Deepika gave Sanjay Leela Bhansali wings

The film Bajirao Mastani was a great success. An exceptionally

soulful song from the film, 'Aayat ki tarah' has a line: Tera Zikr Ho

Raha Hai Ibadat Ki Tarah ("Like the call to prayer, your name is

being repeated from every (minaret)"). This indeed applies to

Deepika's fame. She is the numero uno female actor of her

generation (or any generation) as per consensus. She has had a

mixed bag of flops and "commercial" successes, but only her last

two films were artistically superlative. The rest were workmanlike:

but better than what Bollywood produces.

No one can deny she is a very good actor. From a gauche beginning,

she has continued to fast forward her learning of the art of acting

and has delivered an increasingly more confident portrayal. Her

relentless work ethic allows her to imbue that much more into each

film. She has exceptional intelligence: a very useful ability in striking

her own path, and which she has used to charm the viewers in

media interactions: she is now the darling of millions. In interviews

she has said she knew at age 10 she wanted to be someone great

some day. Only such early epiphanies come true - they have the OK

of the Universe.

She has been an unusually honest actor in her roles - the only way

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for an actor to connect to an audience and to lift the magic medium

that promises a journey of fantasy. Before 'Goliyon Ki Ras Leela Ram

Leela' she was simply very good - in her last two films she has

streaked off like a bright meteorite across the filmy skies.

**

Film has always been a Director's medium. It is his complete vision

that is the end product - down to the smallest bits. Great ones like

Kubrik, Hitchcock, Ray did not brook any inputs from cast or crew -

they had the well-defined vision that uses obsession.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali too has been a driven Director but, in my

opinion, he lacked something in his films - for lack of a better word,

let us say a delicate finesse that make his films loved by film

aesthetes and the Bollywood lovers.

In his acceptance speech for Best Director for Bajirao Mastani, SLB

said he was hugely indebted to three living Bollywood legends for

his craft. Among them he mentioned Lata Mangeshkar for teaching

him the real meaning of 'nuance'.

Nuance is what creates the finesse. Nuance in film is difficult to

execute.

Traditionally nuances are the spikes of intuition in music - which is a

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continuous medium. In a medium like film (shot in small bits) and

made continuous by editing, nuance is not an easy thing to bring

forth. So one can understand Sanjay's efforts to take his movies

higher on the aesthetic plane.

SLB is known to be a single minded, passionate, filmmaker who has

said that films are his life. But previously he has been comfortable

using the standard Bollywood masala ingredients - big name actors,

lilting music, lavish sets and gorgeous dances mixed with heart-tug

stories. He has never aimed to be a Bergman or a Kurosawa.

Nothing wrong in that at all. But for someone whose life is films, I

am sure it must irk him that he has not received the unequivocal

praise due a sensitive artist with skill. His unique formula has been

meticulous and exacting attention to detail, so that the product has

a flawless surface and comes across as a dazzling product that will

appeal to the masses.

Try as he might (until Ram Leela) his films have missed a sense of

transcendence: something that goes beyond skill. As Satyajit Ray

once said, a star is one whose presence you feel after he has left the

scene. Similarly Sanjay wanted to make a "Star Movie".

In Ram Leela he had cast a big star- Kareena Kapoor. That was his

fail-safe formula. But Kareena withdrew and he had to look around

in a hurry as his sets were ready and as luck would have it, gave the

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role to Deepika. Deepika saw a God-sent chance to do something

extraordinary - use Sanjay's meticulousness to her advantage - and

she invested the acting role with such gusto that she rocketed off

and took the film with her.

Her performance is the kind that Directors die for: confident, zesty,

subtle, upfront and authentic. The first forty seconds of her song

"Lahu Muh Lag Gayaa" is such raw tension and sexuality that the

screen is set ablaze. Not one vulgar minute; just emotions flowing

from face and eyes. Ranveer is left clueless, like a deer caught in

the car's headlight, not knowing which way to turn.

Danny Bowes, a film critic, wrote about Deepika,"......... Padukone, as

is increasingly the case, who steals the show with pure, deliberate, ferocious

star power. The striking thing about her performance as Leela is how tightly

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coiled and tense it seems; she's ready at a moment's notice to kiss or kill (or

both), never passive, never merely a photographic subject. The physical

vitality of her work in the film is almost unfair to Priyanka Chopra, who

cameos in an item number."

And further down in the review he writes, " Her every gesture is fascinating.

She forces (Ranveer) Singh to dial up his own not inconsequential star power

in the scenes they share, which leads to a situation where we get to watch

two wildly attractive actors giving their absolute all and meshing terrifically

from a chemistry standpoint. "

You can see the palpable pleasure the reviewer felt.

The film was a commercial success, though in my view the film sans

Deepika was old Sanjay: riot of colours done very aesthetically,

glorious songs and dances, Ranveer trying hard to match Deepika's

level, convenient story, and predictable denouement. But it was

Deepika's performance - and I include the crazy song and dance

number "Ishqiyaan" done as insouicance and irony - that lifts the

film to a new level. She gives Sanjay wings to fly.

And fly he does with his next film Bajirao Mastani.

Bajirao is a gorgeous, gratifying movie; despite the many flaws. It is

a much finer and subtler film - the best Sanjay has made. It is well

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crafted and if one keeps aside the usual elelments - a grand

repertoire of music, colour and a large canvas - Sanjay manages to

create a delicate aesthetic. Sanjay's is as lilting as the tragedy. It

adds multiple layers to the film. It is as if we are seeing a new

Sanjay - a deeper, more patient, director who has left his flops

behind and is no hurry to make a compromised hit film. Instead he

focuses on making a film that would be remembered for a long time.

And Bajirao is a memorable film. After the punchy persona in her

previous film that got her a best actor award, Deepika delivers a

quiet, royal, steely role that raises the film above a ususal love story

- it makes it ethereal. It is a role that is an exact opposite of Leela.

Here she presents a persona evanescent as the evening light, and

as ephemeral as the cries of the peacocks in her native

Bundelkhand. Her underplayed role is in sharp contrast with the

energy of Ranveer and the convoluted Machiavellian machinations

of the family. But she adds such beauty ( kudos to make-up and

costume too) and grace that we root for her all the way - not the

wronged Kashibai.

Sanjay wanted to make a big bang; he does with Bajirao. The

achingly beautiful Deepika simply dazzles - bang or no bang. In one

of the interviews Sanjay said he will remember Deepika's Mastani

until his dying day. It was no hyperbole, nor a Director's fondness for

his own product. It was a deeply felt emotion. It is a performance

where skill is embellised with nuance. He was overwhelmed with

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what she had done for him. And in the Filmfare awards he thanked

her, saying he loved her from the bottom of her heart and will

always love her.

It was his indirect acknowdlegment that the nuance he was seeking

was delivered to him. And now with his wings he can soar as high as

he wants.

****

PS: With such superlative talent with the two, I wonder if one can
contribute to further flights of creativity.

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