Alia Bhatt reveals what Sanjay Leela Bhansali said when she showed him the first glimpses of Kalank

Ever since the first teaser of Kalank hit the web, many happened to compare it to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period dramas whether it’s Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani or Padmaavat. After all, no other Indian filmmaker has ever been able to envision a film at a scale at which SLB is known to be doing. Right from the larger than life sets to the music to the heavy traditional costumes, everything about an SLB film is just out there for you to admire, have a visual treat sort of an experience and get lost in a world of emotions. So when the teaser of Kalank also came across as a drama set in the 1940s in a similar SLB-like setup, people were quick to draw parallels. In fact, even now after the film has hit the screens, many are continuing to call it an SLB-inspired film.

When Alia Bhatt was asked about this same Sanjay Leela Bhansali connection during a promotional interaction on 94.3 radio show, she however had no qualms about the comparisons. She in fact admitted that not just her but even Abhishek Varman, who’s the director of Kalank is a big fan of SLB and that it was his honour to draw inspiration from his work. As Alia made a reference to Ghar More Pardesiya song, she said, “Yes, it’s more Bhansali like but actually, technically speaking, no one has really touched that world except for Sanjay Leela Bhansali. And Abhishek himself is a very big self-proclaimed, self-confessed fan. So he is very inspired by him. Even when I met Sanjay sir I told him please tell me what do you think about the teaser and he really liked it”

Varun Dhawan, who was also a part of this interaction, decided to add on to what Alia said, “Even when I met him, when he knew about this film, he said, ‘Mujhe koi kuch poochta hi nahi hai (nobody asks me anything) .Madhuri-Alia together, I would love to work on a song, give music to a song on them.’ I had in fact then asked Alia that what did he say to you when he saw your song.” And Alia was quick to complete, “No, no he was very encouraging and honsetly he also understands that even though people are telling (comparing) he said he has a world of his own. It’s his world…so that was very kind, a magnanums thing”

Not to mention, Alia has collaborated with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for a love story co-starring Salman Khan.