Alia Bhatt On Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali: He Doesn't Tell You What To Do, He Pushes You To Find It

Gangubai Kathiawadi marks Alia Bhatt's first collaboration with ace filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The duo were earlier supposed to team up for Inshallah which had Salman Khan has its male lead. However the film got shelved due to unknown reasons and Bhansali offered Gangubai Kathiawadi to Alia.

In a new interview with Film Companion, the actress shared her experience of working with the acclaimed director. Alia said that Bhansali isn't a coach and doesn't tell his actors what they should they. Instead he pushes them to find it.

Talking to host Anupama Chopra, Alia said, "I don't think he's a coach. He draws out of you. He doesn't tell you what to do. He pushes you to find it. It's very easy for someone to say, "touch this," "look up" or "say this thing with this or that intensity." He doesn't do that. He gives you adjectives and wants you to think about it and your body to start feeling it. It's not like moving from point A to B to C. It's like, find the A, then go to the D, explore the X, and then arrive at number 3. It's a completely different language and that's what I enjoy the most."

The actress said that Bhansali likes the unpredictability performing and creating and added, "There are no rules, there is no one way of doing anything. And you'll never know what you'll find because he is all about the magic. He is looking for magic at every point. He wants it to hit it in the heart. I don't think there's anybody who is more interested in your ability and potential of really pushing. He is not satisfied, because if he knows that you have it, it will be push until you have really given it all."

She further recalled the filmmaker speaking about legendary actress Meena Kumari innumerable times when they were prepping for Gangubai Kathiawadi. In the same interview, Alia admitted that she was unaware about Gangubai's story and learnt of it only when she started working on the film. She revealed that she first read her chapter from S. Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens of Mumbai and then the script.

Alia said that to get into the skin of this character, she had to understand the basics of that world, the dialect, of her circumstances and the way she responds to them. The actress said that she believes nothing would have prepared her before-hand to be the character that actually became on set. She further added that she was just Gangubai for the two years when she was shooting for the film and never left that character.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is scheduled to release in theatres on February 25, 2022.