANS in a candid chat.<br /><br />The 48-year-old has reportedly gone through strained relationships with Ajay Devgn, Aditya Chopra, Rani Mukerji, Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, among others. With some, he had a war of words and with some, ego hassles.<br /><br />Bhansali laments the conditional nature of friendships in tinsel town.<br /><br />"Bollywood is a competitive place. But for me at least, if a friendship means that I have to work with the same actor and the same actress because that's what friendship is, then that is not friendship for me. That becomes a liability -- a liability that you are bound to a person," he said.<br /><br />So what's an ideal friendship for the filmmaker?<br /><br />"I feel a good friend in the industry is a person who says..'Ok, you've made a film with me, we had a great working relationship. Now if your other script demands another person, it doesn't mean you're taking anything away from me, or you are betraying me or backstabbing me.'<br /><br />"I feel that is not friendship and if that is what friendship means, then I would rather stay away from that kind of friendship in the industry," he said adding that as a filmmaker, "I want the freedom and the liberty to say that my script is my god, and my screenplay is the most important - I have to be honest to it."<br /><br />"But in Bollywood, if I have worked with a director, an actor, an actress and I do not repeat them, then there is no friendship. To put it simply...equations with people here change from film to film," he said.<br /><br />A recluse, Bhansali, known for films like "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", "Devdas", "Black" and "Guzaarish", has few friends in the industry, but he isn't complaining.<br /><br />"I, in particular, might not have had too many friends in the industry, but I do not have enemies either. A good, healthy relationship with colleagues is what this industry needs, and I have tried to find and keep healthy relationships," said the filmmaker, who feels he can always go back to people like Salman and Farah, despite their past differences.<br /><br />Bhansali had a tiff with Farah over the clash between the release of his "Saawariya" and her "Om Shanti Om" in November 2007. Salman, who featured in the director's debut film "Khamoshi - The Musical", made nasty comments on the former's "Guzaarish". But they have let bygones be bygones.<br /><br />"A friend will start off exactly where he left it and Farah Khan stands for what I am talking about. We had a problem...but I knew if I go to her with a film, she will start from where we left.<br /><br />"There are good friends like that...Salman has been a very good friend over the years, and so have lots of others," said the National award-winner, who is producing "Shirin Farhad Ki Nikal Padi", which marks Farah's acting debut.<br /><br />Bhansali also finds a true friend in former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai, with whom he worked in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" and "Devdas".<br /><br />"Aishwarya came to work with me on 'Guzaarish' after I did two films - 'Black' and 'Saawariya' without her. And I started off with her exactly from where I left it. She makes a good friend because at least I didn't have to give explanations of why I didn't cast her in 'Black', and in 'Saawariya'."</p>