Sanjay Leela Bhansali: On 'My Friend Pinto', being a producer

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is taking on a new role, that of a producer. Less than a year after his film Guzaarish opened in cinemas, Bhansali is now ready with My Friend Pinto, directed by his assistant Raghav Dhar, starring Prateik Babbar.

Bhansali spoke to Reuters about mentoring a new director and why he makes a very good producer.

Q: Tell us about My Friend Pinto and how it came about?
A: My Friend Pinto is a very dear film and it came about because it is very unusual. It talks about smiles and a different perspective on life, one that we usually don't see. The taxi driver or the gambler or the failed actor, there is a funny side to all of them. And it talks about the most important thing, which is that you have to be there for your friends. We all have this one friend we have forgotten about, someone who cares a lot about us and we have forgotten them because we wanted to move ahead in life and wanted to mingle with the rich and famous. A friend is a universal character, there in every person's life. It is the first film I am producing so it is even more dear to me. It is a new talent from the institute. It has Smita Patil's son Prateik, who is in a lead role now, and not in a supporting role.

Q: How was it mentoring a young director?
A: He's an FTII graduate. I saw his short film, which was really good. He has assisted Abbas Tyrewala in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and then in Mani Ratnam's Guru. He then came with me to Paris and helped me with the opera I did. So he put in a lot of work. A director should always be ready to work. He has learnt a lot, has enough aptitude, has struggled and realised what it means to work here. When he narrated the story to me, I was smiling all throughout. I even called three or four friends of mine who I had forgotten about. If it has such an effect, then it means that the script is reaching out to the audience. It means the director has the art of telling you a story, he's ready to make a difficult screenplay like this into a film. Besides just sitting and talking to him and being with him, be it on the scripting or the editing table or for the songs, I have not interfered or taught him anything. I have just been there as a friend. Whatever he needs, my door is always open and my phone was always available.

Q: Was it difficult to restrain yourself from interfering?
A: I am very happy about the space I gave him. I would never allow his actors to get disoriented with my presence. When you control yourself from throwing your weight around, you realise you are evolving as a person. I treated him as I would want to be treated. As a director, I know that I want a certain space, I want to be creative. Without him saying it, I want to say that I am a damn good producer. When a director is doing a film with someone who is purely a producer, he will always have problems because the producer never thinks from the director's perspective and the director never thinks from the producer's perspective. I am a director's producer, because it is the director who puts his vision on the screen. Whatever he wants, he should get, because when the captain of the ship is in the right frame of mind, he can make a great film.

Q: Has too much interference hampered your creative process as a director any time?
A: Who would dare to do that? No question of it. If there are ideas about a scene, we discuss that with the actors or the team, but nobody would come and say you can't make that set or we can't provide you with that or this shift will go too far. No one would say that.

Q: Do you see yourself mentoring more directors and producing films with them?
A: I want to work with all kinds of directors. I am working with Prabhudeva, who is an established choreographer and director, next on Rowdy Rathore. Then I am working with my sister (Bela Sehgal) who's also my editor on a movie called Shirin Farhad ki to Nikal Padi. It's a complete comedy with an ensemble cast. It's not about connecting with the right idea. It's about a different kind of cinema. There are some films I could never have made because it is not my genre and not my aptitude. All this put together makes you want to be a part of different films.

Q: When are you directing next?
A: Everyone's asking me that. It's as if I haven't directed in ages. My last film came out less than a year ago. But yes, I cannot stay away from directing for too long. I have almost finished a script and we will be finalising casting soon. I can't talk about much beyond that.