Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one of the bests in the field and he also celebrates his 59th birthday today.
6 Times Sanjay Leela Bhansali Faced Film Controversies:
Despite his renowned works, Sanjay has faced several controversies throughout his career but he’s gotten through them and given us some of Bollywood’s finest films.
1. Devdas – 2002
Devdas is a Bollywood masterpiece starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai. Before its release, director K Chopra had registered the title ‘Devdas’ though he had not even begun making a film. After a long battle, Bhansali won the rights to the name. The other controversy was that the producer was arrested during the making after a call was made to a channel that stated the money involved in the film’s making was from the underworld. All allegations were denied.
2. Guzaarish – 2010
Guzaarish starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai fell into several controversial cases. As per a report, writer Dayanand Rajan insisted that the plot of the film was plagiarized from his unpublished novel Summer Snow. Writer Akhil Rajendra Dwivedi filed a complaint against Sanjay for allegedly using his script without permission. In the poster, Aishwarya is seen smoking a cigarette which became an issue to the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (India). Lastly, a lawyer had filed a PIL because the film includes euthanasia or mercy killing which is illegal in India.
3. Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela – 2013
This SLB directorial was initially just titled Ram Leela. However, after several religious groups took offence to the name and filed cases against it, Bhansali had to change the title to Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela.
Also Read: When Alia Bhatt’s Audition For THIS Sanjay Leela Bhansali Film Was REJECTED!
4. Bajirao Mastani – 2015
Bajirao Mastani featured Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh was SLB’s dream project and it took the ace director 15 years to finally make his dream a reality. However, a petition was filed against the song Pinga. A descendant of Kashibai (Priyanka’s character) had claimed that the late queen suffered from an arthritis-like ailment at a very young age, so it’s not possible that she would have been able to dance with Mastani.
5. Padmaavat – 2018
Sanjay Leela Bhansali faced a whirlwind of controversies for his film Padmaavat. The movie was initially titled Padmaavati and narrated the story of Queen Padmavati and Sultan Alauddin Khilji. The Rajasthani group Karni Sena were outraged at the apparent romantic scene between Padmavati and Khilji. Public threats like Deepika will be beheaded to burning the posters, the commotion went on for weeks!
6. Gangubai Kathiawadi – 2022
Lastly, just a day ahead SLB’s newest release, objection to Gangubai Kathiawadi’s title has arisen at the very last hour, with the movie set for release this Friday (25 Feb). On Wednesday, Supreme Court suggested to SLB that since Gangubai Kathiawadi is embroiled in various pending cases which are seeking to stay the film’s release, the title should be changed. On the other hand, Bombay High Court has already dismissed 3 petitions that were seeking deletion of the words ‘Kamathipura’, ‘Kathiawadi’ and ‘China’ from the movie.