Having Hrithik play quadriplegic in Guzaarish was act of courage, says Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is enjoying the praise coming in his direction after the theatrical release of his movie, Gangubai Kathiawadi. He has now answered to pundits who blame him for making only one kind of cinema. He has citied the example of his 2010 film Guzaarish which had Hrithik Roshan in the role of a quadriplegic. The director says that it was an act of fearlessness by making the movie after 2007 film Saawariya which failed to perform at all.

Speaking about how his career was written off after the movie’s release, Sanjay told Film Companion in an interview, “Lot of people felt that my filmmaking was archaic and that it was constantly moving in the same direction. I stuck to where I belong. They had almost written off my career with Saawariya and Guzaarish. They said, ‘oh it’s done over with’. But I was exploring, I was fearless if I did Guzaarish after Saawariya. I have taken a boy who is considered a Greek God in Hindi cinema who is known for dancing and action, he is lying on a bed and talking without moving a limb. That was courage, fearlessness is courage. Fearlessness is also to keep our culture going.”

While speaking about his adoration for several Indian filmmakers of the 20th century, he further said, “We have become Spanish, Korean, Iranian, Italian – what cinema we have , we have to be proud of what we are and find within that our language, our voice, our way of saying a story. Satyajit Ray was a very Indian filmmaker, even if was impressed with Italian Neorealism or whatever, but there was still so much referencing that he did with Indian mytholody, architechture and art – just fascinating. Where is that tradition gone? Why it is so fashionable to be that and not this?”