‘Failure of Saawariya was like twin-towers falling’ Sanjay Leela Bhansali

For the first time, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is set to deliver the biggest grosser of his career with ‘Bajirao Mastani’, has spoken about the failure of Saawariya and how the industry ridiculed him after the release of the film.

“(The failure) of Saawariya was like twin-towers falling, I still shudder under the thought of the experience on the 9th of November”

“But I saw through that phase, I went off to Paris, did the Opera.. while they were ridiculing me on Filmfare, on the stage, at other award ceremonies. Talking ridiculous things about me”

“But the failure of Khamoshi (his 1996 film with Salman) taught me everything. You have to be strong, your film can collapse, but your mind, intellect and imagination should never collapse” he said.

The circumstances around the release of Bajirao Mastani were quite similar to the time when Saawariya and Om Shanti Om released. No one in the trade or the media gave Bhansali’s latest magnum opus a chance against a big film like Dilwale, but the results have been different this time around.

Does Bhansali still regret the clash, considering the fact that both films would have earned a lot more had they released solo.

“The decision to move or not to move was completely with Eros. The day we announced the film, Eros had announced the date of release. It was 18th December and they were very clear about it. When we announced it in September 2014, I thought there was too little time to make such a humongous film. But they said, this is it”

“Then came the announcement of Dilwale, 6 months later. Shah Rukh and me did meet for a very brief period. We said, let’s try and avoid it. Or see what best we can do. Even if it happens, we will not let it be dirty or mud-slinging” Bhansali said, hinting at the promotion period of Saawariya and Om Shanti Om, when Shah Rukh famously said “I will destroy them”

“Last time, it was not from my side at all. I’ve no idea what was happening from the other side. I do not want to even revisit it. From my side it was very dignified, I never said a word wrong about people”

“This time we decided that it should not go the dirty way. It should not feel wrong to us. Both films are different genres, both have different temperaments, for different audiences.. both films can do well. There are so many films running at the multiplex at the same time”

“Yes, it would have made a lot of difference to us, if Dilwale had not come on the same day. To me business means a lot, because I have not really given very big hits, Devdas was a big hit, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was a big hit.. but not those 400 crore grossers that we see today”

Bhansali also praised Shah Rukh and said he’s the superstar of the nation, someone who always gets a big opening.

“Shah Rukh Khan being Shah Rukh Khan could come any day and he’s the superstar of the nation. He gets that opening. He’s huge in this country, the biggest. For me it was a big deal, there was no comparison, maybe I would have done a little more.. but by the grace of god, people are loving the film, the numbers are on the rise, there is a lot of unanimous acclaim.. the audience reaction coming out of theatres is terrific. The box office is exploding right now. So I feel very good” Bhansali said.

Released in theatres on December 18, Bajirao Mastani has collected around Rs 86 crore in its first week at the box office.