Sanjay Leela Bhansali Recalls The Intense Isolation He Faced The Day After Saawariya's Release

The excitement at the premiere of Saawariya was palpable. Kangana Ranaut was determined to have a showdown with this writer over a miscommunication on the seating arrangement. I met the two nervous fathers, Anil Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor, of the debutants in the lobby. They seemed more nervous than the debutants themselves. Sonam Kapoor confessed she was “nervous as hell,” while Ranbir told me he wasn’t nervous at all.

By intermission, the smear campaign against the film had started. Invitees were sending out SMS messages to the entire industry.

“You like the film? Really?” Rishi Kapoor challenged me crabbily.

Rituparno Ghosh and Karan Johar had a heated, lengthy argument about the film with me the following morning. Ritu later admitted he was wrong about Saawariya. “I was looking for cinema. You were looking at it like an opera. I did the same during my second viewing. It worked like magic!”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali recalls the abject isolation he faced the day after the release of Saawariya. “It was just me in my house. No one from the cast or crew was with me, as the negativity had spread across the industry and outside it. As far as they were concerned, they had written off the film and moved on.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Today, SLB looks back at Saawariya with ample gratitude and regret. “It is the film that reflects my vision with complete honesty. This is the film I wanted to make. This is my most subtle, mellow, and understated creation. The film is like an opera, with the characters conveying their feelings in a language that is at once poetic and contemporary.”

Prakash Kapadia’s dialogues let Ranbir Kapoor’s character, Ranbir Raj, speak in a language that is modern and yet timelessly lovelorn. Saawariya is a story of unrequited love told in shades of blue. Bhansali’s narrative spins its sensuous web around chance encounters in and around a square set in a timeless land, where clocks chime to the rhythm of a besotted heart and neon signs straight out of a bright Broadway pay cheeky homage to Bollywood’s past, including Raj Kapoor, of course. Saawariya is Bhansali’s simplest story to date. The age-old boy-meets-girl format has been taken to the plane of purest expressionism.

Says SLB, “If I have to pick one favourite from my own films, it will have to be Saawariya. Why? Because it is that neglected child whom the parent gives extra attention to.”

Guru Dutt had his Kaagaz Ke Phool, Raj Kapoor had his Mera Naam Joker, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali has his Saawariya.