On his 46th birthday, he calls himself an old and timeless but happy soul. But that’s not quite true. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one of the easiest people to rile. He is as famous for throwing temper tantrums as he is for marching to his own drummer. But what to do? He’s like that only

By Indu Mirani (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 24, 2010)

• How do you look back on the two years plus since Saawariya and its failure?

I have become a far more evolved person. I have understood what success means, what failure means, what relationships mean. What other things I need to do in cinema as an expression of finally expressing myself as a human being. What are the wrong things I have done, what are the mistakes I have made, what corrections I need to make.

// // // • How do you cope with failure?

I am used to it. I started off with Khamoshi that didn’t do well at all at the box office. It completely shatters your mind as a first filmmaker when you realise that your first film has completely not connected with people. It’s a different matter that today people like Khamoshi a lot and think it is my best work. But as a debut it brought about a lot of turmoil in my life. It’s been a long long life of seeing lots of failures on a personal and family level. I have seen lot of struggle in my house, around my house. I only started seeing success with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

• You always lived more in your head than in reality…

Yes, and that life is very beautiful as well as More >