Film maker Sanjay Leela Bhansaliwho is receiving mixed reviews for his recently-released OTT series ‘Heermandi’, talked about ‘getting rid of star system‘ from the film industry. Similarly, the director described the process of assembling the cast of ‘The Constitution’ as “instinctive and spontaneous.”
During an interview with IndiaToday.in, Sanjay Leela Bhansali discussed the casting process he uses for his films.He stated, “My casting is a very instinctive, spontaneous and intuitive process. I don’t analyse things too much. If I see Shantanu Maheshwari who’s walked into the office for ‘Gangubai’, I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, he’s on.’ He was in a dance show. When my mother was watching that dance show, I went to meet her. I was leaving for office. She said, ‘See this boy is dancing very well. You should cast him somewhere.’
The filmmaker said a similar occurrence occurred years ago with Shreya Ghoshal. His mother was viewing her on a television program and found her to be exceptional. Subsequently, Sanjay contacted Shreya Ghoshal after a few months and asked her to sing for Aishwarya in ‘Devdas’. He revealed initially, that Shreya Ghoshal was sceptical. The same scenario unfolded with Taha [Shah Badussha]. Upon auditioning for a role, Sanjay immediately identified him as Tajdar. He said, “In that one moment, you have to know that it has to be Sonakshi Sinha. There cannot be another Fareedan. There cannot be another Mallikajaan. A lot of people asked, ‘Don’t you think we need bigger stars? I said no, these are fantastic actors’.”
Adding his thoughts on the actors vs. stars structure in the industry, Sanjay said, “I need actors. I feel stars are a system we should get rid of in our industry. We need very good actors. And if the stars are very good actors, like I have worked with wonderful stars who are wonderful actors. For me, they’re actors. The star system should be demolished.”
With Netflix’s ‘Heeramandi’, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his foray into the OTT space. The series was released on May 1.
During an interview with IndiaToday.in, Sanjay Leela Bhansali discussed the casting process he uses for his films.He stated, “My casting is a very instinctive, spontaneous and intuitive process. I don’t analyse things too much. If I see Shantanu Maheshwari who’s walked into the office for ‘Gangubai’, I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, he’s on.’ He was in a dance show. When my mother was watching that dance show, I went to meet her. I was leaving for office. She said, ‘See this boy is dancing very well. You should cast him somewhere.’
The filmmaker said a similar occurrence occurred years ago with Shreya Ghoshal. His mother was viewing her on a television program and found her to be exceptional. Subsequently, Sanjay contacted Shreya Ghoshal after a few months and asked her to sing for Aishwarya in ‘Devdas’. He revealed initially, that Shreya Ghoshal was sceptical. The same scenario unfolded with Taha [Shah Badussha]. Upon auditioning for a role, Sanjay immediately identified him as Tajdar. He said, “In that one moment, you have to know that it has to be Sonakshi Sinha. There cannot be another Fareedan. There cannot be another Mallikajaan. A lot of people asked, ‘Don’t you think we need bigger stars? I said no, these are fantastic actors’.”
Adding his thoughts on the actors vs. stars structure in the industry, Sanjay said, “I need actors. I feel stars are a system we should get rid of in our industry. We need very good actors. And if the stars are very good actors, like I have worked with wonderful stars who are wonderful actors. For me, they’re actors. The star system should be demolished.”
With Netflix’s ‘Heeramandi’, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his foray into the OTT space. The series was released on May 1.
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