Sanjay Leela Bhansali

“My soul needs music all the time.”

“After 'Saawariya,' I retreated into a shell.”

“I have grown up watching films in single screens where people would get up and dance in the aisles. With 'Rowdy Rathore,' I want to recreate the same magic.”

“Some of the most beautiful people, to me, are those with the wrong geometry. Mother Teresa is extremely beautiful and not because she is a saint. Her characteristics are very strange, and that is what generates the power she had.”

“What's life without risks? When I made 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,' everybody said in India you can never have a husband say that I am uniting my wife with her lover. The male audience would reject it, and it is a male audience and hero-oriented industry.”

“Though all festivals are important, this Cannes Festival starts off the season.”

“I think caring too much about the economics starts affecting the creative aspect of the film. That is a dangerous process for a filmmaker. He should make his film without having to worry about how much it has cost or how much it will be sold for.”

“It's been a journey of great stress and awakening. I have given my blood sweat and tears to 'Padmavati.'”

“A man is not capable of giving the way a woman gives. She is stronger. When a woman sacrifices, it lends her grace and beauty.”

“There was no fear of failure when I made 'Bajirao Mastani.'”

“I am a fearless filmmaker.”

“You can do a formula film and walk the conventional path, but it may not work at all.”

“I'm the most fun-loving guy.”

“I faced failure with my first film, 'Khamoshi.' All of us have our highs and lows, except Lata Mangeshkar.”

“When you don't have to say 'I love you,' when you don't have to prove your love by singing a song, or express it through the body, that's two souls connecting.”

“I am extremely proud that our cinema is being recognised in the West. I want Indian cinema to get its dignity, not by giving them the kind of films they expect from us, but by making cinema in a way that carries the legacy of the mainstream masters forward.”

“If you compromise in the casting it is bound to expose eventually.”

“I am not popular socially. I am uncomfortable around people.”

“I never believed in birthday parties.”

“People might think that I'm inaccessible, unapproachable, and dark. In many ways, my characters are uncomfortable to interact with, but that's not me.”