Happy Birthday Sanjay Leela Bhansali: 5 beautiful moments from SLB movies that prove its authorial touch

In a conversation with Aamir Khan for India Today in 2017, Ranveer Singh described today's 56-year-old Sanjay Leela Bhansali as a deeply pbadionate filmmaker forever chasing the Invisible. "Every day, I see him with perseverance and stubbornness in search of a certain level of excellence, pushing himself and pushing everyone around him to create these magical moments," said the amazing young man. Padmaavat, always very impressed by his mentor. "There is coal in my fire," Singh had revealed. Sorry Ranveer, but alone, Bhansali is both fire and coal. Here is a clbadic case of tortured poet who burns like a candle to enlighten his cinema. Call him a dreamer, a mastermind, a visionary, a showman, a magnum writer or simply an overrated prophet of the Baroque's favorite child and controversy, but there is no doubt that Sanjay Leela Bhansali is this rare filmmaker who has the courage and conviction to dream an epic larger than life, not like the others.

Bhansali's penchant for masterpieces inspired by Mughal-E-Azam is well known. Since 1999 with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, SLB has remained true to the genre on a large scale, often a doomed love triangle leading to a musical opera where each song is as lovingly worked as the scenes. He does not work other than a sculptor, obsessed with minor details and torturing his actors (in his case, the actors) to create what many critics have termed as "painful moments of beauty". His latest film, the controversial Padmaavat, is a testament. in his manic pursuit of cinematic perfection.

On the occasion of Padmaavat's birthday today, here's an ode to what we think are the best moments of his long career (but not particularly prolific, which is understandable because he works meticulously and very slowly) .

Man, woman – and "the other" man

Despite the mixed ratings, Padmaavat still has a lot to do. In addition to the main character, Deepika Padukone, the beautiful queen who kills herself to save her honor, there is Ranveer Singh, the wicked cardinal Sultan Alauddin, whose desperate attraction for Queen Padmavati rings the knell. But the other story of unshared love that the director is not pursuing for obvious reasons lies between Sultan Alauddin and his slave, Malik Kafur (Jim Sarbh). The Bhansali touch is delightful in the boudoir scene where Malik Kafur, the male lover and royal wife Mehrunisa (Aditi Rao Hydari) braids the hair of the tyrant Sultan. Malik and Mehrunisa both covet Alauddin's love, but he is too drunk for power.

Seeking the moon

As any fan of Bhansali knows, his penchant for music eclipses everything else. Scratch the addiction. The right word is pbadion. Music is the basis of all his films. Take one, from its debut in 1996 with Khamoshi: The Musical (do not miss the title suffix that proudly announces what to expect) for the last Padmaavat, the music tells its own story. It was a matter of time before he became a composer himself. "If you deprive me of music, I will die," he told The Hindu in 2016. According to reports, the director has a strike angle for Raag Yaman. He founded Padmaavat's "Ek dil ek jaan" (2018) and Bajirao Mastani's (2016) "Aaj ibaadat" on Raag Yaman. Obviously, as a romantic and nostalgic consummate, SLB loves his moon images, which are summed up in Saawariya's brilliant "Yun Shabnami" (2007) and the popular "Chand chhupa baadal mein" by Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam ( 1999).

Ash-Madhuri face to face

Only SLB could have succeeded that. Aishwarya Rai, whose ravishing beauty sheds light on every frame of Devdas (2002) and Madhuri Dixit as a nautical girl who cares for the broken heart of Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan). Bhansali plays Rai and Dixit, two of the most sensual dancers of Hindi cinema, in a jugalbandi to beat all jugalbandis. The result is "Dola re dola", sublime creation not seen on a Hindi screen since.

A starry love triangle

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), who quickly became a fan favorite and stayed at the top for two decades now, is a vintage Bhansali – the story of damned lovers whose love will be put to the test all along. Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai have never been so beautiful together. Bhansali was probably the first filmmaker to portray Aishwarya Rai as she deserved – as a Baroque beauty who might be part of a Raja Ravi Verma painting. Ajay Devgn, a shy lawyer, makes HDDCS one of Bhansali's most enduring successes.

Helen and the death of the piano

Bhansali's dream was to lead Helen one day. What luck! He had the chance to realize his dream from the beginning. Khamoshi: The Musical, starring Nana Patekar, Salman Khan and Manisha Koirala, was her breakthrough after making her weapons by filming songs for mentor Vidhu Vinod Chopra, 1942: A Love Story. The musical tours of Salman Khan in Khamoshi and HDDCS a few years later is more than a coincidence. (Flash info: The director and his original muse team up to create a new film, but it's for another day). However, Khamoshi's star is Helen, as Annie's (Koirala) musical grandmother. "Gaate the pehle akele" is portrayed as a dancer on the beaches of Goa and in the desolate cities of churches. Instead of crying, Helen celebrates the funeral of the family's beloved piano. She dies in the next scene. But the gift of his music does not only affect the rest of Khamoshi, but the whole of Bhansali's career. Helen is the lucky totem of SLB.