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 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

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very good - in her last two films she has streaked off like a bright meteorite

across the filmy skies.

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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

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.

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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 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.

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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

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."

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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 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

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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 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.

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****

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